the landmark gay-rights case lawrence v. texas from the rest of john lawrence and tyron garner, to justice can is reading of the supreme court decision in 2003. the ruling that same-sex sexual activity legal in all u.s. states and territories and paved the way for same-sex marriage laws. >> host: you've written a fine book on the supreme court case of lawrence v. texas, a book that tells the story from the beginning to the end. let me begin with sort of a big picture of question at the end. why is the lawrence case important? >> guest: i would say this is probably one of the most important civil rights decisions or constitutional individual liberty decisions from the supreme court over the past 50 years or so. and it's the most important decision so far for the rights of gay men and lesbians. so this is an opinion that is important a great many people, and i think will be longer but