A landmark gay rights case began at this Atlanta home. Can locals save it?
An Atlanta home at the center of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that helped shape the gay rights movement is in danger of being demolished.
Now some locals are pushing to get the 1920s-era Virginia-Highland house designated as a historic landmark in the hope of preserving what they say is an essential part of Atlanta’s LGBT history.
The owner of the home that sits on a hill along Ponce de Leon Place has submitted plans to demolish the structure and build a new house with a pool.
On Monday, the Atlanta City Council passed a resolution asking the director of the Urban Design Commission to nominate the property as a landmark building.
While that may not be enough to save the home, supporters hope to at least slow down the process and invite more community feedback. A hearing on the property owner’s request for a zoning variance to allow the new construction is scheduled later this week at City Hall. The demolition has not yet been approved by the city.
Local historians say very few people are aware of the home’s cultural significance.
In August 1982, Michael Hardwick was arrested after an Atlanta police officer entered the house, came into a bedroom and found two men having sex.
Both Hardwick and the other man were arrested on felony sodomy charges, kicking off a yearslong legal battle that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The High Court ruled 5-4 in 1986 that state sodomy laws were constitutional, and the landmark Hardwick v. Bowers decision stood for 17 years until it was overturned in Lawrence v. Texas.
Historians say the Atlanta case helped influence an entire generation of gay and lesbian Americans. The court’s decision had wide-ranging impacts on employment cases, custody battles and even the ability of same-sex couples to adopt children.
It also galvanized queer activists, who led marches and parades demanding equal protections.
Charlie Paine, the co-founder and former executive director of Historic Atlanta, is among those leading the effort to preserve the house.
“It’s clearly a home that has exceptional significance to the city and the history of the United States,” Paine said Friday. “Its role in LGBTQ and civil rights history is really something that shouldn’t be overlooked.”
Paine said certain places are preserved because of their historic value and what was accomplished there. Other sites, like the century-old bungalow, can serve as reminders of what he called “terrible blemishes on our history.”
“It’s one of those places where you don’t want to repeat the history of what happened here,” he said. “Of all the LGBTQ historic places and spaces in the city, this is one that had national implications.”
Fred Smith Jr., a Stanford Law School professor who lives in Atlanta, is working with Paine in an attempt to save the home.
The two collected signatures from more than 100 constitutional law scholars urging city leaders give it a historic designation. Among those signatures was the attorney who argued Hardwick before the Supreme Court, as well as the lawyer who argued the case that overturned the decision in 2003.
“It’s a case that ruled that when it came to same-sex intimacy, even in one’s own bedroom, that the right to privacy didn’t apply there,” Smith said of the case’s importance.
Smith called it a huge decision that affected generations of LGBT Americans and motivated many of them to mobilize.
“It’s hard to talk about the right to privacy in the last century without talking about that case,” he said. “It’s important to remember the victories, and then it’s also important to remember chapters in history that we want to avoid ever repeating.”
City Council member Kelsea Bond introduced Monday’s resolution after hearing from constituents who were concerned about the demolition plans. Council members Alex Wan and Matt Westmoreland also signed onto the request.
“Let’s all pause and have a conversation about what this site means to the community,” Bond said of Monday’s resolution.
Atlanta has developed a reputation as a haven for the LGBT community and many would like to see the home protected.
But in the event it does get demolished, Bond said a marker could still be placed out front noting the property’s historical significance. There’s also a chance that public pressure could persuade the property owner to change their plans altogether.
Efforts by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution to reach the homeowner, including knocking on the front door Monday, were unsuccessful.
Westmoreland said he wasn’t aware of the home’s history until people started reaching out with concerns.
“As I’ve learned more about it, it’s clear that this house has an outsized role in the civil rights LGBTQ history of the city and the country,” he said. “This legislation is designed to signify City Council’s hope that we protect it.”
The local Neighborhood Planning Unit deferred its vote on the zoning variance request two weeks ago. The case now heads to Atlanta’s five-member Board of Zoning Adjustment, which has scheduled a hearing for noon Thursday at Atlanta City Hall.