Connecticut(1965) andRoe v. Wade(1973), had de-
rived a right to privacy from the due process clause.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
had agreed and had invalidated the Georgia law.
The Supreme Court overturned that decision by a
vote of five to four. The majority opinion, written by
Justice Byron White, placed definite limits upon
such a right. White pointedly and repeatedly re-
ferred to a “right [of] homosexuals to engage in sod-
omy,” in order to differentiate the specifics of the
case from any general right to privacy. He insisted
that the lower court, in upholding Hardwick’s right,
had extended the right to privacy beyond any rea-
sonable constitutional interpretation. He wrote:
There should be...great resistance to expand the
substantive reach of [the due process] Clauses, par-
ticularly if it requires redefining the category of
rights deemed to be fundamental. Otherwise, the
Judiciary necessarily takes to itself further authority
to govern the country without express constitu-
tional authority. The claimed right pressed on us to-
day falls far short of overcoming this resistance.Impact The political impact ofBowers v. Hardwick
was enormous. The case was decided during a time
of conservative backlash against the sexual revolu-
tion and the women’s rights and lesbian, gay, bisex-
ual, and transgendered (LGBT) rights movements.
Anti-abortion groups were sharply criticizing the
practical outcome reached inRoe v. Wade, another
case decided on the basis of a constitutional right to
privacy. This right to privacy, which the Court had
determined to exist implicitly in the Bill of Rights
and the Fourteenth Amendment, was also being
questioned by conservative scholars, who were op-
posed to what they saw as legislation from the judi-
cial bench. TheBowersCourt slowed acceptance of
privacy as a constitutional right. Meanwhile, the
AIDS pandemic caused a great deal of public panic
and, as a result, had fueled a great deal of homopho-
bia, as well as sex phobia. As a result ofBowers, the
brakes were slammed on the progressive sex-positive
policies begun during the 1960’s.
The effect ofBowers, ironically, had little to do
with the issue of criminal sodomy. Sodomy laws were
seldom enforced against private consensual conduct
in the years before and after theBowersdecision.
However, by allowing states to criminalize gay sexual
behavior, the decision served the foes of gay and les-
bian anti-discrimination laws, hate-crimes laws, and
later same-sex marriage laws. It was argued that
there ought not to be equal protection for individu-
als to engage in criminal sexual behavior.
Subsequent Events After Bowerswas decided,
many states repealed or overturned their own sod-
omy laws. The Georgia Supreme Court ruled that
the state’s sodomy law violated the state constitution
inPowell v. State(1998). At the national level,Bowers
was effectively overturned by the Supreme Court in
2003 inLawrence v. Texas.
Further Reading
Harvard Law Review Association.Sexual Orientation
and the Law.Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univer-
sity Press, 1989.
Leonard, Arthur S. “Equal Protection and Lesbian
and Gay Rights.” InA Queer World: The Center for
Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader, edited by Martin
Duberman. New York: New York University Press,
1997.
Mohr, Richard D.Gay Ideas: Outing and Other Contro-
versies.Boston: Beacon Press, 1992.
Ringer, Jeffrey R., ed.Queer Words, Queer Images.New
York: New York University Press, 1994.
Thomas, Kendall. “Corpus Juris (Hetero) Sexualis:
Doctrine, Discourse, and Desire inBowers v. Hard-
wick.” InA Queer World: The Center for Lesbian and
Gay Studies Reader, edited by Martin Duberman.
New York: New York University Press, 1997.
Daniel-Raymond NadonSee also ACT UP; AIDS epidemic; AIDS Memorial
Quilt; Homosexuality and gay rights;Kiss of the Spider
Woman; Military ban on homosexuals; Supreme
Court decisions; Toronto bathhouse raids of 1981.Boxing
Definition Professional prizefighting
The 1980’s produced an unusually large number of great
fighters and saw many memorable fights. The period was
also marked by a continued proliferation of ring-governing
bodies, increased competition among boxing promoters,
and several high-profile ring deaths that led to rule changes
aimed at protecting fighters.
Among the top boxers of the 1980’s were heavy-
weight Larry Holmes, who dominated the heavy-
weight class during the first half of the decade, and132 Boxing The Eighties in America