LGBT Movements in The United States - LGBT Rights and The Supreme Court

LGBT Rights and The Supreme Court

While the United States Supreme Court has been reluctant to issue rulings outside of the heterosexual mainstream on gay rights issues, it has made some important decisions in this area. It is important to understand that the Supreme Court only agrees to hear a few cases each term, and that by not hearing a case, the lower court's ruling stands.

• 1956 - Supreme Court rules that a homosexual publication is not automatically obscene and thus protected by the First Amendment.

• 1961 - Illionis is the first state to abolish its sodomy laws.

• 1967 - Supreme Court rules that Congress may exclude immigrations on the grounds that they are a homosexual. Congress amends its laws in 1990.

• 1972 - Supreme Court rules that a Minnesota law defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman is constitutional.

• 1976 - Supreme Court refuses to hear and thus affirms a lower courts ruling that a Virginia state sodomy law is constitutional. (see Doe v. Commonwealth’s Attorney).

• 1983 - Supreme Court refusals to hear, and thus affirms a Oklahoma Appeals Court ruling that an Oklahoma law that gave the public school broad authority to fire homosexual teachers was too broad and thus unconstitutional.

• 1986 - In Bowers v. Hardwick the Supreme Court rules that sodomy laws are constitutional. The court overturns this ruling in the 2003 case of Lawrence v. Texas.

• 1993- President Clinton adjusts the ban on gays in the military to be that of a ban on homosexual activity in the military, known as the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy

• 1996 - In Romer v. Evans the high court overturns a state constitutional amendment prohibiting elected lawmakers in Colorado from including LGB people in their civil rights laws.

• 1998 - The Supreme Court rules that federal sexual harassment laws do include same-sex sexual harassment.

• 2001 - The Supreme Court rules that the Boy Scouts of America does not have to follow state anti-discrimination laws when it comes to sexual orientation.

• 2003 - Lawrence vs. Texas declares state sodomy laws that were used to prosecute homosexuals for having sex in the privacy of their homes unconstitutional.

• 2011- President Clinton's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy is repealed by President Obama after 17 years.