Several days ago, the organizers of the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade announced they will permit a group composed of gay NBC employees to march in their annual event with a banner identifying themselves as gay. By now, we are used to such tidbits of news. But this is significant for other reasons.
Back in the 1990’s, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an important free speech ruling in a case called Hurley v. Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Group of Boston. In Hurley, the Court held that private associations communicating a message (through a parade, for instance) could not be forced to include unwanted groups in their parade, for this would compel the parade organizers to communicate a message against their will and make free speech and freedom of association protections meaningless. Such forced speech cannot be accomplished even in the name of eradicating discrimination, the Court held.
The Hurley case dealt with the Boston parade, but it settled almost the same issue for the NYC parade. Thus, the NYC parade organizers are not forced by law to do what they just decided to do – include the gay group and its banner. Nevertheless, they are doing exactly that. Thus, here we see an example of cultural pressure superseding legal requirements and causing a group to do what it isn’t required by law to do.
This same phenomenon occurred in the Boy Scouts of America v. Dale case and its aftermath. There, the Supreme Court held that the scouts were protected by the freedom to associate and did not have to permit homosexual scouts or scout masters. Despite being constitutionally protected, the Scouts reversed course in permitting gay scouts (while retaining the ban on gay scout masters). Alas, another high profile entity ceded to cultural pressure that which the law does not require.
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Though these are only two situations, they are high profile matters which illustrate my point: it is highly important to address cultural trends over the long-term, and the thinking that underlies them, in addition to fighting legal battles and addressing matters through the legislature. These cases are monumental constitutional rulings, and many who still wish to speak freely can rely on them. But we can win great court battles and still lose the culture (as these cases illustrate) without properly addressing these trends at the roots. The “how” of addressing these trends is more difficult. One might start by studying how those advancing “anything goes” sexuality have been so successful over the past decades, and after properly understanding the context and our opponents’ messages, we can ascertain the best long-term language to communicate the importance of religious liberty and other issues. Only when we have acquired the proper ammunition for re-shaping our culture over the long-term, can we begin to use it.
Reprinted with permission from FRC blog.