| WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme
Court said on Monday it would decide a challenge to a Texas law that makes
it a crime for gays and lesbians to have consensual sex in their own homes,
agreeing to consider overruling its 1986 decision that upheld state sodomy
laws. The high court said it would hear an appeal by two men convicted
of engaging in "homosexual conduct." They argued the law violates constitutional
privacy and equal protection rights, subjecting gays to criminal penalties
while allowing different-sex couples to engage in the same conduct.
The Texas "homosexual conduct" law makes it a crime to engage in "deviate sexual intercourse" -- defined as oral and anal sex -- with another person of the same sex. Attorneys for the two men argued the law required all gay and lesbian couples to limit their expressions of affection while allowing unmarried and married couples to engage in the same sexual conduct. LAW SAID TO SEND SIGNAL CONDEMNING GAYS
"That discriminatory criminalization tears at gay relationships and stigmatizes loving behavior that others can engage in without the brand of 'lawbreaker'," they said in the appeal. The case involved John Geddes Lawrence and Tryon Garner. On Sept. 17, 1998, sheriff's officers entered Lawrence's apartment in Houston while investigating an informant's report of an armed man "going crazy." The officers observed the two men engaged in anal sexual intercourse. Lawrence and Garner were arrested and charged with violating the Texas law. They pleaded no contest to the charges and they each were fined $200. A divided Texas Court of Appeals upheld their convictions, ruling the law "advances a legitimate state interest, namely preserving public morals." The attorneys for the two men said such laws branded gays as second-class citizens and that discriminatory disapproval of a group of people cannot pass constitutional muster, even when couched as "morality." Assistant District Attorney William Delmore of Harris County, Texas, opposed the appeal, saying there was no need for the Supreme Court to intervene in the debate taking place in state legislatures over sodomy laws. "Morality is a fluid concept and public opinion regarding moral issues may change over time, but what has not changed is the understanding that government may require adherence to certain widely accepted moral standards and sanction deviations from those standards," he said. The legislature existed so laws can be repealed to match the public's prevailing view of what is right and wrong and to "fine tune" penalties for wrongful conduct, he said. The Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case next year, with a decision expected by the end of June. |