Sure, this legislative session has had its share of embarrassing, absurd, even confounding bills attacking everything from public education, to transgender Texans, to abortion rights, and even furries. But there are small victories to celebrate.
The Texas House has approved a bill that would remove a ban on “homosexual conduct” from state statute. It’s the farthest this effort has ever gone through the legislature.
On Friday, the House narrowly voted 59-56 on House Bill 1738, which would repeal the symbolic 1973 law that prohibits “deviate sexual intercourse with another individual of the same sex.” The House gave initial approval on Thursday in a 72-55 vote. The vote comes over 20 years after Lawrence v. Texas, a 2003 U.S. Supreme Court case that ruled the state’s ban on same-sex couples’ intimate choices was unconstitutional.
The bill will now head to the Senate, where it will likely stall as lawmakers rush to complete unfinished business by the end of the legislative session on June 2, according to the Texas Tribune. Still, Rep. Venton Jones, the bill’s author, told the outlet that Thursday’s vote marked significant progress.
“Working on this bill has been a one step at a time process, for so long,” said Jones, a Dallas Democrat and one of the first Black gay members of the House. “I am standing on the shoulders of people who have carried this bill before me, and that’s where I get my strength.”
The bill also received the support of 12 Republicans, including some of the most conservative voices in the chamber. Rep. Brian Harrison, a Midlothian Republican, notably signed on as co-author, citing that the bill would reduce government overreach.
“Criminalizing homosexuality is not the role of government, and I support repealing it,” Harrison said in a statement to the Tribune, adding that he “will continue consistently fighting for limited government and individual liberty.”
Harrison acknowledged to the outlet that he and Jones frequently disagree, but he’s in favor of the bill.
That’s right: Two men from different places and political ideologies found common ground in the legislative process. Was it to simply remove an unenforceable law? Yes. Will even that minimal step fail to make it to the governor’s desk? Most likely.
Still, it’s a nice reminder that anything is possible in the Texas Legislature, even decency.
Read more at the Texas Tribune.
