Two
Men Proud to Have Helped Defeat State痴 Sodomy Law
Associated Press, April 26,
2004
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/news/042604_APlocal_sodomy.html
HOUSTON?Two men whose 1998
arrests led to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down bans on sodomy,
say they are proud to have helped defeat an unjust law.
Speaking together for the first time since the case
began, John Lawrence and Tyron Garner told The Houston Chronicle for a Sunday
story that they are overwhelmed by the support they received and are glad the
case is over.
的 got a sense of justice for being wronged by the
state of Texas,? Lawrence said. 的 feel I致e been vindicated.?
The men were arrested after police耀ent by a bogus
report of an armed intruder傭urst into Lawrence痴 apartment and found them
engaged in consensual sex. The pair was jailed overnight and charged with
breaking Texas? Homosexual Conduct Law, which bans oral and anal sex between
people of the same gender.
In its landmark June ruling, the Supreme Court said that
what gay men and women do in the privacy of their bedrooms is their business
and not the government痴.
The 6-3 decision invalidated laws in Texas and 12 other
states. It also galvanized both sides in an ongoing national debate over
whether homosexuals are entitled to the same rights as heterosexuals when it
comes to marriage and adoption.
Lawrence, a 60-year-old medical technologist, said he has
no regrets for taking the case to Washington.
展hen somebody is wronged and they don稚 stand up for
themselves, they池e going to get wronged again. I wasn稚 going to stand
for it,? he said.
Garner, 36, who sells barbecue from a street stand, said
it was hard to endure the loss of his privacy.
的 didn稚 enjoy being outed with my mugshot on TV,?
he said. 的t was degrading to me.?
But the result was worth it, he said.
的 don稚 really want to be a hero,? Garner said.
釘ut I want to tell other gay people 腺e who you are, and don稚 be
afraid.樗
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