What the History of Gay Marriage Legislatn Texas Can Teach Us About Its Future – Texas Monthly

Contents:

• TEXAS GOP'S NEW PLATFORM LLS GAY PEOPLE 'ABNORMAL' AND REJECTS TRANS INTI
• WHAT THE HISTORY OF GAY MARRIAGE LEGISLATN TEXAS CAN TEACH US ABOUT ITS FUTURE
• SUPREME COURT: GAY MARRIAGE BANS ARE UNNSTUTNAL
• QUTN ON GAY MARRIAGE HAS ADVOT, EXPERTS ASKG: WHAT DO THIS TEXAS LAWMAKER WANT?GOP STATE REP. JAM WHE’S REQUT FOR OPN ED A STIR ON SOCIAL MEDIA, BAFFLG NSTUTNAL SCHOLARS AND ANGERG GAY RIGHTS ADVOT. WHE IS NNG FOR STATEWI OFFICE.REP. JAM WHE, R-HILLISTER, SPEAKS DURG A PRS NFERENCE HELD BY TEXAS PRISONS AIR-CONDNG ADVOT ON TUDAY, MARCH 12, 2019 AT THE JOHN H REAGAN STATE OFFICE BUILDG AT. WHE, WHO IS NNG THE GOP PRIMARY FOR AGRICULTURE MISSNER, LAST WEEK ASKED THE ATTORNEY GENERAL WHETHER PRIVATE CIZENS NEED TO REGNIZE SAME-SEX MARRIAG.(ASHLEY LANDIS / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)BY SAMI SPARBER AND LREN MCGGHY5:30 AM ON OCT 27, 2021 CDTLISTENAUSTIN — DO PRIVATE CIZENS TEXAS NEED TO REGNIZE GAY MARRIAG?THAT’S THE QUTN REP. JAM WHE, A REPUBLIN LAWMAKER NNG FOR STATEWI OFFICE, ASKED THE ATTORNEY GENERAL LAST WEEK. WHE’S REQUT FOR OPN ED A STIR ON SOCIAL MEDIA, BAFFLG NSTUTNAL SCHOLARS AND ANGERG GAY RIGHTS ADVOT.ADVERTISEMENTMORE THAN SIX YEARS AFTER THE U.S. SUPREME COURT LEGALIZED GAY MARRIAGE NATNWI OBERGEFELL VS. HODG — AND WH FEW OTHER PROTECTNS FOR LGBTQ TEXANS — THEY WONRED, WHAT EXACTLY IS WHE’S POT?ADVERTISEMENTEXPERTS SAID THEY DIDN’T THK WHE’S REQUT WOULD HAVE ANY IMPACT ON CURRENT LAW, CHALKG UP TO POLIL POSTURG AHEAD OF A NSERVATIVE PRIMARY RACE. IT MAY BE PART OF A NSERVATIVE TREND TO LEAVE UNENFORCEABLE LAWS ON THE BOOKS SE THE LGS ARE REVERSED.POLIL POTSGET THE LATT POLICS NEWS OM NORTH TEXAS AND BEYOND.EMAIL ADDRSBY SIGNG UP YOU AGREE TO OUR TERMS OF SERVICE AND PRIVACY POLICYSUBMITTHE 2015 OBERGEFELL CISN MA THE BAN ON SAME SEX-MARRIAGE TEXAS AND 12 OTHER STAT UNENFORCEABLE. BUT LAWMAKERS HAVE NEVER REMOVED THE LANGUAGE, WHICH VOTERS ENSHRED THE TEXAS CONSTUTN 2005. IN AN TERVIEW WH THE DALLAS MORNG NEWS, WHE SAID HE IS NOT ASKG ATTORNEY GENERAL KEN PAXTON TO REJECT THE URT’S LG ON GAY MARRIAGE.“SOME PEOPLE WERE SAYG, ‘OH HE’S ASKG TO SEE IF OBERGEFELL IS APPLIBLE TO TEXAS,’” WHE SAID. “NO, I’M NOT SAYG THAT. IT IS APPLIBLE TO TEXAS — AS APPLI TO ERNMENT OFFICIALS REGNIZG DIFFERENT MARRIAGE NSTCTS.”ADVERTISEMENTHE ADD: “BUT HOW DO APPLY TO PRIVATE CIZENS?”WHE DID NOT HAVE AN EXAMPLE FOR WHAT SUATN HE SEEKS TO ADDRS NOR DID HE SAY A SPECIFIC CINT SPURRED HIM TO ASK THE QUTN AT THIS TIME.ADVERTISEMENTHE MENTNED THE RIGHTS OF CLERGY TO REJECT GAY UNNS — BUT SAID THAT IS NOT THE SOLE REASON HE FILED THIS REQUT. THEN HE WAVED OFF — BUT DID NOT PLETELY REJECT — THAT HE WANTS THE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO WEIGH ON WHETHER BS N NY SERVIC TO SAME-SEX UPL.ADVERTISEMENT“I DON’T KNOW IF BS ARE PRIVATE CIZENS,” WHE SAID, WHILE ACKNOWLEDGG THEY MAY BE OWNED OR N BY PRIVATE CIZENS. “MAYBE A PRIVATE CIZEN ULD BE SOMEONE WHO SAYS THEY’RE A PREACHER. ... IT ULD BE A CHURCH AN BOARD.”WHE SAID HILLISTER BAPTIST CHURCH, WHERE HE ATTEND UNTIL RECENTLY, CHECKED S BYLAWS AFTER THE SUPREME COURT LG TO MAKE SURE FED MARRIAGE A WAY THAT WAS “NSISTENT WH CHURCH DOCTRE.”LEGAL TO TURN AWAY CTOMERS
• FIFTEEN YEARS AFTER LANDMARK GAY RIGHTS SE, SAME-SEX UPL TEXAS STILL FACE CHALLENG URT
• TEXAS GAY MARRIAGE BAN LATT TO BE STCK DOWN

TEXAS GOP'S NEW PLATFORM LLS GAY PEOPLE 'ABNORMAL' AND REJECTS TRANS INTI

In that lg, Jtice Clarence Thomas wrote a ncurrg opn that the urt should nsir reversg lgs that said was unnstutnal for stat to ban same-sex marriage, crimalize homosexualy and rtrict accs to ntraceptn, alarmg Democrats. The state GOP has also nmned same-sex marriage every one of s biennial platforms, and this year’s platform clud a plank that said “homosexualy is an abnormal liftyle choice. The Texas Republin Party unveiled s official posn on LGBTQ issu over the weekend, fg homosexualy as an "abnormal liftyle choice" and also opposg "all efforts to validate transgenr inty.

WHAT THE HISTORY OF GAY MARRIAGE LEGISLATN TEXAS CAN TEACH US ABOUT ITS FUTURE

"Thoands of Republin activists met at the party’s biennial nventn Hoton on Saturday to agree to the party's platform on a range of issu, cludg the rejectn of the 2020 electn rults and a ll to repeal of the 1965 Votg Right Act, which was enacted to prevent discrimatn agast Black a sectn tled "Homosexualy and genr issu, " the party suggted that LGBTQ people should not be legally protected om discrimatn and that beg gay or trans is a choice. "Homosexualy is an abnormal liftyle choice, " the 40-page rolutn reads. "We believe there should be no grantg of special legal entlements or creatn of special stat for homosexual behavr, regardls of state of orig, and we oppose any crimal or civil penalti agast those who oppose homosexualy out of fah, nvictn, or belief tradnal valu.

SUPREME COURT: GAY MARRIAGE BANS ARE UNNSTUTNAL

"The Texas Republin Party blocked the Log Cab Republins, a longstandg group of gay nservativ — which also supports many of the party’s anti-LGBTQ polici — om havg a booth at Saturday's nventn. "The party's new official stance on sexual orientatn and genr inty also cis wh a recent natnwi surge charged rhetoric om media punds and policians about LGBTQ recent months, nservative lawmakers, televisn punds and other public figur have acced opponents of a newly enacted Florida tn legislatn — which crics have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law — of tryg to “groom” or “doctrate” children. The word “groomg” has long been associated wh mischaracterizg LGBTQ people, particularly gay men and transgenr women, as child sex abers.

Ted Cz and John Cornyn both voted agast feral protectn for gay and terracial marriage Tuday, though the full Senate passed the bill wh bipartisan support. The Texas legislature has end another by ssn, sendg bills to the ernor that would ban red-light traffic meras, end regulatn of the plumbg dtry, make easier to de outdoors wh a dog, rry brass knuckl, and posss a gun si a rented apartment and a place of as ual, policians did not manage to repeal a homophobic law that has been unenforceable sce 2003, meang that a ban on “homosexual nduct” remas part of the Texas penal stat that is a Class C mismeanor offense, punishable wh up to a $500 fe, if a person “engag viate sexual terurse wh another dividual of the same sex” is 16 years sce the US supreme urt stck down Texas’s anti-sodomy law. The se, Lawrence v Texas, arose after sheriff’s puti charged two men wh a mismeanor for havg sex a Hoton-area apartment Texas’s biennial legislature recently nclud s 2019 ssn whout passg any of seven Democrat-led bills that would have excised the “homosexual nduct” prohibn, which was enacted would not be plex or time-nsumg to strike out a brief sectn om the , and Democrats have tried at every regular ssn sce the supreme urt lg.

QUTN ON GAY MARRIAGE HAS ADVOT, EXPERTS ASKG: WHAT DO THIS TEXAS LAWMAKER WANT?GOP STATE REP. JAM WHE’S REQUT FOR OPN ED A STIR ON SOCIAL MEDIA, BAFFLG NSTUTNAL SCHOLARS AND ANGERG GAY RIGHTS ADVOT. WHE IS NNG FOR STATEWI OFFICE.REP. JAM WHE, R-HILLISTER, SPEAKS DURG A PRS NFERENCE HELD BY TEXAS PRISONS AIR-CONDNG ADVOT ON TUDAY, MARCH 12, 2019 AT THE JOHN H REAGAN STATE OFFICE BUILDG AT. WHE, WHO IS NNG THE GOP PRIMARY FOR AGRICULTURE MISSNER, LAST WEEK ASKED THE ATTORNEY GENERAL WHETHER PRIVATE CIZENS NEED TO REGNIZE SAME-SEX MARRIAG.(ASHLEY LANDIS / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)BY SAMI SPARBER AND LREN MCGGHY5:30 AM ON OCT 27, 2021 CDTLISTENAUSTIN — DO PRIVATE CIZENS TEXAS NEED TO REGNIZE GAY MARRIAG?THAT’S THE QUTN REP. JAM WHE, A REPUBLIN LAWMAKER NNG FOR STATEWI OFFICE, ASKED THE ATTORNEY GENERAL LAST WEEK. WHE’S REQUT FOR OPN ED A STIR ON SOCIAL MEDIA, BAFFLG NSTUTNAL SCHOLARS AND ANGERG GAY RIGHTS ADVOT.ADVERTISEMENTMORE THAN SIX YEARS AFTER THE U.S. SUPREME COURT LEGALIZED GAY MARRIAGE NATNWI OBERGEFELL VS. HODG — AND WH FEW OTHER PROTECTNS FOR LGBTQ TEXANS — THEY WONRED, WHAT EXACTLY IS WHE’S POT?ADVERTISEMENTEXPERTS SAID THEY DIDN’T THK WHE’S REQUT WOULD HAVE ANY IMPACT ON CURRENT LAW, CHALKG UP TO POLIL POSTURG AHEAD OF A NSERVATIVE PRIMARY RACE. IT MAY BE PART OF A NSERVATIVE TREND TO LEAVE UNENFORCEABLE LAWS ON THE BOOKS SE THE LGS ARE REVERSED.POLIL POTSGET THE LATT POLICS NEWS OM NORTH TEXAS AND BEYOND.EMAIL ADDRSBY SIGNG UP YOU AGREE TO OUR TERMS OF SERVICE AND PRIVACY POLICYSUBMITTHE 2015 OBERGEFELL CISN MA THE BAN ON SAME SEX-MARRIAGE TEXAS AND 12 OTHER STAT UNENFORCEABLE. BUT LAWMAKERS HAVE NEVER REMOVED THE LANGUAGE, WHICH VOTERS ENSHRED THE TEXAS CONSTUTN 2005. IN AN TERVIEW WH THE DALLAS MORNG NEWS, WHE SAID HE IS NOT ASKG ATTORNEY GENERAL KEN PAXTON TO REJECT THE URT’S LG ON GAY MARRIAGE.“SOME PEOPLE WERE SAYG, ‘OH HE’S ASKG TO SEE IF OBERGEFELL IS APPLIBLE TO TEXAS,’” WHE SAID. “NO, I’M NOT SAYG THAT. IT IS APPLIBLE TO TEXAS — AS APPLI TO ERNMENT OFFICIALS REGNIZG DIFFERENT MARRIAGE NSTCTS.”ADVERTISEMENTHE ADD: “BUT HOW DO APPLY TO PRIVATE CIZENS?”WHE DID NOT HAVE AN EXAMPLE FOR WHAT SUATN HE SEEKS TO ADDRS NOR DID HE SAY A SPECIFIC CINT SPURRED HIM TO ASK THE QUTN AT THIS TIME.ADVERTISEMENTHE MENTNED THE RIGHTS OF CLERGY TO REJECT GAY UNNS — BUT SAID THAT IS NOT THE SOLE REASON HE FILED THIS REQUT. THEN HE WAVED OFF — BUT DID NOT PLETELY REJECT — THAT HE WANTS THE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO WEIGH ON WHETHER BS N NY SERVIC TO SAME-SEX UPL.ADVERTISEMENT“I DON’T KNOW IF BS ARE PRIVATE CIZENS,” WHE SAID, WHILE ACKNOWLEDGG THEY MAY BE OWNED OR N BY PRIVATE CIZENS. “MAYBE A PRIVATE CIZEN ULD BE SOMEONE WHO SAYS THEY’RE A PREACHER. ... IT ULD BE A CHURCH AN BOARD.”WHE SAID HILLISTER BAPTIST CHURCH, WHERE HE ATTEND UNTIL RECENTLY, CHECKED S BYLAWS AFTER THE SUPREME COURT LG TO MAKE SURE FED MARRIAGE A WAY THAT WAS “NSISTENT WH CHURCH DOCTRE.”LEGAL TO TURN AWAY CTOMERS

”Texas is “by fn an anti-homosexual state”, said Gar Coleman, a Democratic state reprentative om Harris unty who has filed a bill to repeal the “homosexual nduct” ban each of the past eight regular ssns. ”Acrdg to Louisiana law, the attorney general has the power to stute civil proceedgs agast bs that engage “unlawful activy aimed at anized homosexualy”. The law c homosexualy the same sentence as prostutn, nartics, extortn and embezzlement.

A police officer El Paso, for example, threatened to arrt a group of gay men for vlatg Texas’s homosexual nduct law after two kissed a rtrant vtigatn by the Advote 2013 found that a sheriff’s office Baton Rouge, Louisiana, had arrted at least a dozen gay men g an valid sodomy law. Florida’s prohibn of “unnatural and lasciv acts” has led to gay men beg arrted for nsensual sexual outmod Amerin statut were ced by the Rsian print, Vladimir Put, to fend his own untry’s anti-gay law a Texas legislature domated by nservativ, changg or makg laws requir Republin support.

FIFTEEN YEARS AFTER LANDMARK GAY RIGHTS SE, SAME-SEX UPL TEXAS STILL FACE CHALLENG URT

But gay rights advot are forced to vote much of their energy to stoppg lawmakers om passg new anti-LGBT bills. One group, Equaly Texas, said s lobbyg helped kill 19 bills this year’s Texas Republin party’s platform stated until 2014 that “the practice of homosexualy tears at the fabric of society and ntribut to the breakdown of the fay un”.

Its current manifto still oppos same-sex marriage and says “homosexual behavr” is agast “God’s biblil sign”. But he tends to be back 2021 for a h attempt to repeal the “homosexual nduct” law.

Gay marriage supporters have ma massive stris a very short amount of time. Ls than ten years ago, gay upl uldn’t get married anywhere the Uned Stat. ” Now, though, nearly a third of the stat (ntag nearly forty percent of the populatn) have legalized gay marriage, and most s, that’s been through the actns of elected legislatur or voters at the ballot box.

TEXAS GAY MARRIAGE BAN LATT TO BE STCK DOWN

In Texas, meanwhile, if the stat of gay marriage is gog to change—at least the short term—’ll likely have to be the urts.

And there are four lawsus pendg that are challengg the var rtrictns the state that outlaw gay marriage.