In 1982, Michael Hardwick was arrested for violating Georgia’s anti-sodomy law. When the case reached the U.S. Supreme Court, Hardwick’s lawyer argued that Georgia does not have the power to determine “how every adult, married or unmarried, in every bedroom in Georgia will behave.” Georgia’s lawyer, Michael Hobbs, declared that the right to privacy did not extend beyond marriage and childrearing. He claimed the state was “adhering to centuries-old tradition and the conventional morality of its people.”

In Bowers v. Hardwick, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld anti-sodomy laws in a 5–4 decision. Justice Harry Blackmun wrote a dissent arguing that “depriving individuals of the right to choose for themselves how to conduct their intimate relationships” threatens our nation’s values.