How did the Supreme Court rule in Lawrence v. Texas?

In the 2003 case Lawrence v. Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6–3 that a Texas law criminalizing consensual sexual intimacy between same-sex adults was unconstitutional.1

Writing for the majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy affirmed that the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment protects the liberty and privacy of individuals to engage in private, consensual sexual conduct. The Court held that the Constitution protects the right of adults to establish personal bonds, including sexual relationships, without unwarranted government intrusion.1

Crucially, the decision explicitly overruled the Court’s 1986 ruling in Bowers v. Hardwick, which had previously upheld state sodomy laws. By overturning Bowers, the Court invalidated similar laws in other states, marking a significant development in civil rights and the legal recognition of gay rights. While Justice Sandra Day O’Connor concurred with the judgment based on the equal protection clause, the dissenting justices argued that the Constitution does not confer a fundamental right to privacy regarding such conduct.1