Louisiana's Supreme Court dealt a blow to gay rights last Thursday by upholding the state's 200-year-old ban on sodomy and said that the law does not violate the right to privacy as spelled out by the state's constitution, making it one of 13 states with laws that prohibit sodomy between consenting adults.

"The Supreme Court of Louisiana has said the government can go into anyone's bedroom, including married persons, and criminalize what they are doing, even between consenting adults in private with no one watching and nobody paying for anything," John Rawls, a plaintiff in the case, told the Associated Press.

Rawls who is an attorney is also representing the Louisiana Electorate of Gays and Lesbians Inc., which brought the civil suit.

Rawls noted the case applies to heterosexuals too, but the group did bring a separate action against the law on grounds that it discriminated against gays and lesbians. The Supreme Court refused to rule on that issue, so it remains alive before the state 4th Circuit Court of Appeal in a separate action.

Gay activists are obviously upset with the ruling.

Fe Myers, a steering committee member with the southern gay rights group Kentucky Fairness Alliance said: "I didn't realize the state's constitution dictated what two consenting adults can and cannot do in the privacy of their own bedroom."

Andrea Hildebran, executive director of Kentucky Fairness Alliance, said this sets a bad tone for the rest of the South.

"States across the country, including in the South, have ruled that individuals have a right to do what they want in the privacy of their own homes� These laws are dead letters, and this ruling is really out of step with the rest of the country."

A Kentucky court overturned the state's sodomy law back in 1992.