Some push for elimination of sodomy laws
Law discriminates against gays, lesbians, some say
By Lara Hendrickson
Staff Reporter

Members of eQ Alliance, a gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender support group, say while they are glad the Supreme Court is revisiting the Texas sodomy laws in the case of Lawrence and Garner v. Texas, they are hesitant to be optimistic because it is not the first time the law has been redressed.

Matthew Flinchum, eQ Alliance president, said the organization strives to be a place where gay and lesbian people can come and feel accepted. Flinchum, a senior philosophy and political science major, said the laws are clearly discriminatory and he hopes the court will have a change of heart from previous trials.

“Heterosexual couples can engage in sodomy all they want with no threat of punishment,” Flinchum said. “There is no way that the Texas sodomy law promotes equality.”

According to a CNN report, John Lawrence and Tyron Garner were caught having consensual sex in Houston after police broke into their home due to a neighbor’s false report of weapon disturbance. Both men were fined and arrested and the case has been appealed to the Supreme Court.

Sodomy is defined as any form of sexual intercourse held to be unnatural or abnormal, according to Webster’s Dictionary. While 13 states have sodomy laws, only four states (Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri) have sodomy laws that strictly refer to gays and lesbians, according to (SodomyLaws.org).

Flinchum said by simply existing, eQ Alliance supports the change of the law.
“Our organization, and organizations like us from around the state, shows that not all Texans support this law,” Flinchum said. “If the Supreme Court overturns these sodomy laws it will be a great victory indeed. It would represent a new age of equality and an age where civil rights are still being supported by the U.S. government.”

David Jenkins, a social work professor and eQ Alliance faculty adviser, said he thinks the efforts eQ alliance has supported, such as National Coming Out Day on campus and Pride Prom, are done in relation to topics such as the Supreme Court case. Jenkins said the law picks on one group, gays and lesbians, and treats them differently.

“Gays and lesbians are merely looking for equality of treatment under the law,” Jenkins said. “There are numerous places where the laws and policies of our society give benefits and privileges to heterosexuals that it does not give to gays and lesbians — marriage, tax credits, health insurance, inheritance, etc.

“The overturning of this law could help move our society one step closer to treating gays and lesbians as equal citizens,” he said.

Linda Moore, a social work professor, said her Issues in Diversity class addresses equal treatment of gays and lesbians and that she is concerned about sodomy laws in general.

She said the current law is extremely discriminatory against gays and lesbians.

“It clearly demonstrates the issue of viewing gays and lesbians as sexual creatures only and focusing on the sexual acts rather than other aspects of peoples’ lives,” Moore said.

“It also demands that people who are gay live with the knowledge that their behavior, whether purely sexual or within a committed relationship, is illegal. That exacts an emotional toll that is pretty draining.”

Moore said she is glad the Supreme Court is hearing the case in hopes the law will change, but that she wishes the court had better issues to address than the sexual behavior between consenting adults.

“I resent that we spend so much taxpayer money to address issues that make people uncomfortable or that satisfy their prurient interests when there are so many issues affecting people that affect their very survival,” Moore said.

Moore said she thinks the gay and lesbian community will be hesitant to become optimistic until there is actual change in the law.

“It is hard to hope for change when the climate of the country still reflects that over half of the country thinks gay sex is wrong,” she said. “Time will tell.”

According to CNN, in 1986 the court upheld the prosecution of two gay men under an anti-sodomy law in Georgia in the case of Bowers v. Hardwick.

Oral arguments in the court began March 26 and a decision is expected at the end of June or the beginning of July 2003.

l.c.hendrickson@tcu.edu