What I am going to talk about is the use of genetic information to classify individuals for purposes of the law, and more specifically, the impact of the so-called gay gene on legal classifications. What is really important here, and the reason I need to offer you a primer on constitutional law, is so that we all start on the same page by understanding how our laws, starting with the federal constitution, classify people for the purpose of bestowing or denying rights and benefits. This leads us to an understanding of why people object to various classifications, and an appreciation of the power of the courts in determining if certain classifications are appropriate. I am, in a way, laying the groundwork for subsequent speakers who will more fully address how genetic classifications may be developed as we learn more and more from the human genome project about the specific genes that make us who we are
