Abstract
This Article challenges the underlying assumption in Lawrence v. Texas that sex is valuable only when potentially in service to emotional intimacy and proposes a new theory for extending legal protection to a wider range of consensual sexual activities. The current regulation of sex devalues both sexual relationships that lack an intimate component and intimate relationships that lack a sexual component. We argue that the state should independently protect both intimate relationships and sexual interactions because sex can constitute a vital part of individual identity and self-expression even when not channeled into intimacy. We challenge the dominant, almost sacred, understanding that the most important relationships between adults should always be both sexual and emotionally intimate.
Recommended Citation
Laura A. Rosenbury & Jennifer E. Rothman,
Sex In and Out of Intimacy,
59
Emory L. J.
809
(2010).
Available at:
https://scholarlycommons.law.emory.edu/elj/vol59/iss4/1