In 2003, in the case of Lawrence v. Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court decided by a vote of 7-2 that state laws banning homosexual sodomy are unconstitutional and that they violate right to privacy and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. At the time of this decision, 14 other states had similar sodomy laws, all of which were invalidated by the Supreme Court's decision in this case.
Initially, John Geddes Lawrence and Tyron Garner were arrested in Houston, Texas for co-engaging in a sexual act. After both men were convicted and fined, Lawrence appealed. The Texas appeals court affirmed the conviction, citing the 1986 case of Bowers v. Hardwick, where the Supreme Court decided by a vote of 5-4 that the U.S. Constitution does not grant the right for gays to engage in sodomy.