Much, if not all, of the American movement for LGBT civil rights today depends on Lawrence v. Texas, the 2003 case in which the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Texas' sodomy law. From that moment on, being gay in this country could no longer be a crime. As Talking Points Memo notes today, Texas Governor Rick Perry called the anti-gay law "appropriate" (h/t @raustin31), objected to the SCOTUS ruling and campaigned against legalizing sodomy.
Governor Perry got asked about Lawrence v. Texas today in Iowa. Here's his answer:
His question is how do I defend my criticism of limited government in Lawrence v. Texas. Listen, here's the issue that I have. I don't dislike government. I just want government to work. We have a federal government that is out of control from the standpoint of spending, and I wish I could tell you I knew every Supreme Court case. I don't. I'm not even going to try to go through every Supreme Court case. I’m not a lawyer, but here's what I do know, I know they're spending too much money in Washington, D.C., and $15 trillion worth of debt is on the back of that young man right there. And if we don't go in and cut the size of government, court cases aren't going to make one tinker's heck.
After the event, NBC's Carrie Dann reports, Governor Perry acknowledged that he didn't know what Lawrence v. Texas was about. A refresher: Really big government telling consenting adults what they could do in the privacy of their homes.