Supreme Court Strikes Down Texas Sodomy Law

Supreme Court Strikes Down Texas Sodomy Law
Thu June 26, 2003 10:16 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court struck down on Thursday a Texas sodomy law that makes it a crime for people of the same sex to engage in "deviate sexual intercourse," a ruling that gives gay rights advocates a major victory.

By a 6-3 vote, the nation's high court ruled the law violated constitutional privacy rights. The court also overruled its 1986 decision that upheld a Georgia sodomy law and that declared homosexuals have no constitutional right to engage in sodomy in private.