Gay Rights

An arrest that took place in September of 1998 in Texas sparked a controversial debate as two adult males were arrested for participating in what was defined as "illegal sexual intercourse." Gay rights activists argued not only that this was an invasion of privacy of these two individuals, but also that they were being treated like criminals for being who they were. After a long drawn out trial, the court decided that these men must be treated like every other American citizen and ended up rewriting the Texas law on gay rights. The event was a huge turning point in the battle for gay rights. The closing lines of the article described the scene in the courtroom that afternoon. '"The petitioners are entitled to respect for their private lives," Kennedy wrote simply. "The State cannot demean their existence or control their destiny by making their private sexual conduct a crime." The people who had devoted their lives to that cause understood precisely what had happened, which was why, to a degree unprecedented in the court's history, the benches were full of men and women sobbing with joy' (http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/10/04/toobin.excerpt3/index.html?iref=newssearch).