Opinion ID: 2350429
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: georgetown's free exercise defense

Text: Georgetown claims that the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment exempts it from the Human Rights Act's edict that it distribute the tangible benefits equally without regard to sexual orientation. We disagree. In the trial court, due to Judge Braman's prior statutory construction, Judge Bacon premised her free exercise analysis on the mistaken belief that compliance with the Human Rights Act would require Georgetown to provide a religious endorsement as well as tangible benefits. The true issue is a much more limited one. It is whether the forced distribution of various tangible benefits without regard to sexual orientation, severed from the direct endorsement required by a compelled grant of University Recognition, imposes an unconstitutional burden on Georgetown's exercise of religion. [23] The answer is no.
The Free Exercise Clause provides that Congress shall make no law ... prohibiting the free exercise of religion. U.S. CONST. amend. I. This terse check on government power has given rise to a number of controlling principles. One who invokes the Free Exercise Clause in order to gain exemption from a governmentally imposed obligation must initially establish that forced compliance with the regulation will impose a burden on his or her religious exercise. Although not all burdens on religious exercise are unconstitutional, an exemption accommodating the religious practice must be granted unless the government can demonstrate that it has a compelling or an overriding interest in enforcing the challenged regulation. If so, the court must assure itself that the promotion of the compelling governmental objective outweighs the burden imposed upon the practice of religion and, moreover, that the challenged regulation is the least restrictive means by which the government can attain its compelling end. See, e.g., Bob Jones University v. United States, 461 U.S. 574, 602-04, 103 S.Ct. 2017, 2034-35, 76 L.Ed.2d 157 (1983); United States v. Lee, 455 U.S. 252, 257-60, 102 S.Ct. 1051, 1055-56, 71 L.Ed.2d 127 (1982); Thomas v. Review Board, 450 U.S. 707, 718-19, 101 S.Ct. 1425, 1432, 67 L.Ed.2d 624 (1981); Wisconsin v. Yoder, supra, 406 U.S. at 219-21, 92 S.Ct. at 1535-36; Sherbert v. Verner, supra, 374 U.S. at 402-09, 83 S.Ct. at 1793-96.
The first stage of our inquiry is to decide whether state compulsion to distribute, without regard to sexual orientation, various tangible benefits associated with University Recognition  use of a mailbox, access to the Computer Label Service, mailing facilities, and the ability to apply for (but not necessarily to receive) funding  would interfere with Georgetown's practice of the Roman Catholic religion. See, e.g., Tony and Susan Alamo Foundation v. Secretary of Labor, 471 U.S. 290, 305-06, 105 S.Ct. 1953, 1964, 85 L.Ed.2d 278 (1985); United States v. Lee, supra, 455 U.S. at 256-57, 102 S.Ct. at 1054-55. The parties have not fully developed the extent of the burden that would be imposed on Georgetown's religious exercise by compulsion to grant the tangible benefits without University Recognition. This case has been litigated on the all or nothing basis reflected in the trial court's construction of the Human Rights Act. It is nevertheless undisputed that Georgetown has consistently refused to furnish the additional tangible benefits to the student groups, and throughout has linked its refusal to Roman Catholic teachings. Georgetown is apparently opposed to extending the additional tangible benefits because of its belief that establishing another normative lifestyle conflicting with the moral norms would violate its obligations as a Roman Catholic institution. This objection is not so bizarre, so clearly nonreligious in nature as not to be entitled to protection under the Free Exercise Clause. Thomas v. Review Board, supra, 450 U.S. at 715-16, 101 S.Ct. at 1431. Thus, while the threat of a direct endorsement has been defused, and Georgetown's primary religious fear abated accordingly, it would be inappropriate to dwell exclusively on that fact and conclude that no burden had been shown. From the record, particularly its correspondence with the student groups, we conclude that Georgetown's sincere religious objections go beyond the direct, intangible endorsement and extend to distribution of the contested tangible benefits even without a grant of University Recognition. In these circumstances, especially given the all or nothing manner in which this case has been litigated, we accept that the threat of enforcement of the Human Rights Act with regard to the tangible benefits imposes a burden on Georgetown's religious practice sufficient for it to invoke the Free Exercise Clause.
Next, if the burden on Georgetown's religious practice is not to render the Human Rights Act unconstitutional as applied, we must determine whether the District of Columbia has a compelling or overriding governmental interest in the eradication of sexual orientation discrimination. Hobbie v. Unemployment Appeals Commission, ___ U.S. ___, 107 S.Ct. 1046, 1049, 94 L.Ed.2d 190 (1987); Bob Jones University v. United States, supra, 461 U.S. at 603-04, 103 S.Ct. at 2034-35; United States v. Lee, supra, 455 U.S. at 257-58, 102 S.Ct. at 1055; Thomas v. Review Board, supra, 450 U.S. at 718-19, 101 S.Ct. at 1432. [O]nly those interests of the highest order and those not otherwise served can overbalance legitimate claims to the free exercise of religion. Wisconsin v. Yoder, supra, 406 U.S. at 215, 92 S.Ct. at 1533. We conclude that the District of Columbia's stake in the eradication of sexual orientation discrimination is one such interest. At the outset, we note that the District of Columbia Council is unmistakably of this opinion. In enacting the Human Rights Act, the Council placed sexual orientation discrimination among the category of social evils traditionally occupied by discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, and so forth. See, e.g., D.C.Code § 1-2501 (1987). In the Council's view, all forms of discrimination based on anything other than individual merit are equally injurious, to the immediate victims and to society as a whole. The driving force behind the adoption of this legislation was the necessity for remembering, appropriately, what is embodied in our Bill of Rights  the respect for individual dignity in a diverse population. As the legislative history of the original 1973 regulation reveals: [W]e would emphasize that our intent in this regulation is far-reaching. We are committed to the basic principle that each and every person seeking access to facilities and opportunities in the District of Columbia has a right to be considered for such access on the basis of individual merit and a right to expect reasonable accommodations to be made, in so considering, in deference to individual uniqueness. Somehow, in this country, we have tended to develop as a nation of people who find the differences among us very discomforting. This is especially ironic when we recall the reasons and the necessity for the founding of our nation in the first place. At this time in our history, and doubtless to a greater extent in the future, our population is diverse beyond describing. The day is long past, if, in fact, it ever existed, when we could identify groups of people who supposedly share common attitudes, characteristics, abilities or limitations. It is, then, in this spirit and through this regulation that we attempt to support the rights of individuals in all their diversity and potential. Parker Report I, supra, at 2. The Council determined that a person's sexual orientation, like a person's race and sex, for example, tells nothing of value about his or her attitudes, characteristics, abilities or limitations. It is a false measure of individual worth, one unfair and oppressive to the person concerned, one harmful to others because discrimination inflicts a grave and recurring injury upon society as a whole. To put an end to this evil, the Council outlawed sexual orientation discrimination in employment, D.C. Code § 1-2512 (1987), in real estate transactions, id. §§ 1-2515 to -2517, in public accommodations, id. § 1-2519, in educational institutions, id. § 1-2520, and elsewhere, id. § 1-2511. Such comprehensive measures were necessary to ensure that [e]very individual shall have an equal opportunity to participate fully in the economic, cultural and intellectual life of the District, and to have an equal opportunity to participate in all aspects of life.... Id. Only by eradicating discrimination based on sexual orientation, along with all other forms of discrimination unrelated to individual merit, could the District eliminate recurrent personal injustice and build a society which encourages and expects the full contribution of every member of the community in all their diversity and potential. In 1977, armed with the legislative power newly granted to it by Home Rule, the Council elevated its earlier regulation onto a statutory footing. See D.C.Code §§ 1-2501 to -2557 (1987). [24] In so doing, it reaffirmed its belief that enforcement of the Human Rights Act is a matter of vital importance to the District. The committee report notes that enactment of the original human rights regulation as a statute would affirmatively and forcefully convey to the executive and administrative agencies of the District Government the importance which the Council places on vigorous enforcement of its provisions. Council of the District of Columbia, Committee Report on Bill 2-179, The Human Rights Act of 1977, at 3 (July 5, 1977) (available in the District Building). Enactment of the Human Rights Act was intended to underscore the Council's intent that the elimination of discrimination within the District of Columbia should have `the highest priority'.... Id. at 3. Among the statute's basic purposes is reinforcement of the Council's view that the Human Rights Act is among our most important laws and is to be vigorously enforced by all agencies and officials of the District Government.... Id. at 1. From the legislative history, there can be no doubt that the Council regards the eradication of sexual orientation discrimination as a compelling governmental interest. Cf. Howard University v. Best, 484 A.2d 958, 978 (D.C.1984) (sex discrimination); Greater Washington Business Center v. District of Columbia Commission on Human Rights, 454 A.2d 1333, 1337 (D.C.1982) (same). While not lightly to be disregarded, the Council's strong feelings do not resolve the issue whether its ban on sexual orientation discrimination represents a compelling governmental interest. That is a question of law and [i]t is emphatically the province of the judicial department to say what the law is. Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137, 177, 2 L.Ed. 60 (1803). Here, the question presented is a novel one. Although it is well settled that government has a compelling interest in the eradication of other forms of discrimination, such as that based on race, e.g., Bob Jones University v. United States, supra, 461 U.S. at 604, 103 S.Ct. at 2035, or sex, e.g., Roberts v. United States Jaycees, 468 U.S. 609, 625, 104 S.Ct. 3244, 3253, 82 L.Ed. 2d 462 (1984), no appellate court has had to answer that question in the context of sexual orientation discrimination. We approach our task, therefore, with more than a little trepidation. Our society is built upon a heterosexual model. We are met at the outset with centuries of attitudinal thinking, often colored by sincerely held religious beliefs, that has obscured scientific appraisal and stunted the growth of legal theories protecting homosexual persons from invidious discrimination. We know one basic fact  that homosexual and bisexual citizens have been part of society from time immemorial. These orientations, like that of heterosexuals, have cut across all diverse classifications  race, sex, national origin, and religion, to name but a few. After careful reflection, we cannot conclude that one's sexual orientation is a characteristic reflecting upon individual merit. Modern research on sexual orientation began with the investigation of Alfred C. Kinsey and his associates into human sexual behavior. From his study of twelve thousand white males, still the largest of its kind, Kinsey reported that only 50% had neither overt nor psychic homosexual experiences after the onset of adolescence. A. KINSEY, W. POMEROY & C. MARTIN, SEXUAL BEHAVIOR IN THE HUMAN MALE 650-51 (1948). Another 37% had had at least some overt homosexual experience to the point of orgasm between adolescence and old age, while the remaining 13% reacted erotically to other males without having physical contacts. Id. Almost half of his sample had both heterosexual and homosexual experiences at some point during their lives. Id. Kinsey's findings challenged the popular assumption that the vast majority of people are either exclusively heterosexual or exclusively homosexual and suggested that instead individual sexual responses and behavior fall somewhere between these extremes for some 46% of the population. See id. While stressing the existence of a continuum, for convenience Kinsey adopted a seven-point scale, with zero denoting the exclusively homosexual and six the exclusively heterosexual. Id. at 636-50. The Kinsey scale continues to be relied upon today. Shortly afterwards, Kinsey found a similar diversity of sexual responses and behavior among women. A. KINSEY, W. POMEROY, C. MARTIN & P. GEBHARD, SEXUAL BEHAVIOR IN THE HUMAN FEMALE 473-74 (1953). At a minimum, Kinsey's research revealed the complexity and diversity of human sexual orientations and prompted considerable further inquiry. As yet, there is no scientific agreement as to the origins of heterosexual, bisexual or homosexual orientation. Although various biological, psychoanalytic and social learning theories have been advanced, none has won common acceptance. See J. MONEY & A. EHRHARDT, MAN AND WOMAN, BOY AND GIRL 229 (1972) (hereinafter MAN AND WOMAN, BOY AND GIRL); Acosta, Etiology and Treatment of Homosexuality, 4 ARCHIVES SEXUAL BEHAV. 9, 13-18 (1975); MacCulloch & Waddington, Neuroendocrine Mechanisms and the Aetiology of Male and Female Homosexuality, 139 J. BRIT. PSYCHIATRY 341, 341 (1981). On the other hand, several popular theories have been disproved. A. BELL, M. WEINBERG & S. HAMMERSMITH, SEXUAL PREFERENCE  ITS DEVELOPMENT IN MEN AND WOMEN 210-11 (1981) (hereinafter SEXUAL PREFERENCE  ITS DEVELOPMENT IN MEN AND WOMEN). Some researchers posit that sexual orientation may have multiple roots. Id. It is generally agreed, however, that individual sexual orientation develops at least by adolescence, id. at 186-87, 211, 222, if not during childhood, id.; M. SAGHIR & E. ROBINS, MALE & FEMALE HOMOSEXUALITY 17-31 (1973); Marmor, Overview: The Multiple Roots of Homosexual Behavior, in HOMOSEXUAL BEHAVIOR: A MODERN REAPPRAISAL 3, 19-21 (J. Marmor ed. 1980); Storms, Theories of Sexual Orientation, 38 J. PERSONALITY & SOC. PSYCHOLOGY 783 (1980); Warren, Homosexuality and Stigma, in HOMOSEXUAL BEHAVIOR: A MODERN REAPPRAISAL, supra, at 125-26, or even earlier, MAN AND WOMAN, BOY AND GIRL, supra, at 235. It was found in one study of almost fifteen hundred heterosexual and homosexual men and women that homosexual adults had typically experienced sexual feelings in that direction about three years before engaging in intimate homosexual activity. SEXUAL PREFERENCE  ITS DEVELOPMENT IN MEN AND WOMEN, supra, at 187-88. There is no reliable evidence that adult homosexual orientation  the attempt is never made in the opposite direction  can be cured. Id. at 217; W. CHURCHILL, HOMOSEXUAL BEHAVIOR AMONG MALES 283-89 (1967); Coleman, Changing Approaches to the Treatment of Homosexuality: A Review, in HOMOSEXUALITY: SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL AND BIOLOGICAL ISSUES 81-82 (W. Paul & J. Weinrich eds. 1982); Marmor, Clinical Aspects of Homosexuality, in HOMOSEXUAL BEHAVIOR: A MODERN REAPPRAISAL, supra, at 277. The Alfred C. Kinsey Institute for Sex Research has concluded from its empirical studies that [H]omosexuality is as deeply ingrained as heterosexuality.... [E]xclusive homosexuality probably is so deeply ingrained that one should not attempt or expect to change it. Rather, it would probably make far more sense simply to recognize it as a basic component of a person's core identity.... Neither homosexuals nor heterosexuals are what they are by design. Homosexuals, in particular, cannot be dismissed as persons who simply refuse to conform. There is no reason to think it would be any easier for homosexual men or women to reverse their sexual orientation than it would be for heterosexual readers to become predominantly or exclusively homosexual. SEXUAL PREFERENCE  ITS DEVELOPMENT IN MEN AND WOMEN, supra, at 190, 211, 222. The idea that homosexuality is a form of mental disorder has been widely abandoned. See Resolution of the House of Representatives of the American Psychological Association (1975); Resolution No. 7514 of the American Public Health Association (1975); Resolution of the American Psychiatric Association (Dec. 15, 1973). Rejection of this notion followed upon studies revealing that heterosexual and homosexual men and women performed equally on standard psychological tests and were similarly free of psychopathology. E.g., M. FREEDMAN, HOMOSEXUALITY AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONING (1971); Hooker, The Adjustment of the Male Overt Homosexual, 21 J. PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUES 18 (1957). Gay people do experience particular psychological stresses, however, due to prejudice against them in social settings. See A. BELL & M. WEINBERG, HOMOSEXUALITIES  A STUDY OF DIVERSITY AMONG MEN AND WOMEN 195-216 (1978) (hereinafter HOMOSEXUALITIES  A STUDY OF DIVERSITY AMONG MEN AND WOMEN). Just as it is impossible to typecast heterosexually oriented persons (or, for that matter, members of racial minorities or women), gay people cannot be neatly pigeonholed into any recognizable category. Id. passim. A homosexual orientation tells nothing reliable about abilities or commitments in work, religion, politics, personal and social relationships, or social activities, except to the extent that in many areas the lives of gay people are frequently conditioned by the attitudes of others. Id. at 139-216. It is often forgotten that homosexuality encompasses far more than people's sexual proclivities. Too often homosexuals have been viewed simply with reference to their sexual interests and activity. Usually the social context and psychological correlates of homosexual experience are largely ignored, making for a highly constricted image of the persons involved. HOMOSEXUALITIES  A STUDY OF DIVERSITY AMONG MEN AND WOMEN, supra, at 24-25; see also Paul, Social Issues and Homosexual Behavior: A Taxonomy of Categories and Themes in Anti-Gay Argument (discussing false stereotypes affecting gay people) in HOMOSEXUALITY: SOCIAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL AND BIOLOGICAL ISSUES, supra, at 29, 46-52. Despite its irrelevance to individual merit, a homosexual or bisexual orientation invites ongoing prejudice in all walks of life, ranging from employment to education, and for most of which there is currently no judicial remedy outside the District of Columbia or the State of Wisconsin. See generally Rivera, Queer Law: Sexual Orientation Law in the Mid-Eighties (Part II), 11 U. DAYTON L.REV. 275 (1986) (citing cases); id. (Part I), 10 U. DAYTON L.REV. 459 (1985) (same); Rivera, Recent Developments in Sexual Preference Law, 30 DRAKE L.REV. 311 (1980-81) (same); Rivera, Our Straight-Laced Judges: The Legal Position of Homosexual Persons in the United States, 30 HASTINGS L.J. 799 (1979) (same). Illustrative is a 1950 Senate investigation into the employment of homosexual persons and other moral perverts in the federal government. It concluded that even one sex pervert in a government agency tends to have a corrosive influence upon his fellow employees.... One homosexual can pollute a government office. SENATE COMMITTEE ON EXPENDITURES IN THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS, EMPLOYMENT OF HOMOSEXUALS AND OTHER SEX PERVERTS IN GOVERNMENT, S.DOC. No. 241, 81st Cong., 2d Sess. 3-5 (1950). As a result of this reasoning it was not until 1975 that the federal government lifted its ban on the employment of homosexual workers. See generally Slovenko, The Homosexual and Society: A Historical Perspective, 10 U. DAYTON L.REV. 445, 451 (1985). Erupting into violence, social prejudice sometimes takes the form of unprovoked attacks on those perceived to be gay. See NATIONAL GAY TASK FORCE, ANTI-GAY/LESBIAN VICTIMIZATION (1984); Harry, Derivative Deviance: The Cases of Extortion, Fag-Bashing, and Shakedown of Gay Men, 19 CRIMINOLOGY 546 (1982); Russo & Humphries, Homosexuality and Crime, in 2 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CRIME AND JUSTICE 866, 869-70 (S. Kadish ed. 1983). Such discrimination has persisted throughout most of history. See generally V. BULLOUGH, HOMOSEXUALITY: A HISTORY (1979); J. KATZ, GAY/LESBIAN ALMANAC: A NEW DOCUMENTARY (1983); J. KATZ, GAY AMERICAN HISTORY (1976); HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES ON HOMOSEXUALITY (S. Licata & R. Petersen eds. 1981) ( reprinting 6 J. HOMOSEXUALITY (1980-81)). In perhaps its most virulent form, prejudice against gay people led to the Nazi concentration camps. There, homosexual prisoners were distinguished, like their unfortunate fellows, by a cloth badge, in their case one which singled them out for unusual atrocities. See Lautman, The Pink Triangle  The Persecution of Homosexual Males in Concentration Camps in Nazi Germany, in HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES ON HOMOSEXUALITY, supra, at 141. Although by no means a prerequisite to our conclusion of a compelling governmental interest, we note parenthetically that sexual orientation appears to possess most or all of the characteristics that have persuaded the Supreme Court to apply strict or heightened constitutional scrutiny to legislative classifications under the Equal Protection Clause. See J. ELY, DEMOCRACY AND DISTRUST 162-64 (1980); L. TRIBE, AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL LAW § 15-13, at 944 n. 17 (1978); Note, The Constitutional Status of Sexual Orientation: Homosexuality as a Suspect Classification, 98 HARV.L.REV. 1285 (1985); Note, An Argument for the Application of Equal Protection Heightened Scrutiny to Classifications Based on Homosexuality, 57 SO.CAL.L.REV. 797 (1984); cf. Bowers v. Hardwick, 478 U.S. 186, 106 S.Ct. 2841, 2846 n. 8, 92 L.Ed.2d 140 (1986) (no Equal Protection Clause claim raised in unsuccessful right to privacy challenge to sodomy statute as applied to gay defendant); Gay Law Students Association v. Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Co., 24 Cal.3d 458, 474-75, 595 P.2d 592, 602, 156 Cal.Rptr. 14, 24 (1979) (equal protection guarantee of state constitution violated by public utility's exclusion of gay people from employment opportunities). If we were to measure these characteristics as against these standards we would find that scientific literature characterizes sexual orientation as a status which is determined by causes not within the [individual's] control, see Mathews v. Lucas, 427 U.S. 495, 505, 96 S.Ct. 2755, 2762, 49 L.Ed. 2d 651 (1976) (discussing illegitimacy), and one not generally subject to change, see Frontiero v. Richardson, 411 U.S. 677, 686, 93 S.Ct. 1764, 1770, 36 L.Ed.2d 583 (1973) (plurality opinion) (discussing sex, race and national origin); Parham v. Hughes, 441 U.S. 347, 351, 99 S.Ct. 1742, 1745, 60 L.Ed.2d 269 (1979) (plurality opinion) (same). Obviously, one is no less heterosexual, bisexual or homosexual merely because he or she is celibate. Homosexually and bisexually oriented persons have been subjected to unique disabilities on the basis of stereotyped characteristics not truly indicative of their abilities. See Massachusetts Board of Retirement v. Murgia, 427 U.S. 307, 313, 96 S.Ct. 2562, 2567, 49 L.Ed.2d 520 (1976) (per curiam) (discussing elderly). Sexual orientation bears no relation to the individual's ability to participate in and contribute to society, see Mathews v. Lucas, supra, 427 U.S. at 505, 96 S.Ct. at 2762, and [d]iscriminations are not to be supported by merely fanciful conjecture, Hartford Co. v. Harrison, 301 U.S. 459, 462, 57 S.Ct. 838, 840, 81 L.Ed. 1223 (1937). This country has a long and unfortunate history of discrimination based on sexual orientation. See Frontiero v. Richardson, supra, 411 U.S. at 682, 684, 93 S.Ct. at 1769 (discussing sex discrimination); see also Massachusetts Board of Retirement v. Murgia, supra, 427 U.S. at 312-13, 96 S.Ct. at 2566; (discussing age discrimination); San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 1, 28-29, 93 S.Ct. 1278, 1294, 36 L.Ed.2d 16 (1973) (discussing wealth discrimination). Finally, due to the legal and social penalties commonly triggered by public acknowledgement of homosexuality or bisexuality, persons so oriented may constitute discrete and insular minorities whose interests have traditionally been neglected by the operation of those political processes ordinarily to be relied upon to protect minorities. See United States v. Carolene Products Co., 304 U.S. 144, 152 n. 4, 58 S.Ct. 778, 783-84 n. 4, 82 L.Ed. 1234 (1938); see also Massachusetts Board of Retirement v. Murgia, supra, 427 U.S. at 313, 96 S.Ct. at 2567 (discussing elderly); Graham v. Richardson, 403 U.S. 365, 372, 91 S.Ct. 1848, 1852, 29 L.Ed.2d 534 (1971) (discussing aliens). The compelling interests, therefore, that any state has in eradicating discrimination against the homosexually or bisexually oriented include the fostering of individual dignity, the creation of a climate and environment in which each individual can utilize his or her potential to contribute to and benefit from society, and equal protection of the life, liberty and property that the Founding Fathers guaranteed to us all. Speaking of discrimination in other areas, the United States Commission on Civil Rights has noted that discrimination hurts society in ways that are subtle, and often unseen: Discriminatory actions by individuals and organizations are not only pervasive, occurring in every sector of society, but also cumulative, with effects limited neither to the time nor the particular structural area in which they occur. This process of discrimination, therefore, extends across generations, across organizations, and across social structures in self-reinforcing cycles, passing the disadvantages incurred by one generation in one area to future generations in many related areas.       [The interlocking process of discrimination, started by past events, now routinely bestows privileges on some and penalties on others.] This process is also self-perpetuating. Many normal, seemingly neutral, operations of our society create stereotyped expectations that justify unequal results; unequal results in one area foster inequalities in opportunity and accomplishment in others; the lack of opportunity and accomplishment confirms the original prejudices or engenders new ones that fuel the normal operations generating unequal results. ... [T]he process of discrimination involves many aspects of our society. No single factor sufficiently explains discrimination, and no single means will suffice to eliminate it. We must continuously examine such elements of our society as our history of de jure discrimination, deeply ingrained prejudices, inequities based on economic and social class, and the structure and function of all our economic, social, and political institutions in order to understand their part in maintaining or countering discriminatory processes. It may be difficult to identify precisely all aspects of discriminatory processes and assign those parts their appropriate weight. But understanding how discrimination works starts with an awareness that it is a process, and that to avoid perpetuating it, we must carefully assess the context and consequences of our everyday actions. U.S. COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS, AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IN THE 1980S: DISMANTLING THE PROCESS OF DISCRIMINATION 12-14 (1981); see also Brest, The Supreme Court 1975 Term  Forward: in Defense of the Anti-discrimination Principle, 90 HARV.L.REV. 1, 8 (1976) (Decisions based on assumptions of intrinsic worth and selective indifference inflict psychological injury by stigmatizing their victims as inferior. Moreover, because acts of discrimination tend to occur in pervasive patterns, their victims suffer especially frustrating, cumulative and debilitating injuries). As long as homosexual men and women, as well as other groups of people who are simply seen as `different' from the majority of American citizens, continue to be viewed through stereotypical thinking, our society will pay the price inevitably exacted by fear and ignorance. HOMOSEXUALITIES  A STUDY OF DIVERSITY AMONG MEN AND WOMEN, supra, at 25; see also EEOC v. Mississippi College, 626 F.2d 477, 489 (5th Cir.1980) (the government has a compelling interest in eradicating discrimination in all forms), cert. denied, 453 U.S. 912, 101 S.Ct. 3143, 69 L.Ed.2d 994 (1981); Russell v. Belmont College, 554 F.Supp. 667, 677 (M.D.Tn.1982) (this nation has a strong public policy against discrimination not only on the basis of sex but in all forms); cf. address by Melvin Boozer to 1980 Democratic National Convention (I know what it means to be called a nigger, and I know what it means to be called a faggot, and I can sum up the difference in one word: none), quoted in Pearson, Homosexual Rights Activist Melvin Boozer Dies at 41, The Washington Post, Mar. 10, 1987, at B6, col. 1. [25] We consider that the Council of the District of Columbia acted on the most pressing of needs when incorporating into the Human Rights Act its view that discrimination based on sexual orientation is a grave evil that damages society as well as its immediate victims. The eradication of sexual orientation discrimination is a compelling governmental interest.
Given that the District of Columbia has a compelling governmental interest in eradicating sexual orientation discrimination, we must determine whether that interest outweighs the burden enforcement of the Human Rights Act would impose on Georgetown's religious exercise. In this case, compelling equal access to the tangible benefits, without requiring the intangible endorsement contained in University Recognition, imposes a relatively slight burden on Georgetown's religious practice. As Georgetown itself concedes, [t]he only tangible benefits plaintiffs could receive by the grant of official recognition are relatively insignificant  such as mailing and computer labeling services. Supplemental Brief at 2. It then argues that [s]uch minor perquisites cannot outweigh the substantial burden on the University's religious liberty that would flow from compelled recognition of the student groups. Id. But its argument fails because the substantial burden to which it refers  compulsion to grant the intangible endorsement contained in University Recognition  is not required by the Human Rights Act. By Georgetown's own admission, what the Human Rights Act actually does require  equal distribution of the tangible benefits  is considerably less burdensome. Our conclusion that the burden on religious liberty does not outweigh the District's compelling interest receives additional support from the facts that Georgetown voluntarily gives the student groups the fewer tangible benefits that come with Student Body Endorsement and that it has never objected to the student groups meeting on campus. Without interference from the Georgetown administration, the student groups are an active force in the university community. GPGU, for example, has held campus meetings almost weekly, hosting discussions, speakers, and educational and social events. Finally, the burden imposed upon Georgetown's religious exercise is further diminished by the parties' representations that GPGU has already been given a mailbox, one of the tangible benefits theoretically in dispute.
Finally, even though the District of Columbia's compelling interest in eradicating sexual orientation discrimination outweighs the burden that compliance with the Human Rights Act would impose on Georgetown's religious exercise, the statute can be enforced only if it is the least restrictive means of attaining that goal. Thomas v. Review Board, supra, 450 U.S. at 718, 101 S.Ct. at 1413. Here, that condition is met. To tailor the Human Rights Act to require less of the University than equal access to its facilities and services, without regard to sexual orientation, would be to defeat its compelling purpose. The District of Columbia's overriding interest in eradicating sexual orientation discrimination, if it is ever to be converted from aspiration to reality, requires that Georgetown equally distribute tangible benefits to the student groups. Other than compelling the equal provision of tangible benefits, there are no available means of eradicating sexual orientation discrimination in educational institutions that would be less restrictive of Georgetown's religious exercise.