[Mark Bahner]

"Like adultery and sodomy, fornication is also illegal in many states, although these laws are rarely prosecuted."

And there were laws in many states, up to the 1960s, that required blacks in public buses to go to the back of the bus, if a white person wanted their seat in the front of the bus. Does that mean that blacks don't have a civil right to sit anywhere they want on public buses?

Also, in many states, marriage between races was illegal, until fairly recently (16 states, as recently as 1967). Does that mean that there is no civil right for a person of one race to marry a person of another race?

"Marriage establishes both a spiritual relationship and a legal relationship. Both civil law and canon law have always recognized that the marriage contract allows unlimited access to one another's bodies for sexual relations."

Actually, until Griswold vs Connecticut, there WAS a "limit," at least in Connecticut. That limit was that no contraceptives could be used.

Do you think a state has the legitimate authority to prevent married couples from using contraceptives? How about the legitimate authority to require use of contraceptives?

[longtermmemmory]

And there were laws in many states, up to the 1960s, that required blacks in public buses to go to the back of the bus, if a white person wanted their seat in the front of the bus. Does that mean that blacks don't have a civil right to sit anywhere they want on public buses?

+ + + + + + +

Race is an open, and conspicous immutable characteristic. Homosexuality is based on a behavior not a skin pigment. There is no need for black people to have a red shirt on in order for you to identify the race. Black people can not change their pigment by choice. The analogy is incorrect. If you put on an SAT application that you are black or apply for a scholarship reserved for black people you will be rejected when your skin pigment is observed. Homosexual behavior can be claimed or denied at will or whim.

[Maximilian]

Do you think a state has the legitimate authority to prevent married couples from using contraceptives? How about the legitimate authority to require use of contraceptives?

Yes. No. This was addressed in my previous post to which you are replying. The state has an obligation to insure that its laws respecting marriage correspond to the natural law. To the extent that they don't, there will be reprecussion upon society. Marriage is for the purpose of reproduction. Laws can prohibit behaviors which interfere with that purpose, but they become invalid when the laws themselves violate the purpose.