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06/28/08-06/30/08

Activists Celebrate Fifth Anniversary of 'Lawrence' Decision

Thursday marked the five-year anniversary of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing consensual gay sex to be decriminalized nationwide. The 6–3 decision in Lawrence v. Texas overturned a Texas law that made it illegal to engage in same-sex sodomy. The court said upholding consensual gay sexual conduct was in line with the U.S. Constitution's Fourteenth Amendment equal-protection clause, since the state didn't prohibit heterosexual sodomy.

The men at the center of the case, John Geddes Lawrence and Tyron Garner, were arrested for sodomy in 1998, fined $200 each, and imprisoned for one night. Police were responding to a call from a disgruntled neighbor who faked a distress call. Police went to the apartment, pushed in the door, and found the two men engaged in anal sex, which was then a punishable offense.

Paul Smith, the attorney who represented the couple, told the Dallas Voice that liberties expanded to gays in the past five years are at least in part a result of the overturning of Texas's sodomy law by the 2003 Lawrence decision.

"I think the amount of progress we have made in the last five years is quite large overall, the progress both culturally and legally," Smith said in the article. "It’s to the point now where we have the Democratic candidate advocating an end to [the federal Defense of Marriage Act] and marriage starting to happen in California, and basically the people in Massachusetts are so used to marriage, it’s not even an issue anymore."

As recently as 1960, all states had a sodomy law, but by 2003, 37 states had repealed the laws or state courts had overturned them. (The Advocate)

Reader Comments

These comments are reproduced as written by visitors to this Web site. They have not been edited for content, grammar, or spelling. The viewpoints appearing here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or views of advocate.com, The Advocate, or its affiliates.

  • Name: George
    Date posted: 2008-06-30 4:06 PM
    Hometown: Orange, TX

    Comment:

    The only problem I have with this story is that Paul Smith gets all the credit always because he argued the case at teh Supreme Court. If Mitch Katine, a very fine lawyer in Houston and a personal friend of mine from my days of living there, had not started the ball rolling for Lawrence and Garner, the case never would have made it to the Supreme Court and we would still have antiquated laws on our books. Let's give credit where credit is due.


  • Name: Scott
    Date posted: 2008-06-30 3:24 PM
    Hometown: Austin, TX

    Comment:

    Al. God has judged that all men should be treated fairly and respectfully. And now, this nation is finally making some progress to end hate and discrimation. God made us who we are and he is proud of the country that we are "evolving" into. Now if we can just get that sinner, George Bush, out of office and replace him with someone with real values!


  • Name: al
    Date posted: 2008-06-29 2:35 PM
    Hometown: snyder texas

    Comment:

    it is not going to matter one bit what man does to make mans laws fit mans needs God said it is a sin . God has judged one nation for this sin .


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