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Quotes from the Texas sodomy case:
( Facts of Lawrence v Texas )Full article is at Slate.
[Justice] Scalia argues that sodomy laws have been on the books from the beginning of the republic, they just included heterosexual and married couples.
"It's conceded by the state of Texas that married couples can't be regulated in their private sexual decisions," says Smith [attorney for the men]. To which Scalia rejoins, "They may have conceded it, but I haven't."
( homosexuality is accepted ) Homosexuals remain perfectly at liberty to have heterosexual sex in Texas.
Rosenthal says there's a good place to draw the line of privacy and fundamental rights, and that line is "at the bedroom door."
"But the line is at the bedroom door in this case!" yelps Justice Breyer. To which Rosenthal says something suggesting that the two co-plaintiffs (who have been fighting this case together since 1998) may not have been having consensual sex.
Breyer notes that during World War I people also thought it "immoral" to "teach German in schools. … Immoral is a hard line to draw."
"There is a rational basis," insists Rosenthal.
"You're not giving us a rational basis," snaps Breyer.
"The rational basis," says Scalia, "is that the state thinks it's immoral. Like bigamy or adultery."
"Or teaching German," grins Breyer.
Souter wonders why Texas doesn't limit sodomy among heterosexuals. "Because it can lead to marriage and procreation," says Rosenthal. ( Texas accepts gays, as long as they don't have sex )
