A HISTORY OF DISCRIMINATION
While I, of course, hope that the lawsuit against California 's Prop 8 is successful, I am troubled by some of the discussion attributed to 'our side' in your article of June 18 [Federal Prop 8 case wraps, 6/18/10].

'Strict scrutiny' as a heightened standard for examining a statute's constitutionality can't require an 'immutability factor,' since it is used regarding religious discrimination and there is nothing immutable about one's beliefs. I certainly hope that the attorneys are not claiming that Queerness is immutable, since investigations I did a number of years ago (published in SGN, among other places) clearly shows that there is little if any solid research providing evidence that Gayness is genetic, etc.

A history of discrimination (which the other side was even willing to stipulate to!) should be sufficient to justify strict scrutiny of a statute perpetuating such discrimination, if we truly live in a society committed to equal rights and justice. Anti-discrimination activities are justifiable on historical, not biological, realities.

Phil Bereano

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