High Court Engages in Sodomy Debate
Iowa State
Daily, December 10, 2002
108 Hamilton Hall, Ames, IA 50011
Email: letters@iowastatedily.com
http://www.iowastatedaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2002/12/10/3df57e21d349f
By Editorial Board, Iowa State Daily
In a nation under siege by terrorists and riddled with severe crime, it is
a wonder how any task force could possibly find time to police minor offenses.
But in some states there seems to be one other area authorities are expected
to regulate—the bedroom.
Currently, 13 states declare sodomy to be a punishable crime. These laws
can refer to both heterosexual and homosexual couples, although enforcement is
largely biased towards the latter. However, last week the Supreme Court
announced it will review, for the first time, a law that is directed solely at
homosexuals, but the second relating to anti-sodomy laws.
The last case, Bowers v. Hardwick
(1986), left Georgia’s anti-sodomy laws constitutional in a 5-4 decision. In
the case, the plaintiff and his partner were caught engaging in homosexual sex
in their own bedroom. Police came into the house searching for drugs, but
charged the plaintiff with violating the anti-sodomy laws, which were designed
for straight couples as well, but never enforced as such.
The high court’s decision in 1986 was that homosexuals have no
fundamental right to privacy because Americans traditionally find such
activity to be morally wrong. Although the Bowers ruling appeared to be about
privacy, it was merely a smoke screen for continuing discrimination against
same-sex couples.
Unfortunately the current case in front of the Supreme Court, Lawrence
v. Texas, takes this discrimination even farther by singling out gay
couples in the text of the statute. John Lawrence and Tyron Garner were
arrested in 1998 for engaging in sodomy in their own apartment under a Texas
law that criminalizes "deviate sexual intercourse with another individual
of the same sex," according to CNN.com.
By the text of our beloved Constitution, this is absolutely wrong. The 14th
Amendment declares that "No state shall make or enforce any law which
shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United
States."
Homosexuals are citizens of this country, whether or not their lifestyle is
agreed with. This Texas law discriminates against them, and takes away not
only their right to privacy but also their right to be left alone. Sexual acts
between two consenting adults are not the business of law enforcement
agencies, governments or anyone else.
We do not need bedroom police. There are far more important things for
officers to be doing than spying on homosexual male couples. In a country
where murder, rape and kidnapping seem frighteningly common, gay couples seem
like the least of our worries.
Hopefully, when Supreme Court justices hear arguments from both sides
during this case they will remember that they are setting precedent for years
to come, dangerous precedent if they choose to allow such flagrant bigotry.
- Editorial Board: Cavan Reagan, Amber Billings, Ayrel Clark, Charlie
Weaver, Rachel Faber Machacha.
[Home] [Editorials] [Lawrence
v. Texas]
