Washington, June 27: The US Supreme Court has ruled that the states cannot ban sex between consenting adults of the same gender, as such a law violated their constitutional right to privacy. Reversing a 17-year-old ruling, which allowed states to punish homosexuals, the ruling yesterday said, "The state cannot demean their existence or control their destiny by making their private sexual conduct a crime."
The 6-3 majority ruling invalidates a Texas law, which said deviate sexual intercourse between individuals of same sex was a crime. The authorities said the law was aimed to promote the institutions of marriage and family. "The law demeans the lives of homosexual persons.. The men are entitled to respect for their private lives," Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the majority.
The case began when the Texas law was challenged by two men, John Geddes Lawrence and Tyron Garner, who were arrested by police for indulging in homosexual relationship in 1998. As recently as 1960, every US state had an anti-sodomy law. In 37 states, the statutes have been repealed by lawmakers or blocked by state courts.
Yesterday's ruling apparently invalidates all the existing laws in the remaining 13 states.
Bureau Report