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Lahmann v. Grand Aerie of Fraternal Order of Eagles10/12/2005
he seriousness of the burden on the Eagles' expressive activities. I will address these issues in turn.
In Board of Directors of Rotary Int'l v. Rotary Club of Duarte, 481 US 537, 549, 107 S Ct 1940, 95 L Ed 2d 474 (1987), the Court specifically identified the compelling interest that was at issue in Roberts: "In Roberts we recognized that the tate's compelling interest in assuring equal access to women extends to the acquisition of leadership skills and business contacts as well as tangible goods and services." Board of Directors of Rotary Int'l involved that same compelling interest. 481 US at 550. In this case, however, the only interest at stake is assuring women equal access to social interaction with men. The United States Supreme Court has never recognized such an interest as "compelling."
Moreover, the factual differences between this case and Roberts demonstrate the serious burden the act places on the ability of members of the Eagles to express their beliefs in the intrinsic value of single-gender social interaction. In Roberts, the organizational purpose at play was to take public positions on a number of diverse issues as well as to engage in the public activities previously described. 468 US at 626-27. Similarly, in Board of Directors of Rotary Int'l, the stated purposes of the organization were to provide humanitarian service, to encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and to help build world peace and good will. Rotary International aspired to include a "representative of every worthy and recognized business, professional, or institutional activity in the community." 481 US at 540 (quoting 2 Rotary Basic Library, Club Service 67-69 (1981)).
The purposes of the above organizations--which exist to provide public service--are in stark contrast to the Eagles, which exists to allow its members to engage in fraternal rites and eat and drink with one another. Part of that social purpose includes secret rituals during which Aerie members address one another as "Brother"; male Eagles pray and sing about "Brotherhood"; and they refer to "the finest traits of a manly character." Auxiliary members, in their own rituals, refer to "Sisterhood," and to "Womanhood, to Motherhood, and to Home." The majority improperly dismisses these separate rituals with the conclusory statement that mixed company would have only a "slight" effect on the entire ritual. ___ Or App at ___ (slip op at 28). As the United States Supreme Court stated in Boy Scouts of America v. Dale, 530 US 640, 653, 120 S Ct 2446, 147 L Ed 2d 554 (2000), courts must "give deference to an association's view of what would impair its expression." Had the Eagles, like the Jaycees and Rotary International, been primarily a business or public service organization, the inclusion of women may have only a slight impact on the expressive activities of its members. However, the Eagles' primary purpose is social interaction, and admitting me
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