Freedom and Sodomy

Speaking of liberation...

Do homosexuals have the constitutional right to have sex?

This Wednesday, the Supreme Court will be called on to decide in Lawrence v. Texas whether homosexuals have the constitutional right to have sex. The appellants are Houston residents John Geddes Lawrence and his partner, Tyron Garner ? who were arrested and convicted of sodomy under a 1973 Texas statute criminalizing same-sex oral and anal sex. Last time the court considered this issue, in the 1986 case of Bowers v. Hardwick, it affirmed that homosexuals did not have the right to have consensual sex in private, either in Georgia ? where Hardwick was prosecuted ? or in any of the other 25 states with laws criminalizing sodomy.

It's deeply irritating when you hear someone who claims to be for limited government promote laws like these which are about as invasive and illiberal as they can get. This issue is completely cut and dried for me. No one has any right to tell me or anyone else how to have sex. If the partner consents, then there is no reason for government involvement. Certain laws based on the age/mental competence of the partner I am willing to accept, but not something like this.

One of many reasons to keep the religious and social conservative out of the legal.

UPDATE(noon)
Great news! The Supreme Court has struck down the law. It was a 6-3 decision, which means Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas have still got a lot to learn about individual freedom.

Posted by Drizzten at March 26, 2003 09:03 AM