Texas House moves toward repealing anti-sodomy law

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Source: The Advocate

Texas House moves toward repealing anti-sodomy law

The law has been unenforceable since 2003, but it remains on the books. More votes are needed to repeal

By Trudy Ring
May 15 2025 7:31 PM EST

The Texas House of Representatives took a preliminary vote Thursday in favor of repealing the state’s anti-sodomy law, which has been unenforceable since a U.S. Supreme Court decision in a case out of Texas in 2003.

The repeal bill, House Bill 1738, must be approved by the House once again before the Texas Senate votes. It’s unclear when the next House vote will be, and the Senate’s companion bill has not received a committee hearing.

Thursday’s House vote was 72-55, The Dallas Morning News reports. This marks the farthest a repeal bill has progressed.

The Texas anti-sodomy law, along with any others still existing in the nation, was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in Lawrence v. Texas in 2003. However, the state still has its law against “homosexual conduct” on the books, and it could become unenforceable if the high court ever overturns Lawrence, something conservative Justice Clarence Thomas said he’d like to see after the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022. That would take a case getting to the court.

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Read more: https://www.advocate.com/politics/texas-advances-sodomy-law-repeal