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Church groups rue and hail US Court ruling on homosexual conduct
2003-152
6/30/2003
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[Episcopal News Service]
A landmark US Supreme Court decision striking a ban on gay and lesbian sexual relations has been quickly championed by US religious liberals, while being severely condemned by Christian conservatives. Both sides, however, said the ruling would sharpen public debate in the United States over the issue of same-sex marriage.
The 6-3 decision by the nation's highest court, announced on June 26, invalidated a Texas law that criminalized sexual conduct between adults of the same sex. Writing the majority opinion that, in effect, struck down remaining laws against sodomy in the United States, Justice Anthony Kennedy, appointed to the court by the conservative former President Ronald Reagan, said gay men and lesbians were 'entitled to respect for their private lives.'
'Liberty presumes an autonomy of self that includes freedom of thought, belief, expression, and certain intimate conduct,' he wrote.
Still, the ruling dismayed religious conservatives. The Christian Coalition said that a 'homosexual act is not a fundamental right.' In a statement, the conservative political action group said: 'A battle in the war for our culture has been lost.'
Almost immediately, both gay rights proponents and opponents said the court ruling--coming just weeks after the Canadian government announced it would legalize homosexual marriage--could have implications for same-sex couples wishing to marry. Single-sex marriage is currently prohibited in all of the 50 US states, though the state of Vermont permits same-sex 'civil unions.' Proponents say the court's affirmation of privacy for gays and lesbians could make it easier to legalize gay marriages.
However, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Republican, said he would sponsor legislation seeking an amendment to the US Constitution prohibiting same-sex marriage.
Conservative Christian groups vowed to fight any change in laws allowing couples of the same gender to marry. But Integrity, the Episcopal (Anglican) gay and lesbian organization, was buoyed, saying that 'no longer can opponents of the public celebration of same-sex unions in our church use the argument that such unions are 'illegal' in many states.' The court's decision, it said, had in effect 'put an end to that reality.'
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