Introducing Lawrence v. Texas: Some Background and a Glimpse of the Future

Authors

Edward Stein, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of LawFollow

Abstract

The article explores the landmark Supreme Court case Lawrence v. Texas (2003), which overturned the Court's earlier decision in Bowers v. Hardwick and struck down a Texas sodomy law criminalizing consensual same-sex intimacy. The ruling significantly advanced LGBTQ+ rights by affirming privacy rights under the Due Process Clause and laying groundwork for future equal protection challenges to laws discriminating based on sexual orientation. The decision's implications extend beyond privacy rights, influencing debates on same-sex marriage, adoption, and other areas of sexual orientation discrimination.

Disciplines

Law | Law and Gender | Sexuality and the Law

Recommended Citation

Edward Stein, Introducing Lawrence v. Texas: Some Background and a Glimpse of the Future, 10 Cardozo J. Equal Rts. & Soc. Just. 263 (2004).
Available at: https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/cardozoersj/vol10/iss2/2