Oklahoma Judge Blasts "Gay Agenda" In Letter to State Bar
Here's an impolitic judge, if we ever heard about one.... Bill Graves, an Oklahoma City District Judge, who wrote a letter dated "April 8, A.D. 2008" (I kid you not) to the "Members of the Bench and Bar Committee of The Oklahoma Bar Association," denouncing a proposal by the committee to amend the rules of judicial conduct so that judges should not be members of organizations that discriminated "based on 'race, sex, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or sexual orientation.'"
What is Graves's problem with this proposal? He actually has many problems, focused on the categories of gender, ethnicity and sexual orientation, but first and foremost, he complains that "these proposals would give even more protection than the BBC has already previously given as to 'sexual orientation,'" and observes that the proposals are not based on law but rather on "proposals of the liberal, pro-homosexual American Bar Association." In other words, they are part of the model judicial ethics code that the ABA has recommended to the states for adoption.
I'm so delighted that Judge Graves considers the ABA to be "pro-homosexual," which of course it has been since the 1970s when it voted to support efforts to decriminalize consensual sodomy between adults, something the Oklahoma legislature has never wanted to do (and persists in refusing to do, despite Lawrence v. Texas and a decision of its own highest criminal court, now dating back two decades, that the state's sodomy law cannot be used to prosecute private consensual heterosexual sodomy).
But you have to read the full text of this letter to believe that it could emanate from a sitting judge. I don't know whether Judge Graves released the letter to the press, whether somebody on the committee released it, or whether it was just part of a public file of comments submitted that found it's way into a journalist's hands, but I obtained it while following a link from the Alliance Defense Fund website, alliancealert.org, to an article on the American Bar Association website, which had a link to the letter that was posted on an Oklahoma newspaper website accompanying a story about it. I recommend the ADF website, maintained by the organization that specializes in suing against gay rights at every opportunity, because they do a superb job of linking to every zany anti-gay diatribe that can be found on the internet....
Judge Graves decries the use of "gender" in addition to "sex", as follows: "In regard to 'gender,' one wonders why the word 'sex' is not sufficient since that word includes both men and women. The ABA and the BBC do not say what they mean by 'gender.' Judge Robert Bork, in _Slouching Towards Gomorrah_, may have the answer. He notes that the Platform of the 1995 Beijing World Conference on Women (dominated by radical feminists and lesbians), incessantly insisted on the use of the word 'gender' in regard to women's rights. To these groups, the word 'gender' includes, Bork states, not just men and women, but also lesbians, homosexuals and bisexuals." He goes on to note, "'Sexual orientation' would include pedophiles and polygamists. Does the BBC desire to protect such activity? Homosexuals practice anal sodomy, defined as 'the detestable and abominable crime against nature' at 21 O.S. sec. 886, which no doubt has contributed greatly to the AIDS plague. Does the BBC desire to promote this practice? Use of 'sexual orientation' as a protected category also forbids judges from excluding award of children in child custody and adoption cases because a person is homosexual. Studies have shown that this is detrimental to children. Others object on religious and non-religious grounds. At any rate, these issues should be decided by the Legislature - not the BBC."
The anti-homosexual agenda ALWAYS includes references to "studies" showing that children are harmed by being raised by gay people, but nobody ever actually cites such a study in a reputable academic journal because THEY DON'T EXIST except in the minds of those who refer to them.
Judge Graves goes on to question whether the inclusion of "ethnicity" in the non-discrimination category would make it a violation for a judge to inquire into the citizenship of a person who lacks a social security card, and then to report this to federal authorities for deportation of the person. And, he notes, the existing anti-discrimination rule "would also prohibit a judge from honoring his or her religious beliefs against homosexuality since there are numerous Biblical references condemning homosexuality. Even many non-Christians and atheists object to the homosexual agenda."
Well, sitting judges raving about the "homosexual agenda" and decrying the attempt to curb their desire to enact their religious beliefs against homosexuality in their work would certainly merit the attention of the judicial disciplinary authorities in the jurisdiction where they sit, I would think. Judge Graves has now alerted the Oklahoma authorities of the need to monitor his decision-making with care in order to protect the due process rights of sexual and ethnic minority litigants who may come before him. Although he "covers" himself by saying, regarding "homosexuals, lesbians and bisexuals", "Certainly, the three latter groups should be treated with courtesy, fairness and justice like anyone else," he also insists that the BBC, by its proposed rule, "is promoting the homosexual agenda which is to have homosexuality treated as normal and natural as heterosexuality."
Actually, this is a breath of fresh air, to have a judge who is obviously firmly anti-gay come forward and expose his views, including his accurate understanding of the "homosexual agenda." Yes, an accurate understanding, as gay liberationists have figured out that our sexual orientation is actually a normal and natural variant of human existence, and our "agenda" -- to the extent there is anything so formal -- is exactly that: to reverse centuries of demented propaganda against us by helping everybody to understand that we are folks whose differences from others are naturally occurring variations in human characteristics.
A word to the wise, though: every lawyer in Oklahoma should keep a copy of this letter in their files to use in support of a recusal motion in case they are appearing before Judge Graves in a case where they are representing one of the groups demeaned in the letter....
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