University of Texas-Austin Student Body Condemns Texas Sodomy Law
Student Government Resolution AR 20 Passes by Landslide Vote
GLBTA Affairs
Agency, January 15, 2003
University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX—Student Government at the University of
Texas at Austin today announced that AR 20, Calling for the State of Texas to
Repeal the ‘Homosexual Conduct’ Law (Section 21.06), passed at the January
14 assembly meeting with a 33 to 1 vote. Now that the measure has passed it
will be hand-delivered to each legislator in the Texas capitol and will also
be forwarded to President Bush, who openly supports the law.
Bobby Apperson, director of the GLBTA in Student Government, drafted the
resolution in hopes that Texas lawmakers would consider the issue as they
reconvene for the 78th session. The resolution calls for the legislature to
repeal Section 21.06 on grounds that the law is unconstitutional and
discriminatory. In addition it denounces the use of the sodomy law as means of
discriminating against Texans in any aspect of life, including but not limited
to housing, health care, public education, sex education, and employment.
At the assembly meeting Tuesday night chief concerns were over the
provision calling for the UT Medical Branch in Galveston, which treats roughly
80% of Texas inmates, to begin issuing condoms and dental dams to inmates who
request them and instruct them in their proper use. From 1991 to 2001 AIDS was
the number one cause of death in Texas prisons, and current prison policy
states that prison officials cannot distribute condoms and give the appearance
of encouraging inmates to break the law. Studies show that Texas inmates are
being released with a strain of HIV that is often drug-resistant and that
infection rates in prison are five times that of the general population.
The final statement of the resolution calls for the UT-Austin
administration, faculty and staff to continue to refrain from using Section
21.06 to discriminate against students and other faculty and staff who have
not been convicted under the sodomy law.
Chris Vaca, Two-Year At-Large SG representative, spoke to the assembly
about how Section 21.06 adversely affects the student body at UT. He said five
prospective professors who were interested in employment at the university
contacted him during the fall 2002 semester. After Vaca informed them that the
university does not offer domestic partner benefits due in part to some state
legislators’ objections to giving benefits packages to
"criminals", the professors quickly pursued teaching positions
elsewhere.
"This is a civil rights issue," said Apperson Tuesday night
regarding the use of the law to openly discriminate against gay, lesbian
bisexual and transgender Texans. "This law makes millions of people
second-class citizens."
The full text of AR 20 is available online at http://www.queerUT.org/sodomylaw
Contact: Bobby Apperson, GLBTA Affairs Agency Director, bobbya@mail.utexas.edu
(e-mail) http://www.queerUT.org/glbta
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