US History 1973 - 2014 Commonplace Book: Lecture 26, Gay Rights Since AIDS (Con't)

Bowers was not correct when it was decided, and it is not correct today.

—Anthony Kennedy, majority opinion in Lawrence v Texas (2003)

This reasoning leaves on pretty shaky grounds state laws limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples.... Today’s opinion is the product of a Court, which is the product of a law-profession culture, that has largely signed on to the so-called homosexual agenda, by which I mean the agenda promoted by some homosexual activists directed at eliminating the moral opprobrium that has traditionally attached to homosexual conduct.... It is clear from this that the Court has taken sides in the culture war, departing from its role of assuring, as neutral observer, that the democratic rules of engagement are observed. Many Americans do not want persons who openly engage in homosexual conduct as partners in their business, as scoutmasters for their children, as teachers in their children’s schools, or as boarders in their home. They view this as protecting themselves and their families from a lifestyle that they believe to be immoral and destructive. The Court views it as “discrimination” which it is the function of our judgments to deter.

—Anton Scalia, dissent in Lawrence v Texas (2003)

Introduction to (and explanation of) this quote series can be found here.  Read this tag to see all of them.