As testimony today droned on from yet another plaintiff expert bemoaning perceived discrimination against gays and lesbians, I couldn’t help but think of the stereotypical long drive with a car full of kids, getting the same question every ten minutes: are we there yet? No matter the subject matter expertise of the expert the plaintiffs have called, they have all made the same claim: gays and lesbians have their feelings hurt because society does not see their relationships as marriage. The testimony has been replete with complaints about public attitudes: sideways glances as gay men walk together down the street, upraised eyebrows when a gay couple checks into a hotel and asks for a room with a king bed, disapproving looks from a bank officer when opening a joint account, etc. Today we heard that gays and lesbians are susceptible to stress and depression over negative public attitudes, and that the passage of Prop 8 elevated their stressful feelings.
Testimony this afternoon from yet another academician and anti-Prop 8 donor stated homosexuals have a higher rate of mental disorders than the general population due to the stress caused by supposed stigmatization of being gay (though he admitted that his studies of social and minority stress is at odds with several other studies on the issue). This stress, presumably, justifies designating gays and lesbians as a suspect class entitled to special legal protections that make it easier for Judge Walker to issue a ruling that Prop 8 is unconstitutional. By that reasoning, I couldn’t help but think of other groups of people who might feel stress over social stigmatization. Are obese people a special legal class? Stutterers? Exceptionally tall people? If an exceptionally tall, stuttering, obese gay couple was really stressed out over the passage of Prop 8, does that increase the chances that the measure is unconstitutional?
Tomorrow we hear from three more plaintiffs experts who believe that gays and lesbians are subject to social disapproval and discrimination.
Are we there yet?
