Supreme Court Nominee Sonia Sotomayor 's Anti-Gay Violence Letter

Judge Sonia Sotomayor,  President Obama's nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, is reported to be among the 39 signers of a 1976 letter to the Daily Princetonian condemning anti-gay violence, according to the Advocate.

Back in 1976 eight students ransacked the dorm room of two gay students who were members of the Gay Alliance of Princeton. Then student Sonia Sotomayor was one of those who signed a letter condemning the act of hatred.

The letter to the editor, published on February 27, 1976, which has now come to light, reads, in part:

    For private citizens to try to intimidate the Gay Alliance into silence is a denial of the foundations on which a university is built.

    No matter how much one may disagree with the Gay Alliance or the policies they are advocating, no matter how repugnant one may find homosexuality, the manner of expressing this opposition should be intellectual. At this university we are dedicated to persuasion by reason, not by brute force.

    Intimidation of those courageous enough to express their views, violence directed against unpopular associations, midnight criminal assaults on private residences- these speak for themselves. The entire university community    should be angry, and disgusted, that this kind of action has occurred at Princeton.


While the letter doesn't particularly shed light on Sotomayor's  specific stand with regards to rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, it does provide an insight into her views of the First Amendment.

Sotomayor, the most famous Puerto Rican in the news, was announced Tuesday as President Barack Obama's choice to replace outgoing Associate Justice David Souter on the bench.

Her Supreme Court nomination hearings are scheduled to begin on July 13.