Overruled! The Movie

"We were inside of a private residence" . . . "The next thing I knew, the police were in the house. . . . They said, 'We're taking you downtown.' . . . I wasn't allowed to put clothes on. I was handcuffed and dragged down the stairs."

Lambda Legal, a group worthy of your support btw, has been a leader in many LGBT court cases around the country, including the California Supreme Court decision this year establishing equal marriage in that state. Now they've produced a 19-minute documentary for use in schools, explaining the background and ramifications of the historic Lawrence v. Texas ruling in 2003, by which the United States Supreme Court struck down all remaining sodomy laws in the country.

When my late partner and I set up housekeeping on the prairie in 1999, we were, technically, criminals in the eyes of the great Lone Star State. At any 4 a.m. they pleased, the local yokel troopers could have busted down the front door, marched right into our bedroom, kicked the little dog off the bed, and slammed us into a concrete cell. And we would have had no recourse whatsoever at law, none. We could have been hit with a fine and jail time and permanently marked as sexual offenders. Just for being us: two men and a little fuzzy dog living as quietly, peaceably, and responsibly as any of our good Christian neighbors.

But no longer can anyone be jailed and branded with a criminal record for life just for loving whom they please. If you aren't already familiar with this case and its monumental implications for every queer in the country, watch the whole video right here. And pass it along to your friends. It's too important to our lives and our freedoms to be forgotten.