High Court Upholds Homosexual Ban (Press, 31 May 1984)
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Summary: High Court Upholds Homosexual Ban (Press, 31 May 1984)
On 31 May 1984, the United States Supreme Court declined to overturn a Federal law that bars homosexuals from obtaining U.S. citizenship. Under the current legislation, homosexual individuals are classified as psychopathic personalities, leading to the automatic denial of their citizenship applications. This ruling came after a Federal court in Texas denied citizenship to Richard Longstaff, a 43-year-old businessman from Dallas who had moved to the United States from Britain 18 years earlier. Despite recognising Longstaff's good moral character, the court upheld the ban on citizenship for homosexuals. Longstaff appealed the decision, but the Supreme Court did not provide a rationale for its rejection of the appeal. The ongoing debate regarding the rights of homosexuals has been evolving, notably since the United States Surgeon-General announced in 1979 that aliens would no longer be assessed for homosexuality, asserting that sexual orientation cannot be medically diagnosed. Nonetheless, the Immigration and Naturalisation Service has continued to deny entry to aliens who acknowledge their homosexuality during questioning. The landscape of Federal court rulings regarding this issue is inconsistent. While the Texas court ruled against Longstaff, courts in California and several mid-Atlantic states have permitted homosexual aliens to seek admission and citizenship. Longstaff's appeal pointed to the discordance among various Federal courts, arguing that this inconsistency violates constitutional requirements for uniform naturalisation rules. Although Longstaff faced potential deportation following the Supreme Court's decision, U.S. officials indicated that such action was unlikely. The Supreme Court's ruling underscores its unwillingness to address the conflicting legal standards surrounding the citizenship of homosexual individuals at this time.
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