The special fear and loathing of homosexuals in American society has various psychological causes, but much of the discrimination they suffer is firmly abetted by the legal system.
In many ways the Bill of Rights was designed to protect minorities from the tyranny of the majority. But no clause in the U.S. Constitution guarantees any special safeguards to persons attracted to their own sex; gays are usually dependent entirely on protection supplied by legislatures or granted by changes in public mores. Even the embattled Equal Rights Amendment, if approved, would protect only against discrimination by sex, not sexual preference. And as last...