U.S. Supreme Court Overturns Sodomy Law

Family Group Warns About Status of Marriage

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WASHINGTON, D.C., JUNE 26, 2003 (Zenit.org).- A pro-family group assailed the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision striking down sodomy laws, warning it could lead the way to same-sex marriage.

In a 6-3 decision today, the high court ruled that the ban on homosexual sex was an unconstitutional violation of privacy.

It declared that a Texas law was an unwarranted government intrusion into a person’s home, Reuters reported. By a separate 5-4 vote, the court overturned its 1986 ruling that upheld a Georgia sodomy law.

“If the hallmarks of the test are consent and privacy, then that throws the door open to any sexual behavior,” said Family Research Council president Ken Connor in a statement.

“The radical homosexual lobby will seek to apply the logic, extending a blanket privacy protection over one’s choice of sexual partner to one’s choice of marital partner as well — regardless of sex,” Connor warned.

“Private sexual acts have public consequences. The court has ignored that fact and the right of states to enact laws in defense of public morals and public health,” he added.

“As Justice Scalia points out in his dissent and as Senator Rick Santorum … pointed out in his analysis of this case a month ago, every state law that is based on moral grounds is now called into question based on this ruling,” Connor said.

The majority opinion written by Justice Anthony Kennedy will invalidate sodomy laws in 13 states. In a dissent, Justice Antonin Scalia said the court had “largely signed on to the so-called homosexual agenda.” Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justice Clarence Thomas joined the dissent.

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