ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the history of the relationship between expression, equality and privacy in the state's regulation of sexuality. It traces the development of identity concepts in law and the general shift from privacy to equality claims. The centrality of viewpoint to gay identity explains the logic behind what has become the primary strategy of antigay forces: the attempted penalization of those who 'profess' homosexuality, in a series of 'no promo homo' campaigns. Notions of identity increasingly form the basis for gay and lesbian equality claims. Identity politics has led to identity speech. The growth in the lesbian and gay rights movement has generated more speech about sexuality. A year after the Briggs vote, the California Supreme Court ruled that statements of homosexual identity constituted political speech protected by the state's labor code. Although few of the judicial opinions addressing AIDS-related issues focus on expression, the politics of speech profoundly shaped AIDS policy.
