If you've been reading up on scary Supreme (Straight Old Boys Club) Court nominee Sam Alito, you know that he has a schizophrenic record when it comes to privacy rights. He wanted to uphold a machine gun owner's right to sell arms, but not a married woman's right to get an abortion without notifying her husband. He supported a homophobic bully's right to harass a gay kid, but did not support a ten-year-old girl's right not to be strip searched by police when they entered her home in a drug bust.

See the pattern? If the state's power, or an individual male person's power, is threatened, Alito stands up for the long arm of the law. If a woman or child's power - over her own body, say - is threatened, Alito says she should defer to men.

Whether you're male or female and you're queer, Alito's nomination should give you pause. I take that back. It should inspire your outrage and dissent... especially when the American Family Association is getting their panties in a wad over his confirmation. The AFA are the folks who are currently protesting Mattel for their American Girl doll subsidiary partnering with Girls Inc., which AFA calls a "pro-abortion, pro-lesbian group."

Thanks AFA, I know what I'm getting my nieces for Christmas this year! Girls Inc. "I Can" bands and maybe an American Girl doll to boot. (For more info, visit click here)


Written by Meg Daly

Meg is a freelance writer, newly transplanted to San Francisco. She is the former features editor at Just Out, Portland's queer newsmagazine. Her articles have appeared in national and regional press, including Tikkun, Grist online magazine, Punk Planet, Portland Monthly, Oregon Business, and Willamette Week. She is the editor of two anthologies on women's friendships, including Surface Tension: Love, Sex, and Politics Between Lesbians and Straight Women.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 12, 2006 at 1:59 PM. Want to discuss? Leave a comment below.