On This Day In History

June 26th, 2003: The Supreme Court of the United States rules in Lawrence v. Texas that gender-based anti-sodomy laws are unconstitutional, based on the same "right to privacy" that Roe v. Wade helped to establish. It is a 6-3 ruling.

June 26th, 2013: The Supreme Court of the Unites States rules in United States v. Windsor that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that denied federal recognition of same-sex marriages was unconstitutional, based on the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. It is a 5-4 ruling.

June 26th, 2015: The Supreme Court of the United States rules in Obergefell v. Hodges that the fundamental right to legally recognized marriages must be extended to same-sex couples, based on the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. It is a 5-4 ruling.

Gay USA (1978) Directed by Arthur J. Bressan, Jr.

Homosexuality is Now Decriminalized in Trinidad & Tobago

Photo: AP / Mark Lennihan

On Thursday, Justice Devindra Rampersad, a high court judge in Trinidad and Tobago, ruled that a colonial-era law criminalizing gay sex is unconstitutional.

“The court declares that sections 13 and 16 of the [Sexual Offenses Act] are unconstitutional, illegal, null, void, invalid and of no effect to the extent that these laws criminalise any acts constituting consensual sexual conduct between adults,” Justice Rampersad wrote.

The ruling came after LGBTQ+ activist and Trinidad and Tobago citizen Jason Jones filed a lawsuit against the country’s attorney general. The lawsuit claimed that Sections 13 and 16 of the Sexual Offenses Act, which criminalize “buggery,” an outdated term for anal sex, and “serious indecency” respectively, infringed on his right to privacy and freedom of expression.

Jones expressed his excitement over the ruling on Twitter.

actual image of obama blessing the us today