One of my worst memories of middle school is being in the cafeteria when someone came up and demanded that I say that I was gay.  It was a horrible moment that will be seared in my memory forever.

To my mind, there are two related reasons to out a public figure: candor and hypocrisy.  Reksers is a perfect example.  Rekers has spent his life denying that he’s gay while, at the same time, spewing dangerous rhetoric that has caused pain among countless gays and lesbians and likely has caused several several suicides of LGBT teens.  Publicly exposing Rekers as gay is valid because it exposes the hypocrisy of his teachings.

So what’s the reason to demand that Judge Walker come out?  He’s never

Petralis (along with a group of conservative religous extreemists) claim that Judge Walker has an obligation to declare his sexual orientation because he presides over the Prop 8 trial.  That’s a dangerous argument.  When Justice O’Connor wrote the majority opinion in the Casey case, did anyone demand to know if she ever had an abortion?  

demand that a judge who’s presiding over a maariage equality trial declare his sexuality, shouldn’t we demand that a judge presiding over a rape trial declare if she’s ever been molested?  Or demand that a judge presiding over a case involving reproductive rights delcare if she’s ever had an abortion?