'This is a hopeful sign that may provide insight into his philosophy,' said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese.

WASHINGTON - Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese made the following statement today as The Boston Globe reported that as a senior at Princeton University, Samuel Alito chaired a task force that recommended decriminalizing sodomy and saying discrimination against gays in hiring "should be forbidden."

"This is a hopeful sign that may provide insight into his philosophy," said Solmonese. "There were very few people standing up for gay Americans 34 years ago and most who did have evolved even more since."
Solmonese continued, "We will continue to learn more between now and the hearings. It's crucial that we find out more about his views on the right to privacy and other constitutional issues."

President Bush nominated Alito on Monday to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court. The far right reacted praising the nomination.

According to The Boston Globe, "The report, issued in 1971 by Alito and 16 other Princeton students, stemmed from a class assignment to study the 'boundaries of privacy in American society' and to recommend ways to protect individual rights." Alito wrote in the report's forward,
"We sense a great threat to privacy in modern America. ﾃ We all believe that privacy is too often sacrificed to other values we all believe that the threat to privacy is steadily and rapidly mounting we all believe that action must be taken on many fronts now to preserve privacy."

The Human Rights Campaign is the largest national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender political organization with members throughout the country. It effectively lobbies Congress, provides campaign support and educates the public to ensure that LGBT Americans can be open, honest and safe at home, at work and in the community.