U.S. Supreme Court

You won't see these words in Kennedy's DOMA decision

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy didn’t use the word “gay” in his majority opinion on Wednesday striking down the Defense of Marriage Act, a law that denied federal benefits to same-sex married couples.

Nor did he use the plural “gays,” the Wall Street Journal Law Blog (sub. req.) reports. Also absent: the words “lesbian” and “love.” The blog gives a hat tip to the control-F command on its keyboard.

The blog also notes some unusual words in a dissent by Justice Antonin Scalia, including “argle-bargle”—meaning a vigorous discussion or dispute.