The Texas House of Representatives had a debate on a piece of legislation that would strike the unconstitutional, unenforceable criminal offense of “homosexual conduct” from the state’s lawbooks.
House Bill 2055, introduced this session by Dallas Democratic Rep. Venton Jones, was listed on the daily House calendar, which contains the list of new bills and resolutions scheduled by the Committee on Calendars for the full chamber to consider. The proposal would change two parts of the state code related to LGBTQ+ relationships.
If this bill becomes law, it would first remove the phrase “that homosexual conduct is not an acceptable lifestyle” from the health and safety code, while it would also no longer make that a prosecutable crime in Texas.
Up until 2003, consensual sex between two people of the same gender was explicitly illegal in the state under the Texas Homosexual Conduct Law. That changed when the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated the law in its ruling in the Lawrence v. Texas case that year.
The legislation cleared the House criminal jurisprudence committee by a unanimous vote on April 4, which allowed the bill to eventually get debated in the full chamber. At least 73 representatives, including several conservative Republicans, have now added their names to it as coauthors. This signals that more than a majority of the Texas House supports the bill, creating hope among LGBTQ+ advocates that these changes may finally gain some traction. #LGBTQ+ Civil Rights