DOJ GAY PRIDE

WaPo reports that the Dept. of Justice, in an apparent reversal, is allowing its employees to have a Gay Pride Day celebration on its property. One suspects John Ashcroft will not be able to make it to the event.

This mini-controversy is getting some strange reactions:

. . . Marina Colby, president of DOJ Pride. . . called the announcement a “partial reversal,” but said it was still discriminatory. Colby said the department sponsors other heritage and diversity events, such as those honoring Black History Month or Hispanic employees. Last year, Justice sponsored the group’s gay pride event and Deputy Attorney General Larry D. Thompson addressed the group.

Sen. Frank J. Lautenberg (D-N.J.) said yesterday he will ask for hearings on what he called “possible violations of the civil rights by the Department of Justice against their own employees.”

While homosexuals aren’t a protected class under current law, the fact that the feds are using tax dollars to sponsor some groups’ celebrations and not others is problematic. It seems obvious that the solution is to sponsor none of them.

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James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.