Group Hopes Texas Sodomy Case Heard
Associated Press, July 16, 2002
HOUSTON—A gay rights group took its case against
Texas’ 123-year-old anti-sodomy law to the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Lambda Legal filed its appeal on behalf of two men who were arrested in
1998 after sheriff’s deputies responding to a report of an intruder entered
an apartment through an open door and spotted them having sex.
The men pleaded no contest and were fined $200 each.
Only Texas, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma expressly prohibit homosexual
acts. Texas’ law carries a fine of up to $500.
"This law harms all people who believe that their homes should be
protected from governmental intrusion," said Lee Taft, director of Lambda
Legal’s regional office. "In particular, it brands lesbian and gay
Texans as second-class citizens and is used to justify all kinds of
discrimination." A state appeals court upheld the law, and Texas’
highest court refused to hear the case.
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