Last week, we got some really good reminders of the principles the country was founded on.

First came New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's comments about the proposed Islamic community center and mosque near the site of the World Trade Center. At an August 3 press conference, surrounded by representatives of a broad variety of religious faiths, Bloomberg supported the plan and urged religious tolerance.

"The World Trade Center site will forever hold a special place in our city, in our hearts," Bloomberg said. "But we would be untrue to the best part of ourselves - and who we are as New Yorkers and Americans - if we said ‘no' to a mosque in Lower Manhattan."

The mosque is "an important test of the separation of church and state," he said. "And it is critically important that we get it right."

On the heels of that lesson came Federal District Court Judge Vaughn Walker's powerful ruling in San Francisco. California's Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage in that state, is unconstitutional, Walker wrote. It violates the 14th Amendment's guarantee of equal protection.

But Walker also gives a forceful defense of the rights of the LGBT community, touching not only on the right of same-sex couples to marry but also on the wide discrimination and prejudice from which that community suffers.

"Proposition 8," he wrote, "was premised on the belief that same-sex couples simply are not as good as opposite-sex couples."

It "places the force of law behind stigmas against gays and lesbians."

"Religious beliefs that gay and lesbian relationships are sinful or inferior to heterosexual relationships harm gays and lesbians," he wrote.

And: "No credible evidence supports a finding that an individual may, through conscious decision, therapeutic intervention, or any other method, change his or her sexual orientation."

As for voters' approval of Prop 8: "fundamental rights," wrote Walker, "may not be submitted to a vote."

And there is this ringing insistence in Walker's conclusion: "Moral disapproval alone is an improper basis on which to deny rights to gay men and lesbians."

Walker immediately issued a stay of his own decision, knowing that there'd be an appeal, so for the moment, nothing has changed. And without question, the case will wind up in the Supreme Court, where the outcome is certainly in doubt.

So the LGBT community will continue to wait for justice. But Walker's words seem as important in the gay-rights struggle as those of Brown v. Board of Education in that earlier civil-rights struggle. They're worth reading.

Don Corbett

With the death of retired Judge Don Corbett on July 30, Rochester lost a real giant in its judicial history.

Don served eight years on Family Court and 20 on the state Court of Claims - eight as presiding judge. In that time, he left a lasting mark on his profession and the community. Friends and associates, for instance, have stressed his influence on Family Court. "When Don was elected," said former County Executive Tom Frey, "Family Court had a very bad reputation. When he got there, he just changed it. He made sure that kids got heard, that parents were able to participate. He did it in a way that just shook up the whole court, and it has stayed a good court."

"Don opened Family Court and invited everyone in, including the press, as long as the names of the families were not revealed," said longtime friend Peggy Soule. To Don, "closed courts protect judges, lawyers, and social workers but not children and families," said Soule.

"His advocacy for children," said former Family Court Judge Michael Miller, "was just phenomenal."

Don was also a strong supporter and board member of Children Awaiting Parents, which finds families for children with special needs. He helped CAP grow from a small group of Rochester-area parents into not only a significant local group but also a national organization.

He was a person "filled with integrity, fidelity, compassion, and humor," said Soule. And he was a sweet, incredibly decent man.