Dallas Gay News, Issue 85, Friday, April 20, 1984 Page: 1
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________-__
Dallas gay archivist
Phil Johnson at the E
new home of the Gay I
Archives, the I
Community Center on
Cedar SpringsD
A
GAY
FORTL A S
NEWLAS
NEWNSWOR
TH
Texans Aim to Stage
State's First
Gay RodeoBillie Duncan, p.8
Friday, April 20,1984 0 Issue ""85, Published Weekly
Court of Appeals Hears Oral Arguments on 21.06
By Don Ritz
NEW ORLEANS-The Fifth Circuit
Court of Appeals heard the arguments for
and against the "unconstitutionality" of
Section 21.06 of the Texas Penal Code on
Tuesday, April 17, but it could be several
months before a decision is handed down.
Section 21.06, commonly referred to as
the "homosexual conduct" law, was origi-
nally brought to court by the Texas
Human Rights Foundation and Dallas
gay activist Don Baker. The law made cer-
tain sexual acts illegal between two con-
senting adults in private.
In the trial of Baker vs. Wade (Henry
Wade, Dallas District Attorney), U.S. Dis-
trict Court Judge Jerry Buchmeyer deter-
mined that Section 21.06 was
unconstitutional.
Buchmeyer's decision was originally
appealed by Governor Mark White, who
was Attorney General at the time. How-
ever, White's successor in the Attorney
General's office, Jim Mattox, chose to drop
the appeal.
When Mattox dropped the appeal, Pot-
ter County District Attorney Denny Hill,
funded by a group calling itself Dallas
Doctors Against AIDS (DDAA), picked up
the appeal.
In the Appeals Court hearing, DDAA
lawyer Rod Stakely began by stating that
Don Baker had "no standing" or no right
to contest Section 21.06. Stakely said that
because Baker had not been arrested,
threatened with arrest, or had not lost a
job because of the statute, he did not have
a right to contest it.
Attorney Charles Bundren, represent-
ing Hill and DDAA, contended that the
law did not represent a violation of the
"right to privacy."
Bundren cited the case of Doe us. Com-
monwealth's Attorney, which contested
the Virginia sodomy law. Bundren said
that the Supreme Court ruled in the case
that there was no right to engage in pri-
vate homosexual conduct.
Said Bundren, "The District Courtshould have followed the ruling in Doe vs.
Commonwealth's Attorney-there is no
right to privacy to engage in private homo-
sexual conduct. No court has ever decided
that the right to privacy extends to homo-
sexuals."
Bundren explained that the right to pri-
vacy extended only to the home, marriage,
family, procreation and child-rearing.
"There cannot be a right to privacy for
homosexuals because they are not the
basis of the 'American institution,"'" said
Bundren.
Bundren claimed, "Section 21.06 was
not a status statute. It regulates conduct
GLSSO May
Receive Registered
Status, Not
Recognition
The Gay and Lesbian Student Organiza-
tion may be delving into the icing on its
sticky cake when the student senate at
Southern Methodist University votes next
Tuesday on whether to give the group reg-
istered status on campus.
Having failed to convince the senate to
recognize GLSSO at least three times dur-
ing the past year, Tuesday's vote will give
the organization at least a partial victory
if the vote is positive.
GLSSO will not be officially recognized
and use SMU's funds or name, but they
will be allowed the use of campus facilities
if no other group wants them.
Campbell Read, GLSSO faculty advi-
sor, feels that the group will not be satis-
fied with registered status, but added,
"The group feels there is no reason to ask
for recognition twice in one semester. Reg-
istered status is not as good as full recogni-
tion ... but it's better than nothing at all."
Read said that GLSSO will again proba-
bly seek full recognition from the student
senate during the fall semester.and specifically defines conduct. This sta-
tute is neutral on its face. It applies to any
person. It does not classify persons as to
whether they are white, black, brown,
male or female. It is any person who
engages in the conduct."
Bundren concluded that morality,
decency and public health were issues in
the state's interests. Homosexual conduct
violated those interests. Therefore, Bund-
ren reasoned, the Bckmeyer decision
should be overturned.
DDAA Attorney Donovan Campbell
spoke to the court in reference to medical
information submitted on AIDS and
health-related materials.
Campbell said that the information that
had been submitted showed the state's
compelling interest in upholding Section
21.06.
Jim Barber, counsel for the plaintiff
Don Baker, began, "The trial court's deci-
sion should be affirmed because the plain-
tiff clearly had standing. Furthermore,
Section 21.06 was enacted clearly for the
purpose of discriminating against homo-
sexuals. There is no evidence to show that
it is in the compelling interests of the state
for such a statute."
During the hearing, it was suggested
that the law was unfair to approximately
500,000 to 1 million homosexuals in Texas.
Barber explained that Baker did have a
right to contest the statute in that Baker
was, is, and will be a practicing homosex-
ual. Furthermore, the law had been
enforced and testimony from the District
Attorney said that the law would continue
to be enforced.
Barber said that the Supreme Court had
ruled that the right to privacy provided for
the autonomous contfol over one's intel-
lectual and personal pursuits, whether
married or single, without governmental
interference or intrusion.
Barber said that homosexuals have a
right to fulfill their intellectual and emo-
tional needs in the privacy of their own
homes.
Barber made reference to the origin ofmany laws, saying that they often occur
as a result of "blind rage against people
who are different."
"How can we in a free society continue
to tolerate such injustice?" posed Barber.
Quoting Thomas Jeferson, Barber said
that the laws of society "must go hand-in-
hand with the changes" which occur in
society.
"This court should join the trial court in
striking against blind ignorance and
hatred," said Barber.
Barber contended that the medical
information submitted by DDAA should
not be allowed to stand as evidence in that
it had not been submitted at the trial court.
However, Barber retorted that if the
medical information was allowed to
stand, it proved nothing and approached
the statute with a "blame the victim" atti-
tude (referring to people with AIDS).
Leonard Graff of National Gay Rights
Advocates (NGRA) addressed the court
concerning the medical information
which DDAA had submitted as evidence.
After the conclusion of the hearing,
Baker was optimistic that the court would
uphold the Buchmeyer decision. Barber
said that it may be two to three months
before the three judges rule on the case.
Counseling Center
Stages Garage Sale
The Oak Lawn Counseling Center is urg-
ing everyone "to get back in the closet"
over the next couple of weeks and find
items they're willing to donate to the coun-
seling center's garage sale to be held April
28 and 29 at the corner of Welborn and
Dickason, one black south of the Melrose
Hotel.
For pick up of large items or for more
information, call 760-9346.~- I
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The Oak Lawn Voice. Dallas Gay News, Issue 85, Friday, April 20, 1984, newspaper, April 20, 1984; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc304815/m1/1/: accessed June 10, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.