Yoshino: diversity, civil rights linked

An "explosion" of American diversity has influenced the legal debate over which civil liberties are protected by the 14th Amendment, Yale Law School professor Kenji Yoshino told a crowd of about 90 students, professors and community members in Dodds Auditorium yesterday.

In a lecture entitled "The New Equal Protection," Yoshino argued that an increase in national diversity has caused courts to change the way they protect civil liberties.

With arguments taken in part from his recently published book, "Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights," Yoshino contended that the old strategy of expanding civil liberties through a constitutional "equal protection" argument — which subjected discrimination against groups such as racial minorities to "heightened scrutiny" — is "exhausted" and experiencing a backlash.

The courts are now avoiding "group-based identity politics," employing a universal rights argument instead, he said. For example, he said, if same-sex marriage were to be legalized in the United States, it would be because of "the right of an individual to marry who they love," and not because homosexuals have a right not to be discriminated against on the basis of sexual orientation.

These changes in the way diversity and civil rights are interpreted, Yoshino argued, have been prompted in large part by the increasingly "explosive pluralism" of American society.

Caucasians, he said, will no longer continue as an overwhelming majority in many regions. Yoshino added that the LGBT community, along with other forms of diversity, is increasingly being recognized by society.

"Not only are we the most religiously diverse country in the world, but we are the most religiously diverse country in world history," he said.

During the question-and-answer session following Yoshino's formal remarks, students seized the chance to engage with him and question his ideas' potential impact on American society.

Ellen Adams '10, who said she had read Yoshino's book and had previously heard him speak, asked why he shied away from addressing transgender rights in his arguments.

"That kind of question is a symptom of explosive pluralism," Yoshino answered, acknowledging that there were many groups he had not specifically mentioned.

The Center for Human Values and the Wilson School cosponsored the lecture.