Janet E. Halley, a professor at Stanford Law School, discussed the implications of drawing analogies between the gay rights movement and the civil rights movement yesterday at the Harvard Law School (HLS).

Halley's lecture--titled "Pro-Gay `Like-Race' Arguments"--focused on gay "like-race" arguments within sexual orientation groups, between sexual orientation groups and racially identified groups, and between individuals who are members of both groups.

According to Richard H. Fallon, a professor at HLS, Halley has "a post-modernist view of the issue."

Fallon, who is also the chair of the committee on special lectures, introduced Halley to the crowd of about 100 people assembled in Austin Hall.

Fast-paced and reading directly from her paper, Halley used many issue-specific terms with which most of the audience seemed familiar.

Halley addressed the claim that homosexuality, like race, is immutable in the individual. She raised concerns that the immutability claim could be detrimental to either minority group.

"An unexamined and bizarre premise...seems to be that, if blacks could change the color of their skin, white majorities would be more justified in asking them to do so," Halley said.

Halley also said that if the immutability argument led to an anti-discrimination law, bisexuals could be left out.

"After all, they can switch," Halley said.

While acknowledging that "like-race" similes have caused friction in both racially and sexually identified groups, Halley concluded that such similes can in fact be a helpful political and legal tool.

"Sometimes minoritizing representations do work in the sense that they facilitate actual legal reform," she said.

Halley went on to contend that racial and sexual issues are too intertwined to separate them.

"I don't pretend to have a resolution to these questions. There are ethical problems here," Halley said.

"The point that I'm making is basically that meta is bettah," she said during a question and answer session after the lecture.

Halley's argument struck a chord with severalaudience members, some of whom were students ofFallon's and others who were familiar withHalley's work in the area.

Nicole L. DeBlosi '99, co-chair-elect of BGLTSAand current co-chair of girlspot, said she is notgenerally in favor of using "like-race" analogiesin reference to gay rights.