Fridae

As gays and lesbians across the US celebrate pride this weekend commemorating the 34th anniversary of the Stonewall riots - where New York gays, lesbians, and transsexuals fought back against police who had harassed them routinely - there's another reason to celebrate as the US Supreme Court struck down a Texas law that banned oral and anal sex by consenting gay couples even in private.

The long-awaited decision, which was eventually delivered on Thursday, ruled that the law is an unconstitutional violation of privacy and is said to effectively eliminate sodomy laws in 12 other states as well. It also apparently invalidates laws that criminalise consensual sodomy among heterosexuals.

"This decision is a historic, transformative decision," said Ruth Harlow, who as legal director of Lambda Legal and the lead attorney in the case, in a statement. "The court had the courage to reverse one of its gravest mistakes, and to replace that with a resounding statement of equality and liberty for all."

The 6-3 Supreme Court decision came in a case brought by two men who in 1998 were charged with breaking Texas's Homosexual Conduct Law. The police were originally responding to a false complaint from a neighbour who faked a distress call to police, telling them that a man was "going crazy" in Lawrence's apartment. The police discovered them having anal sex after they pushed in the door. The pair, who was jailed overnight, ordered to pay US$200 fines for the misdemeanour sex charge and considered sex offenders in several states, has since retreated from public view.

Though seldom enforced by police, the Texas law and similar provisions in a dozen other states are sometimes invoked by judges to deny gay people legal custody of their children, equal employment guarantees and other civil rights.

"This is historic," said Kate Kendall, executive director of the National Centre for Lesbian Rights. "There is not a gay person in this country who has not lived their entire life under the yoke of these laws existing somewhere."

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"It absolutely signals an entirely changed landscape," Kendall said. "It's impossible to be considered a full and equal citizen if you're a criminal in 13 states." She added that the decision marks "a cultural change as much as a legal change."

As recently as 1960, all 50 US states had a sodomy law. Since then, the statutes have been repealed by lawmakers or blocked by state courts in 37 states. Of the 13 states with sodomy laws, four - Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri - prohibit oral and anal sex only between same-sex couples while the other nine ban consensual sodomy between homosexuals and heterosexuals: Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah, and Virginia. Thursday's ruling apparently invalidates those laws as well.

While gay rights advocates and the gay community are busy gearing up for a big party, antigay forces were quick to respond to the court's decision, linking gay rights to the rights of those who want to engage in consensual incest, polygamy, and a list of other unrelated human behaviours. (Remember Sen. Rick Santorum's infamous comments regarding the case?)

In a lengthy, strongly worded dissent, which was not just written but read from the bench, Justice Antonin Scalia on behalf of the other two conservative justices called the ruling a huge mistake and said that "the court has largely signed on to the so-called homosexual agenda" and has "taken sides in the culture war."

Regardless of protests from opponents of the ruling, gays and lesbians have reason to party twice as hard at this weekend's pride festivities across the US before starting work on the next stage in this "culture war."