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Extreme vs. Obscene Part III: Who's Looking Through Your Window?

By: the_phraze

When delving into the world of obscenity, one must tread very lightly. This is because obscenity is totally and utterly subjective - even more so than the debate surrounding the extreme. The main difference between the two is that extremity is generally considered something that is "over the top". While obscenity isn't necessarily seen as something going too far, it is rather something that is inappropriate at a particular place or time. Obscenity often finds itself right in the middle of fights that deal with people who feel their civil liberties are being threatened. Something as simple as walking through the park and kissing your girl on the cheek can be seen as obscene to some people and some cultures. Obscenity also finds itself in the middle of the argument of what is private and what is not.

Many of the moral traditions we use as guidelines for operation to our modern civilization machine are based firmly in Judeo-Christian standards and were created as far back as ancient civilization. Whether a society can function with or without a particular moral code, or single moral conscious, is something that is still debated even today. No matter which side of this coin you fall on, see if there is a switch in position after you read about John G. Lawrence.

In 1998, police in Houston, Texas, got a call that there was a weapons disturbance in a local home. Officers immediately arrived on the scene and entered the house in question. What they ended up seeing was the lovers, Tryon Garner and John G. Lawrence, having intimate gay sex. The two men were quickly arrested and held through the night in the county jail and both fined $200 for the violation of Texas' Homosexual Conduct law. This law was directly aimed at homosexual intimacy. Interestingly enough, most laws against sodomy don't directly target homosexuals and focus on the act regardless of the sex of the couple. While laws against sodomy haven't always been clear throughout the existence of the United States of America, the first laws of this kind began to spring up in and around the 1970s. This was a clear case focusing on "obscenity laws". The state of Texas deemed homosexual intercourse to be obscene, and therefore illegal. Even though catching the men in the act the way the officers did is completely contradictory to some of the most basic forms of liberty. This is a liberty that is supposedly granted to all the citizens of this land.

Lawrence and Garner obviously felt violated and betrayed by the land that touts its promises of liberty and freedom to its citizens. John G. Lawrence fought the case all the way to the Supreme Court, citing that his civil liberties were violated and that the state of Texas had deprived his partner and him their privacy rights. Violation of their privacy also violated their equal protection under the law, which is against the Constitution. Texas' argument centered on the fact that regardless of the law being changed through Texas Legislation was not what the case was about. The law had been broken, and until the law itself was changed, the men were treated as anyone breaking the law should be treated. A pretty touchy situation, especially when you look at the relations between the gay and straight community in the last 15 or so years.

Without getting into all the case details, the Supreme Court overturned the decision made by the lower courts in Texas, stating that the arresting of Lawrence and Garner was unconstitutional on June 26, 2003. Now if it was law, this means at one time or another, the people of Texas voted homosexuality as obscene and against a median moral code. What made this such a landmark decision in the halls of justice within this country is that it sets the precedent that when it comes to sexual acts, if it is behind closed doors and is consensual between both parties, the government is not allowed in.

Obscene behavior is usually driven by a specific culture, and falls outside boundaries of what that culture thinks is "normal" (the OTHER "N" word). The web can get increasingly complicated when put up against certain people's individual beliefs despite the prevailing social or societal standards. Adultery is seen as very obscene to some, while it's the norm for others. Another form of obscenity can be in dealing in the sexual relations with Transsexuals or Transgendered people, gangbangs, and even spanking. Whatever definition we give it, they will all have something to do with whether its offensive to someone other than the person or people engaged in the acts themselves. Which brings me back to the gentleman who called the police and reported the weapons disagreement in the first place, and got this whole thing started. He was convicted of filing a false police report. Hilarious.

Things like beliefs and belief systems, however, are under constant attack and shift and change until they eventually morph into some kind of niche or small loophole of the "norm". The fact that Texas still had a law that targets a specific group of people until 1998 is pretty telling. Know the laws in your own state? If not, then it may be a good time to give them a once over. For some hardcore evidence of obscene porn, check out our VOD for titles like, Shemale Sandwich, Skateboard Kink Freak, and Gangland 61. You are sure to enjoy.