Suspect Symbols: The Literary Argument for Heightened Scrutiny for Gays

Abstract

This Article can be read as a response to a question a federal appellate judge asked me. During a clerkship interview, the judge inquired about a course on my transcript subtitled "Queer Theory." I told him it was a course on legal, political, and sociological theories of sexual orientation and mapped some of its themes. He listened attentively, then stated: "Actually, what I wanted to know was what the word 'queer' means." Quick to rationalize authority, I assumed he knew what the word meant, and was attempting to gauge the subtlety of my understanding of it. So I responded: "My understanding is that it's a term once used in a derogatory way towards homosexuals that has been co-opted by the gayrights movement, like the pink triangle."' I was about to continue, when he interrupted: "What's the pink triangle?" A beat. I replied: "The pink triangle was used by the Nazis during the Holocaust to designate homosexuals." The judge said: "I didn't know that."