Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America guarantees the equal protection of laws to every citizen. Therefore, everyone has the right to a fair trial and to be treated equally. Nevertheless, the idea of this amendment was compromised on multiple occasions due to American courts’ homophobic decisions. The situation changed in 2003 when the case of Lawrence v. Texas ended up in the Supreme Court. In September 1998, police arrived at Lawrence’s house, following a report from a citizen, who, allegedly, had seen an unstable man with a gun. When inspecting the house, the officers caught Lawrence engaged in a consensual sexual act with Tyron Garner. The two men were arrested and later found guilty of violating the Texas “Homosexual Conduct”. This paper aims to demonstrate that John Lawrence and Tyron Garner were wrongfully convicted, which violated the Fourteenth Amendment.
Such “sodomy laws” deprive members of the LGBTQ community of their fundamental rights. As it turned out, the call to the police was made by Lawrence’s jealous ex-lover, who lied about the man with a gun and knew the police would catch Lawrence and Garner in the middle of an act. The defense insisted that the conviction was based on homophobic principles, as the Texas law does not prohibit the same sexual acts between men and women (Pierceson, 2019). Subsequently, having had a series of appeals denied by local courts, Lawrence addressed the Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case. The decision was six-to-three, presented by Justice Anthony Kennedy. The Court based its ruling on the fact that the sexual act in question happened between two consenting adults and there was no third-party hurt by their actions. As Pierceson (2019) says, the Court invalidated sodomy laws in the USA and ruled that “the choice of LGBTQ adults to choose a partner of the same sex is constitutionally protected” (p. 259). Therefore, Lawrence and Garner were wrongfully convicted, as they were both adults engaged in a consensual sexual act.
In general, “anti-sodomy” laws were common in the United States since the formation of the country. Pierceson (2019) defines sodomy as “non-procreative sexual activity” (p.258). At the same time, penalties for such activity went down for opposite-sex couples, while the term itself became associated with gay relationships (Pierceson, 2019). It was believed that the public needs to be protected from sodomy and public sexual acts. Strader and Hay (2019) note that such wrongful convictions often begin with a call from a concerned citizen. Alarmed by a report of public sexual activity, the police arrive at the spot and place suspects under arrest with a subsequent wrongful conviction, as was the case for Lawrence and Garner. Strader and Hay (2019) say that law enforcement agencies are usually unable to present any evidence in favor of such reports. Moreover, according to Strader and Hay (2019), “even if complaints do exist, they are often a product of society’s homophobic attitudes” (p. 501). This tendency directly violates the Fourteenth Amendment, as same-sex partners are targeted by law enforcement on the sole basis of their sexual orientation.
Homophobia in the United States had hurt many people before the Supreme Court voided sodomy laws in 13 states. According to the Williams Institute report, there are over 770,000 LGBTQ adults and 158,000 young people living in Texas alone (Mallory et al., 2017). Following the Supreme Court decision, same-sex marriage was legalized in Massachusetts several months later, and in twelve more years, homosexual marriage became legal in all of the United States by the Supreme Court decision (Pierceson, 2019). Nevertheless, the Williams Institute report says that “although Texas’s sodomy law is no longer enforceable after Lawrence, the law remains on the books and continues to have lingering negative effects on LGBT people in the state” (Mallory et al., 2017, p.12). According to the report, police threatened to arrest two men after they kissed in a restaurant in El Paso in 2009 (Mallory et al., 2017). The case was settled out of court, which indicates that serious progress has been made since the Supreme Court ruling in 2003. Even though homophobic ideas may persist among some people, the LGBTQ community now officially has its constitutional rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment.
All in all, the case of Lawrence and Garner v. Texas became a classic example of wrongful conviction based solely on homophobic laws and ideas. The hearing attracted the public’s attention to the injustice and the Supreme Court of the United States had to make a hard yet, fair decision. Lawrence and Garner were found innocent, and their story led to a brighter future for the LGBTQ community. This landmark case resonated for years after the ruling, forever changing the country’s political and social landscape. anti-sodomy laws voided by Court were shortly replaced by those that legalize same-sex relationships and marriage, making the lives of millions of people better and happier.
References
Mallory, C., Brown, T. N, Russell, S., & Sears, B. (2017). The Impact of Stigma and Discrimination against LGBT People in Texas. UCLA: The Williams Institute. Web.
Pierceson, J. (Ed.). (2019). LGBTQ Americans in the U.S. political system: An encyclopedia of activists, voters, candidates, and officeholders. ABC-CLIO.
Strader, L., & Hay, L. (2019). Lewd stings: Extending Lawrence v. Texas to discriminatory enforcement. American Criminal Law Review, 56(2), 465–509.