John Geddes Lawrence ? Plaintiff In Historic Gay Ruling ? Died At 68??John Geddes Lawrence John Geddes Lawrence is a medical technologist from Houston, Texas, noted as the first-named appellant in the Lawrence v. Texas case. At the time of the Supreme Court's decision, he was employed at Bayshore Medical Center in Pasadena, Texas as shift supervisor in the died on November 20 at the age of 68, gay weekly Metro Weekly reported. Lawrence was the lead named plaintiff in the landmark 2003 U.S. Supreme Court case that overturned state sodomy sodomy Noncoital carnal copulation. Sodomy is a crime in some jurisdictions. Some sodomy laws, particularly in Middle Eastern countries and those jurisdictions observing Shari'ah law, provide penalties as severe as life imprisonment for homosexual intercourse, even if the laws, making gay sex legal in the United States. Lawrence and his partner, Tyron Garner, found themselves on the wrong side of the law The Hardy Boys witness an armed robbery in progress, and go undercover to solve the mysterious event. on a September night when a policeman entered their unlocked Houston apartment, his weapon drawn, and found the pair involved in anal sex. The men were arrested that night for violating Texas' anti-sodomy law. The next day they would begin down a five-year path that would lead them to the steps of the Supreme Court and the decision that altered the course of the gay rights movement forever. “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life,” wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy in the court's opinion. “Persons in a homosexual relationship may seek autonomy for these purposes, just as heterosexual persons do.” According to Lawrence's obituary he is survived by his brother, his sister and her husband, two nieces and two nephews. Tyron Garner died in 2006. ? 
|
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion