The dream of freedom has always been at the core of America. We are the land of the free, and have been since our inception. At least in theory, anyway. The reality of the dream is a continuing struggle. We still thought of ourselves as the land of the free when we enslaved people, and when women did not have the right to own property. We thought of ourselves as the land of the free when we denied the right to vote to the majority of our citizens. While a ways from the reality, the dream has always been there, and over time, we keep getting closer to the dream.

The Supreme Court will now decide whether we take another step closer to that dream. They will decide whether to uphold a Texas law that makes homosexual sodomy a crime while heterosexual sodomy is not a crime. It is being argued on the basis of discrimination against one class of people- homosexuals.

In 1986, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Georgia's anti-sodomy law, declaring that the Constitution's right to privacy did not extend to intimacy between gays. It was a mind-numbing decision. If gays don't have a right to privacy in their own bedrooms, what right to privacy do we have? In sexual matters, very little. There are nine states that make oral and anal sex between consenting adults in the privacy of their own home a crime. There are four states besides Texas that criminalize such acts between homosexuals.

If we, as citizens, are not free in the privacy of our own bedrooms, how are we free? If the government can dictate to us our most private and intimate acts, how are we free? If we are not allowed to love other consenting adults in the way we choose, how are we free? 

Until we demand the right to personal privacy that is implied in the Constitution, then we are not free. We are subjects of a state that controls us in our most intimate acts. Other than holding us prisoner or enslaving us, there is no greater abridgment of personal freedom and privacy than a government dictating to consenting adults with whom and how they will be intimate. 

So far, the current Supreme Court has a very poor history when it comes to dealing with personal privacy issues.  If they decide in favor of Texas, it will be a huge step backward in a political climate that is already seeing dramatic reductions in personal rights. If they overturn the law, it could have a very powerful effect on insuring that we get  closer to the dream of freedom that is embodied in the Constitution and our very souls as Americans. 
 
 

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