Jun 20, 2003   | COMMENTS     

1533: English King Henry VIII adopted contemporary church doctrine into a system of laws when England withdrew from the Catholic Church. Sodomy became both a sin and a crime.

1600s: The 13 American colonies derived their laws from the English common law and continued the legal tradition in which sodomy carried the penalty of death.

1960: Each state adopted some form of law banning sodomy as they joined the United States. By this year, all 50 states and the District of Columbia outlawed sodomy.

1962: Illinois revised its criminal code and did not prohibit sodomy. Despite being the first state where sodomy was not illegal, there was little fanfare and few noticed.

1969: Connecticut became the second state to remove prohibitions against sodomy when it revised its criminal code.

1971-’72: The third state to revise its criminal code and remove sodomy as a crime was Idaho. A gay publication noted the fact, which caused an uproar from religious groups. The state legislature passed a new law making sodomy illegal again.

1970s: Many state legislatures begin rewriting their criminal code and remove prohibitions against sodomy. Nineteen states join Illinois, making sodomy legal.

1974: Kentucky becomes the first state to enact a law that makes sodomy only between homosexuals illegal. A court ruled the law violated the commonwealth’s Constitution in 1992.

1980s: Alaska and Wisconsin make sodomy legal through their state legislatures. Sodomy laws were removed by courts in New York and Pennsylvania.

1982: A houseguest let a police officer into the home of Atlanta bartender Michael Hardwick. The officer caught Hardwick in the act of consensual sex with a male lover and arrested him. The men were charged with sodomy. The charges were dropped, but Hardwick sued in the hopes the courts would rule the sodomy charges were unconstitutional.

1986: After working its way through the courts, Bowers v. Hardwick was argued before the United States Supreme Court. The Court of Appeals ruled that the state of Georgia had violated Hardwick’s rights. The Supreme Court overturned the decision on a 5-4 vote. “The Constitution does not confer a fundamental right upon homosexuals to engage in sodomy.”

1990s: The District of Columbia, Nevada and Rhode Island removed sodomy prohibitions through their legislative bodies. Courts overturned sodomy laws in five states (Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Montana, and Tennessee).

1998: Sheriff’s deputies entered the private home of John Lawrence, where they witnessed him engaging in consensual sex with Tyron Garner on Sept. 17. They arrested both men and charged them with “deviant homosexual” conduct. They pleaded no contest on Nov. 20. Both were found guilty on Dec. 22 and fined $200 each.

2000s: Courts struck down sodomy laws in three more states (Arkansas, Massachusetts and Minnesota).

2000: Three members of the Texas Court of Appeals overturned the state’s homosexual conduct law, reversing the convictions of Lawrence and Garner. The state appealed to the full court.

2001: Arizona became the most recent state to remove sodomy laws from its criminal code.

2001: The full Texas Court of Appeals reversed the decision of the three-judge panel and upheld the convictions of Lawrence and Garner.

April 2002: The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals refused to hear the Lawrence-Garner case.

Dec. 2002: The United States Supreme Court agreed to hear the Lawrence-Garner case.

March 26, 2003: Oral arguments in Lawrence v. Texas were made before the Supreme Court.

June 26, 2003: