On this day in 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a landmark decision in Lawrence v. Texas, striking down laws that criminalized same-sex intimacy. It was a turning point. For the first time, the highest court in the country affirmed that queer people had the right to exist, to love, and to live without fear of arrest simply for who we are. For many, it marked a moment of long-overdue legal recognition and relief. Ten years ago today marriage equality became law. But it did not end the struggle. It only changed its shape.

Two decades later, the backlash is fierce. Rights we thought were secured are once again under threat. Anti-trans laws are multiplying. Healthcare is being restricted. Book bans are accelerating. And the same justifications once used to police queer sex are being repurposed to police queer lives. The courts that once expanded freedom are now narrowing it. And many of the same voices that once condemned sodomy are now pushing to erase trans existence, ban drag, and target our families.

This anniversary is not only a time to remember a legal victory. It is a reminder that our freedom has never depended solely on the courts. It has always depended on our resistance, our organizing, and our refusal to accept shame as law. The criminalization of queerness is not just a thing of the past. It is present in the policies, rhetoric, and violence we still face. Pride is not a celebration of how far we’ve come. It is a declaration that we are not going back.