Introduction

In a sweeping decision issued on June 26, 2003, the Supreme Court struck down a Texasstate statute that made it a crime for homosexuals to engage in certain private sex acts. Specifically,the Court's ruling in Lawrence v. Texas held that the due process privacy guarantee of the FourteenthAmendment extends to protect consensual gay sex. (1) Although the Court also considered whether the Texas state statuteviolated the constitutional right to equal protection, the Court ultimately based its ruling on broaderprivacy grounds. In addition, the Court also overturned its 1986 decision in Bowers v. Hardwick , acontroversial case in which the Court ruled that there was no constitutional right to privacy thatprotects homosexual sodomy. This report provides an overview of the Supreme Court's opinion in Lawrence v. Texas , coupled with a discussion of its implications for future cases involving gay rights in general and same-sex marriage in particular. For a more detailed discussion of currentdevelopments regarding gay marriage, see CRS Report RL31994 , Same-Sex Marriages: LegalIssues , by [author name scrubbed].
In a sweeping decision issued on June 26, 2003, the Supreme Court struck down a Texasstate statute that made it a crime for homosexuals to engage in certain private sex acts. Specifically,the Court's ruling in Lawrence v. Texas held that the due process privacy guarantee of the FourteenthAmendment extends to protect consensual gay sex. Although the Court also considered whether theTexas state statute violated the constitutional right to equal protection, the Court ultimately basedits ruling on broader privacy grounds. In addition, the Court also overturned its 1986 decision in Bowers v. Hardwick , a controversial case in which the Court ruled that there was no constitutionalright to privacy that protects homosexual sodomy. This report provides an overview of the SupremeCourt's opinion in Lawrence v. Texas , coupled with a discussion of its implications for future casesinvolving gay rights in general and same-sex marriage in particular. For a more detailed discussionof current developments regarding gay marriage, see CRS Report RL31994 , Same-Sex Marriages:Legal Issues , by [author name scrubbed].