US EditionTexas House approves repealing ban on ‘homosexual conduct’
- On May 15 and 16, 2025, the Texas House voted to repeal the state's unenforceable 1973 ban on homosexual conduct in Austin, Texas.
- The repeal effort follows the 2003 Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas that struck down the ban but left the law on the books, with bipartisan support emerging amid concerns after Roe v. Wade's 2022 overturn.
- House Bill 1738, authored by openly gay Democrat Venton Jones and co-sponsored by Republican Brian Harrison, passed first vote 72-55 and final vote 59-56, marking the furthest progress in decades of legislative attempts.
- Jones emphasized that the legislation enhances the fundamental freedoms of all Texans and called for a vote focused on protecting individual rights, while Harrison expressed his belief that the government should not punish people for their sexual orientation and voiced his backing for overturning the outdated law.
- The bill now moves to the Senate, though the companion bill lacks a hearing, with advocates warning zombie laws could be enforced again if Lawrence were overturned by the Supreme Court.
18 Articles
18 Articles
Texas House Approves ‘Nail-Biter’ Repeal of Gay Sex Ban
The Texas State House has voted to repeal an unconstitutional, but otherwise standing law that banned gay sex. The Dallas Morning News described the House vote a “nail-biter.” The attempt to remove the ban from state law books has been attempted before, but this is the farthest the legislation has advanced. The state Senate takes up the bill now where an uncertain future awaits. The 2003 Supreme Court ruling in Lawrence v. Texas decided that 14t…
Texas House votes to repeal state’s ban on consensual sex between same-sex adults
House Bill 1738 would strike down a 1973 Texas law prohibiting “homosexual conduct.” That law has been unenforceable since the U.S. Supreme Court declared such laws unconstitutional in 2003.
Texas House approves repealing ban on ‘homosexual conduct’
Texas lawmakers voted Thursday to repeal the state’s longstanding ban on gay sex, sending legislation to do so to the state Senate in a historic and bipartisan vote. Texas’s defunct ban on “homosexual conduct,” defined in the state’s penal code as “deviate sexual intercourse with another individual of the same sex,” has not been enforceable since 2003,…
Texas House votes to overturn sodomy law
UPDATE: The 72-55 vote on Thursday in the Texas House to remove Section 21.06 of the Texas Penal Code which criminalizes private, consensual conduct between adults of the same gender came on the measure’s second reading. The bill now faces a third reading and vote in the House —expected to be scheduled soon, according to Equality Texas — before it moves on to the state Senate for a vote there. The final vote on the second reading was 72 ayes, 55…
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