Before Lawrence v. Texas: The Making of a Queer Social Movement

by Wesley G. Phelps

The grassroots queer activism and legal challenges that led to a landmark Supreme Court decision in favor of gay and lesbian equality.

In 2003 the US Supreme Court overturned anti-sodomy laws across the country, ruling in Lawrence v. Texas that the Constitution protects private consensual sex between adults. To some, the decision seemed to come like lightning from above, altering the landscape of America’s sexual politics all at once. In actuality, many years of work and organizing led up to the legal case, and the landmark ruling might never have happened were it not for the passionate struggle of Texans who rejected their state’s discriminatory laws. Before Lawrence v. Texas tells the story of the long, troubled, and ultimately hopeful road to constitutional change. Wesley G. Phelps describes the achievements, setbacks, and unlikely alliances along the way. Over the course of decades, and at great risk to themselves, gay and lesbian Texans and their supporters launched political campaigns and legal challenges, laying the groundwork for Lawrence . Phelps shares the personal experiences of the people and couples who contributed to the legal strategy that ultimately overturned the state’s discriminatory law. Even when their individual court cases were unsuccessful, justice seekers and activists collectively influenced public opinion by insisting that their voices be heard. Nine Supreme Court justices ruled, but it was grassroots politics that vindicated the ideal of equality under the law.

Genres: LGBT

304 pages, Hardcover

First published February 7, 2023

Reviews

[Jimmy Hickey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is incredibly thorough in its research. I opted to listen to it on Audible and found the experience informative but incredibly dry. I think they should've gone with a different narrator. I tried reading it with audible and my Kindle and I enjoyed it less. Great history. Well written and researched. Lots of incredible stories and detail. But ...the language was too dry for me.

[Phoebe Lingold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fuck you Henry Wade, fuck you Anton Scalia, fuck you Clarence Thomas

[Virgowriter (Brad Windhauser) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of interesting info woven together well. So many important laws and cases I’d never heard of. Would generate a lot of interesting conversations about how deep of an impact a few laws can have on a number of people’s lives.

[Taylor Cunningham · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was EXCELLENT. It was well researched and written. Texas’ LGBT history pre-Lawrence is now well documented thanks to this book.

[Helena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Upon taking office in 2017, President Donald Trump quickly ended Obama-era policies that protected transgender schoolchildren by allowing them to use the restroom that matched their gender identity, and members of the Trump administration vowed to eliminate all transgender personnel from the US military. Trump also enacted new federal rules that allowed single-sex homeless shelters to turn away transgender individuals, medical professionals to refuse to treat transgender patients, and private insurance companies to deny benefits for certain health care procedures sought by some transgender patients. President Joe Biden reversed some of these Trump-era changes after taking office in 2021, but the fact that these basic rights are subject to the whim of the sitting president is a sign that there is much work left to do.

this was kind of a dry read, but so majorly important that i pushed past that. the fact that so many rights i take for granted took so many decades to be given to us, and now they’re in danger of being taken away in the blink of an eye is SO SCARY and this book is a wake up call to anyone getting complacent and refusing to fight.