Legal Question: Does the Oklahoma Statute violate the equal protection clause? Holding: Yes, 7-2, Majority Opinion Justice Brennan Legal Reasoning: While the protection of public health and safety is of the utmost importance, the appellees' statistics fail to support the conclusion that gender-based distinction serves to achieve significant increases to the health or safety of Oklahomans. Providing broad sociological propositions by statistics is a dubious business, and this law fails the equal protection clause. Dissenting Opinions