About this episode
Martin Padgett discusses the life of Michael Hardwick and the implications of the Supreme Court case Bowers v. Hardwick on LGBTQ+ rights.
In this episode of Hear-Tell, Martin Padgett illuminates the complicated, very human life of Michael Hardwick—the Atlanta man at the center of Bowers v. Hardwick (1986), the Supreme Court decision that upheld state sodomy laws and galvanized LGBTQ+ activism, decades before Lawrence v. Texas overturned it. In his latest book, The Many Passions of Michael Hardwick: Sex and the Supreme Court in the Age of AIDS (W. W. Norton, 2025), Padgett blends biography and narrative history, drawing on newly surfaced materials and interviews to restore Hardwick’s personhood beyond the case caption—set against the backdrop of the AIDS era and shifting American ideas about privacy and liberty. Padgett’s portrait pushes past a landmark ruling to ask a harder question: Who was Michael Hardwick, and what did that era demand of him? It’s a lesson in writing narrative nonfiction that treats sources—and subjects—with dignity while still telling an unflinching story. The Many Passions of Michael Hardwick: Sex and the Supreme Court in the Age of AIDS (W. W. Norton, 2025). A Night at the Sweet Gum Head: Drag, Drugs, Disco, and Atlanta's Gay Revolution
People in this episode
Guest: Martin Padgett
Topics covered
- LGBTQ+ activism
- Supreme Court decisions
- biography
- narrative history
- AIDS era
- privacy and liberty
Keywords
- Michael Hardwick
- Bowers v. Hardwick
- LGBTQ+ rights
- AIDS
- narrative nonfiction
- privacy
- liberty
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Bowers v. Hardwick, Lawrence v. Texas, W. W. Norton
Books & works: The Many Passions of Michael Hardwick: Sex and the Supreme Court in the Age of AIDS, A Night at the Sweet Gum Head: Drag, Drugs, Disco, and Atlanta's Gay Revolution
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