Sexuality and Sovereignty: The Global Limits and Possibilities of Lawrence

Abstract

SEXUALITY AND SOVEREIGNTYFor a moment, civil rights activists took in an unusual turn of events: the Supreme Court, largely regarded as conservative, unwittingly unleashed a firestorm of controversy by refusing to differentiate between the intimacy enjoyed by same-sex and opposite-sex couples, and by attaching a protective cover of liberty to each.'This very act of equivocation was edifying, profoundly courageous, and, for some legal scholars, ultimately reminiscent of the era just after Brown v. Board of Education.6 At the same time that the decision corrected a grave injustice, it gave rise to a curious host of criticism and discomfort from parts of the American public, the majority of which had previously, and quietly, favored decriminalizing same-sex sexual activity.While supporters of gay and lesbian rights rejoiced in a stunning triumph of corrective justice, antigay advocates seemed to discover a new battle cry, vocally warning the American public that Lawrence had suddenly, unwittingly, opened the door to a cavalcade of undesirable outcomes.7 In a scathing dissent, Justice Scalia

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