I share some of Eugene’s concerns, expressed in his post below, that certain aspects of the gay rights movement (which I too generally support) may pose a threat to civil liberties.
But I don’t think that the firing of Robert Smith, the Maryland appointee to the Washington Metro Board, for calling gays “sexual devian[ts]” is a good illustration of the point. Certainly, very few would argue that Smith should have kept his job had he referred to people in interracial relaionships as “racial deviants” or used derogatory language about blacks or Jews. And this would be true despite the fact that Smith’s views on blacks, Jews, and interracial marriage have no more connection to his job than his views on gays. The political and social views of high-ranking officials often influence their policy decisions, and government could not function with even modest effectiveness if these officials could not chosen at least in part based on their ideological orientation.
Furthermore, it is not clear to me that Smith’s views “have absolutely nothing to do with running trains and buses,” as he claims. The DC area has a large gay population and many of them presumably take Metro “trains and buses.” There is good reason to assume that a Metro Board member with Smith’s views would be less likely to enforce policies against antigay discrimination in public transport than one who is not a homophobe. At any rate, since there is unlikely to be a shortage of nonbigoted people willing to take this cushy patronage appointment, Governor Ehrlich was right not to take a risk on Smith.
I will consider Eugene’s broader point about the gay rights movement in my next post.