12 republicans joined all 60 democrats in the Texas house to vote to formally repeal the gay sex ban that was ruled unconstitutional in 2003
First time the Texas house has passed any repeal attempts. It still faces steep odds in the Texas senate
I dunno, this sounds like liberty to me.
considering the ban was never enforceable, this doesn’t really mean much aside from telling us that the republicans who voted for it are all fucking bigots.
Why wasn’t it enforceable?
Any chance it was like the “tripwire” laws for abortion that went into effect once Roe was lost?
Why wasn’t it enforceable?
Because it was an actually an arrest under this law that led to the SCOTUS decision ruling these laws to be unconstitutional.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_v._Texas
So removing it from the state’s legal code is a pre-emptive action in anticipation of Project 2025 in the wake of Thomas’ comments after Dobbs (he specifically called out Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell to be re-examined using the same arguments in order to overturn them all).
That and it was also used to harass gay people. Cops would arrest them knowing the law wouldn’t be enforced, but getting cuffed and dragged to jail for the night makes the point.
If it was ruled unconstitutional you’d think it would automatically be considered repealed. I suppose this could come into play potentially with our nut job supreme court though. If they decided to overturn the 2003 decision and it wasn’t officially repealed it could come into effect again, so uh… good on Texas I guess?
It’s sorta like how many states had abortion laws on the books ready to return to enforcement the second Dobbs happened.
It’s not as if a sitting Supreme Court Justice has speculated on getting rid of Lawrence v Texas - oh wait:
[W]e should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell. Because any substantive due process decision is ‘demonstrably erroneous’ … we have a duty to ‘correct the error’ established in those precedents.”
Clarence Thomas. Shithead would give up Loving v Virginia as long as he keeps getting to be a sex pest and enjoy fun yacht trips.
If it was ruled unconstitutional you’d think it would automatically be considered repealed
The change in law resolves a lot of peripheral bullshit, because the Legislature can long windedly close the door on municipal bigots who think they can rules lawyer homophobia at the local level.
Similarly, articulating bigotry back into state law can open the door for homophobic municipalities to harass gay couples.
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Good for those Republicans. The Texas Senate I’m sure will shoot this down. Still amazes me that Republicans are so damn concerned what happens in bedrooms. Like leave the bedroom alone and continue swiping on your Grindr account.
They have to have some social issues to force the populace to focus on whenever they’re doing something blatantly corrupt elsewhere.
The winds of change are blowin’ down in Texas, huh
don’t get too overly optimistic
The change winds are killing birds!!!
It’ll never happen […] * it happens * […] Who could have guessed!
Figures. Gays for Trump prolly pissed rn.
I may be wrong, but I think you may have misinterpreted what the outcome here was. 12 republicans joined with all the democrats to vote to repeal the ban that was still on the books after being found unconstitutional back in 2003. So, a good thing, even if it is unlikely to make it further than that.
No, I got that. I forgot the
/s.
