Texas appears to moving forward in the beautiful dance of our people known as the two-step. Lord knows over the last decade we definitely took one back, but across the Lone Star change is in the wind. It's like we all woke up from a crazy night of hooting and hollering and over a cup of strong joe collectively realizing we ran up quite a bill and made rather a mess of things.
One the best things to happen due to Governor Perry spending all our money on his corporate buddies is we don't have the cash to spend on printing our infamous "text books". I refuse to call this educational material, they are more pamplets for Baptist Bible Camp.
Meanwhile back at the ranch, when we finally do get around to printing those suckers, if we even do (there's talk of skipping all the bullshit and going to tablets in the classroom), we will no longer be teaching our children that gay and lesbian relationships as “not an acceptable lifestyle.”
Yep, we teach that.
Anyway, even though I am a flaming hetersexual, I have always felt that some of my fellow citizens were being denied their basic civil right to the pursuit of happiness due to our rather Iranian laws concerning LGBTs. If Texas is based on rugged individualism, then why are so many Republicans worried about all the Brokeback Mountains?
I mean, besides the fact they never got invited to Rick Perry's hot tub parties.
But finally, we're gonna get this taken care of, even though the Supreme Court did it for us a decade ago.
Like I said, Texas was seeing just how far up our own asses we could stick our heads over the last decade.
Proposed bills could harshen penalties, update statutes
By Allison Kroll, Daily Texan Staff
http://www.dailytexanonline.com/...
HB 604 — Homosexuality Repeal
A state representative is asking other lawmakers to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that criminal penalties under state sodomy laws are unconstitutional.
The bill proposed by Rep. Jessica Farrar, D-Houston, could also revise statewide sex education curriculum to remove mandatory references to gay and lesbian relationships as “not an acceptable lifestyle.”
Almost a decade ago, the Supreme Court in the case Lawrence v. Texas declared it was unconstitutional for homosexuality to be subject to criminal charges. Texas has yet to update its laws to reflect the decision, and “homosexual conduct” is still considered a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $500.
“Whether one agrees or disagrees with the substance of Justice [Anthony] Kennedy’s opinion, it diminishes the sanctity of Texas laws when legislators fail to clean up our statutes to reflect the court’s rulings on the U.S. Constitution,” according to a statement released by Farrar in January.
I had no idea this was still on our books. I feel about as embarrassed as Mississippi must have been in the 90s when they found out slavery was still state law.
At least we are finally heading the right direction and allowing all citizens of Texas to live their lives as they see fit without the Baptist Taliban coming around and telling them to go to Hell.
Literally.