On Wednesday, the Supreme Court took a giant step backwards in the fight against discrimination in the United States.

The Court, in a 5-4 decision, ruled that it was OK for the Boy Scouts to not allow homosexuals to be leaders or members.

This decision does not "protect the rights of private organizations" as some people are saying, but instead makes it legal for organizations to participate in full-scale institutional discrimination.

States like New Jersey, Hawaii and Vermont are making great strides in equality for homosexuals - strides that the federal government has not been able to, or even tried to, keep up with. Hawaii's attempt to legalize same-sex marriages was overturned, the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy is a cruel joke, and now homosexuals can legally be barred from any organization that is so inclined.

Great strides have been made in the past few years towards the acceptance of and equal right for, homosexuals, but this decision sets the legal precedent for institutional, government-sanctioned discrimination. Now homosexuals can legally be excluded from any private organization - from Boy Scouts and churches to private universities and the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Aside from homosexuals, the Court has also let down other minorities. The Court has made several precedents that have forced private organizations to admit women and racial minorities as members. With this new decision, there is a real possibility that it will be seen as a way for these organizations to once again exclude women and racial minorities.

This might seem a long ways from the Wednesday's decision, but it is really not too much of a stretch. Imagine an organization sees African-Americans as inferior to whites. By inserting this idea into the organization's rules or oath, it would be opening up a window to exclude African-Americans from membership. This might be hard to believe, but that follows right in line with what the Boy scouts have done to homosexuals.

The other option is for the Court to continue ruling that this type of discrimination is still illegal. That will set homosexuals aside as the "discriminate-able group." The government will be saying that homosexuality is wrong that gays do not deserve the rights that heterosexuals have. This would counteract most of the advancements that the homosexual community has been able to make in the past several years.

The Supreme Court made a very bad decision. This was not a case about gay Boys Scouts, but a case about legalizing discrimination.

By siding with the Boy Scouts, the Court has become a part of that discrimination.