Queers Celebrate Sodomy Decision

Hundreds of jubilant queers rallied in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood on Thursday, June 26, to celebrate the Supreme Court decision overturning the Texas sodomy law.

The decision stems from a case in which police stormed a gay male couple's bedroom and arrested them for having private sex.

The Supreme Court ruled that the Texas law is an unconsitiutional invasion of privacy. The decision paves the way for the ouster of sodomy laws in 13 states -- a few of which ban only same-sex sodomy and the rest of which prohibit oral and anal sex regardless of gender -- even for married heterosexual couples in some cases.

Justice Kennedy, writing for the 6-3 majority, said that the Supreme Court's 1986 Bowers vs Hardwick decision upholding Georgia's sodomy law was wrong then and remains wrong now.

"The state cannot demean their existence or control
their destiny by making their private sexual conduct a
crime," he said.

The three dissenting justices (Rehnquist, Scalia, and Thomas) argued on the grounds of morality. "The court has taken sides in a culture war," wrote Scalia. "The court has largely signed on to the so-called homosexual agenda."

Queers in dozens of cities across the U.S. celebrated Thursday's decision, which comes days before gay pride marches in many cities, including San Francisco.

Activists, gay elected officials, and members of LGBT advocacy groups praised the decision, but acknowledged that the fight for equal rights is not oover. Several noted that LGBT people in many countries around the world are still persecuted.

"Today's decision is about sex, but it's also about more than that," said a member of the Lavender Greens. "The homosexual agenda is the American agenda -- full equality under the law."