Supreme Court to Get It Right -- at Last? Back in 1986, in its infamous Bowers vs. Hardwick decision, a deeply divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled states may criminalize consensual, non-commercial same-sex behavior among adults -- even in the privacy of their own bedrooms. This appalling miscarriage of justice put up a major roadblock to full legal equality for gays and lesbians. Now, after 16 years, the Court has finally agreed to revisit its ruling.
Much has changed over those years. Today, just four states (Texas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma) punish only homosexual sex, while nine states ban consensual sodomy for everyone -- although prosecution is generally limited to those unfortunate gay couples who are, for whatever reason, "caught" (i.e., straights doing it in a parked car are told to move along; gays get arrested and a criminal record as sex offenders). But the problem isn't really actual arrests for private sex. Rather, because these laws make sexually active gay people into criminals per se, they are used to justify all manner of government discrimination -- from denying child custody or even visitation rights (some state courts have told a divorced gay parent to jettison their lover or stop seeing their child), to preventing gays from becoming cops, to prohibiting same-sex couples from seeking the benefits states provide to opposite-sex couples. If the Court reverses itself and finds state sodomy statutes are unconstitutional, it will be much harder to deny gay citizens the rights of other Americans. If it goes the other way, it will be a huge setback. Stay tuned...
Addendum: I should have mentioned that the
Lambda
Legal Defense and Education Fund is spearheading the case
before the Supreme Court -- especially since I recently criticized
them for their over-wrought protest against Miss America (triggered
by her support of pro-abstinence education).
--Stephen H. Miller