NEW YORK - Gay rights advocates hailed the Supreme Court decision yesterday striking down a Texas sodomy ban as a major victory for their cause while conservative activists decried it as "the Roe v. [ROE V. WADE] of the homosexual issue."

"Obviously this is like the Roe v. Wade of the homosexual issue," said Peter LaBarbera, senior policy analyst for the Culture and Family Institute, a conservative Christian group opposed to gay rights.

LaBarbera said some conservatives believe the ruling could provide a rationale for the government to sanction gay marriages, a criticism echoed in the Supreme Court yesterday by dissenting Justice Antonin Scalia. "The court is forcing San Francisco values on the whole country," LaBarbera said.