A repeal of the state’s defunct ban on gay sex has tentatively passed the Texas House.
On Thursday, lawmakers voted 72-55 to give the first approval to House Bill 1738, making it the furthest this push has gone in the Texas Legislature. The bill requires another vote before it could advance to the Senate.
In 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered the landmark Lawrence v. Texas ruling that struck down the criminalization of gay sex, making it unconstitutional and unenforceable.
However, the old ban on “homosexual conduct” remains on the state’s penal code. Efforts to remove it have been brought sessions after sessions, including this year’s HB 1738 by Rep. Venton Jones, D-Dallas. And the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022 has only raised fear that the Lawrence ruling could be reconsidered next.
Following the Thursday vote, Jones told The Dallas Morning News that there is still a lot of work to do, but he is taking in the moment.
“It was a great feeling,” said Jones, who is gay and Texas’ first openly HIV-positive lawmaker. He is also the vice chair of the House’s LGBTQ Caucus. “I think it gave a little bit of hope. When you have a lot of really long and bad days in this chamber, it’s nice when we can come together and get something right.”
During a House Criminal Jurisprudence committee hearing on April 8, Jones described HB 1378 as a “straightforward clean-up bill” that looks to ax the defunct ban from the state’s penal code.
The legislation makes “no change whatsoever” to children’s education, he said. Language reading that “homosexual conduct is not an acceptable lifestyle” would also remain on the state’s health and safety code, according to the bill.
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The proposal to remove the criminal statue received overwhelming public support, according to the bill’s witness list.
And out of three witnesses to testify in person, only Jonathan Covey, director of policy for Texas Values, spoke against the measure. The Christian political advocacy group has opposed previous efforts.
“Some laws don’t need to be enforceable to serve a purpose,” Covey said. “They are declarative and persuasive, and that’s what this bill does for those who read about it or know about it. It warns that this conduct is not acceptable.”
Some Democrats on the committee then peppered him with questions about his opposition.
“Is it the position of your organization that homosexuals should be viewed as criminals? Because that’s the only reason to keep this statute on the books,” said Rep. Joe Moody, an El Paso Democrat who is a joint author of the bill.
“The position of our organization is that we don’t want to pull something out that’s going to make it seem like that homosexuality is more acceptable,” Covey responded.
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The Republican Party of Texas’ 2024 platform also calls homosexuality an “abnormal lifestyle choice.”
HB 1738 still garnered some bipartisan support, with Republican Reps. Brian Harrison of Midlothian and Dade Phelan of Beaumont signing on as joint authors. In 2022, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz told The News that Texas should repeal the defunct ban.
During the Thursday vote, Harrison said he and Jones disagree on “a whole lot,” but they were able to team up on this issue. The Republican state representative also cheered the bill as a way to reduce government.
A companion bill in the Senate has not had a committee hearing.
Staff writer Aarón Torres contributed to this report.
