GLBT history was made June 26 with the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Lawrence v. Texas, which found Texas’ “Homosexual Conduct Law” violated U.S. citizens’ fundamental privacy rights. The 6-3 decision overturned a 1986 Court ruling in Bowers v. Hardwick, which upheld Georgia’s sodomy law (later repealed by the state). The Court’s June 26 ruling will basically nullify existing sodomy laws in Texas and 12 other states.

Celebrations were held across the country to mark the decision, in which Associate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote, “[The men] are entitled to respect for their private lives.… The state cannot demean their existence or control their destiny by making their private sexual conduct a crime. ”

One of the first groups in California to issue a statement about the decision was the state legislature’s LGBT Caucus in Sacramento.

“This ruling protects the basic dignity and privacy of all Americans,” said Assembly Speaker pro Tempore Christine Kehoe, chair of the LGBT Caucus and 76th District Assemblymember from San Diego. “This decision rightly overturns the laws in 13 states that criminalize private acts between consenting adults. This is a tremendous victory, not only for the LGBT community, but for all Americans.”

While 13 states had sodomy laws still on the books at the time of the ruling, they were rarely enforced. GLBT advocates, while acknowledging this fact, say that the laws were still used in court cases involving other civil matters.

“States have used these sodomy laws to justify discriminatory policies in employment, housing, public accommodations, family-related matters, and other aspects of our daily lives,” added Kehoe. “There is no legitimate reason or rational basis for these laws other than to perpetuate the dehumanization of LGBT people everywhere. Overturning these laws is a great step forward in our continuing quest for equality.”

Locally, The Center held a press conference following the June 26 ruling to address the importance of the decision.

“Today will go down in history as one of the milestones of the civil rights movement,” said Kevin Tilden, chair of The Center’s board of directors. “For more than 600,000 same-sex households counted in the last census, it means in 13 states those households will not have to worry about being sex offenders.”

Legal experts also addressed the significance of the reversal of Bowers v. Hardwick.

“Today is a rare day in history for gays and lesbians and for the Supreme Court,” said Ted Roberts, co-president of the Tom Homann Law Association. “We’re seeing the court take head-on a decision that was wrongly decided and then reverse it without flinching, without apologizing for the approach it takes.”

Speaking with the Gay and Lesbian Times, San Diego District Attorney and former Superior Court Judge Bonnie Dumanis also noted that the ruling “affirms equal treatment of people” and sets “a precedent that we should be respected and that people’s personal lives shouldn’t be held to ridicule.”

From a legal perspective she noted, “I think the case was decided just the way it should be. I think it’s interesting to note that so many of the justices, particularly [Sandra Day] O’Connor, who ruled against it before, ruled in favor of … making it unconstitutional this time.

“I applaud the U.S. Supreme Court decision that says that no longer will people’s private lives be scrutinized by the government,” Dumanis concluded. “This is a historic decision that’s long overdue.”

“This is a day of liberty and justice for all,” Marilyn Ireland, a constitutional law professor at California Western School of Law told reporters in The Center’s auditorium. “Over 30 years ago, gays and lesbians in New York at Stonewall decided they would no longer allow an official police policy to make illegal for them to … so much as go out and have a drink with each other…. Ever since Stonewall, [equality] has been the true battle cry of the gay and lesbian movement.”

While there is no sodomy law remaining on the books in California, the impact of the Court’s decision could likely have a trickle down effect on public opinion and voting patterns in the state.

“Bowers v. Hardwick was decided while I was in law school,” said M. E. Stephens, a local attorney who serves on the San Diego Human Relations Commission. “I can remember the vitriol and venom that leapt off the page with that decision and finally that decision has gone the way of Plessy v. Ferguson, it has been de-masked, it is no longer good law in this country.”

According to Stephens, perhaps the only legal effect San Diegans may see as a direct result of the decision is that individuals who may have been convicted of violating sodomy laws in other states and have convictions on their records will be able to have those decisions reversed. If they are listed as a sex offender due to private, consensual sex in a state that outlaws gay sex, they will be able to have that status removed.