News

Log Cabin applauds Supreme Court sodomy decision

June 26, 2003

(WASHINGTON, DC) – The Log Cabin Republicans, and its sister organization the Liberty Education Forum, applaud the historic decision today by the United States Supreme Court overturning the Texas sodomy statute by a vote of 6-3.

Patrick Guerriero, executive director of Log Cabin Republicans and president of the Liberty Education Forum said, "Today's historic victory marks a new chapter for gay and lesbian civil rights in America. We are one step closer to realizing fairness and equality for gay and lesbian members of the American family. Log Cabin and the Liberty Education Forum were proud to offer a Republican and centrist argument in favor of the overturning of these un-American laws in our amicus brief."

The case involved John Lawrence and Tyron Garner, who were arrested in Lawrence's Houston home and jailed overnight after officers, responding to a false police report found the men engaged in private, consensual sex. Once convicted of violating the Texas law against sodomy, they were forced to pay fines and are now considered sex offenders in several states. Texas's law and others like it are widely used to justify discrimination against gay people in everyday life; they're invoked in denying employment to gay people, in refusing custody or visitation for gay parents, and even in intimidating gay people out of exercising their First Amendment rights.

"This is a fair-minded and historic decision that impacts gays and lesbians in all 50 states. This ruling makes clear what we have known all along, the conduct that is legal for some people should not be illegal for gay Americans," said Guerriero.

"The enormous importance of this law being overturned is that it will not only provide protection for the few who find themselves prosecuted for consensual intimacy but that it also provides protection for those who face discrimination that has been justified by these laws," Guerriero added.

"Great credit must also be given to Lambda Legal, their tenacious efforts for fairness and equality have resulted in this landmark ruling," concluded Guerriero.

Liberty Education Forum is a centrist think tank in Washington that offers new perspectives on gay and lesbian issues.