A Look At The Major Gay Rights Cases Decided By The Supreme Court

A Look At The Major Gay Rights Cases Decided By The Supreme Court

By Timothy M. Phelps, Tribune Washington Bureau (TNS)

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has struggled with the issue of gay marriage and gay rights for nearly half a century. Here are some of the key decisions:

Baker vs. Nelson, 1972: The first Supreme Court gay marriage ruling was just a sentence long, saying that the appeal of a gay couple from Minnesota who had been turned down for a marriage license “is dismissed for lack of a substantial federal question.”

Bowers vs. Hardwick
, 1986: The justices by a vote of 5-4 upheld a Georgia law outlawing sodomy. The case involved a Georgia bartender, Michael Hardwick, who was arrested on suspicion of having oral sex with another man in Hardwick’s bedroom. The justices said the constitutional right of privacy did not extend to homosexual sodomy.

Romer vs. Evans, 1996: In a 6-3 decision that became the precursor for later gay marriage rulings, the justices struck down a Colorado voter initiative that said no homosexual could be protected from discrimination based on their orientation.

Boy Scouts of America vs. Dale, 2000: The court ruled that the Boy Scouts had a constitutional right to exclude openly gay Scout masters based on the Scouts’ freedom of association. The 5-4 ruling reversed a decision of the New Jersey state courts.

Lawrence vs. Texas, 2003: The court, in an emotional opinion by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, overturned Bowers vs. Hardwick, ruling that a Texas sodomy law violated the constitutional rights of liberty and privacy. The 6-3 decision overturned the convictions of two gay men arrested in their apartment in Houston.

U.S. vs. Windsor, 2013: In a landmark 5-4 decision that has been the basis for dozens of federal court rulings striking down gay marriage bans, the justices struck down a key part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. The court said the federal government could not deny benefits to legally married gay couples.

Hollingsworth vs. Perry, 2013: The justices upheld a lower court ruling invalidating California’s gay marriage ban, Proposition 8. While the 5-4 decision made gay marriage possible for Californians, it was a technical ruling that marriage opponents did not have standing to appeal and so did not apply to other states.

(c)2015 Tribune Co., Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

AFP Photo/George Frey

Advertising

Start your day with National Memo Newsletter

Know first.

The opinions that matter. Delivered to your inbox every morning

Donald Trump
Former President Donald Trump

Imagine this: You’re a clerk to a judge in a New York State court. You graduated from the Cardozo School of Law in 2010, and since then, you have worked as an associate in a New York law firm. For five years, you worked for the City of New York in its Special Litigation Unit handling law suits against the city. You have been the clerk to Judge Arthur Engoron since 2019, getting up in the morning and traveling by subway into Manhattan to your office in his chambers, or sitting beside him in court, advising him on cases, filings, motions – the constant flow of legal documents and questions that any judge in a big city court deals with constantly.

Keep reading...Show less
Trump Touts New Push To 'Repeal And Replace' Obamacare

The late Sen. John McCain gives thumbs down to Affordable Care Act repeal in July 2017

Photo by Library of Congress on Unsplash

Donald Trump is once again living in the past, trying to resurrect a Republican political debacle that even the Freedom Caucus has abandoned: Obamacare repeal. “The cost of Obamacare is out of control, plus, it’s not good Healthcare. I’m seriously looking at alternatives," he spewed on Truth Social on Saturday.

Keep reading...Show less
{{ post.roar_specific_data.api_data.analytics }}