Louisiana Votes To Ban Homosexuality

It was not long ago, Mississippi became the first state to pass a version of the so-called "religious freedom" bill that came close to passage in Kansas, and even closer to passage in Arizona. Despite the misleading name, the bill essentially is centered on allowing anti-gay sentiments to gain a legal foothold.

Not to be outdone, Louisiana did Mississippi one better: the Louisiana House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to kill a bill that would have ended the state's sodomy law, also with a misleading name, the "crimes against nature" statute. This bill was found unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court in 2003 - over ten years ago. But that is not stopping Louisiana lawmakers from giving it a go at essentially trying to ban gay sex in the state.

It seems that while some states are moving forward to give everyone a greater measure of equality in many states, the opposite is true in numerous conservative states, where this advance towards greater equality is met by accelerating further in the opposite direction while the wheels are stuck in the mud. It's not likely to go anywhere, but the mud is splattering all around them, and nobody wants to get too close when the mud is flying around.

Personally, I find it rather ironic that many of the states that are desperately clinging to anti-gay laws are the same that, half a century ago, were segregationist states fighting to keep the legal ability to maintain legal segregation by race within their state borders. Arizona had some racial laws, while it was from a case in Kansas, the landmark Brown v. Board of Education, is often credited with beginning the avalanche of the Civil Rights movement that ultimately at least ended the legality of racial segregation in the United States. Of course, the records of Mississippi and Louisiana speak for themselves with regard to Jim Crow segregation and the crackdown on peaceful civil rights protestors. Louisiana introduced and passed a segregationist law in 1965, a year after the Civil Rights Act officially ended segregation in the law books.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Here, according to Buzzfeed (see the link to the article that got me writing this particular blog entry), are the 67 Louisiana lawmakers who voted to kill the law that would have struck down the sodomy law in Louisiana:

1. Bryan Adams, R-Gretna
2. John “Andy” Anders, D-Vidalia
3. James Armes, D-Leeville
4. Taylor Barras R-New Iberia
5. John Berthelot, R-Gonzales
6. Robert Billiot, R-Westwego
7. Stuart Bishop, R-Lafayette
8. Chris Broadwater, R-Hammond
9. Terry Brown R-Colfax
10. Terry Burns, R-Haughton
11. Timothy Burns, R-Mandeville
12. Thomas Carmody, R-Shreveport
13. Steve Carter, R-Baton Rouge
14. Simone Champagne, R-Erath
15. Charles Chaney, R-Rayville
16. Patrick Connick, R-Marrero
17. Gregory Cromer, R-Slidell
18. Michael Danahay, D-Sulphur
19. Gordon Dove, R-Houma
20. Jim Fannin, R-Jonesboro
21. Ray Garofalo, R-Chalmette
22. Brett Geymann, R-Lake Charles
23. Jerry Gisclair, D-Larose
24. Hunter Greene, R-Baton Rouge
25. Mickey Guillory, D-Eunice
26. John Guinn, R-Jennings
27. Lance Harris, R-Alexandria
28. Joe Harrison, R-Gray
29. Kenneth Havard, R-Jackson
30. Cameron Henry, R-Metairie
31. Bob Hensgens, R-Abbeville
32. Dorothy Sue Hill, D-Dry Creek
33. Valarie Hodges, R-Denham Springs
34. Frank Hoffman, R-West Monroe
35. Paul Hollis, R-Covington
36. Frank Howard, R-Many
37. Mike Huval, R-Breaux Bridge
38. Barry Ivey, R-Baton Rouge
39. Robert Johnson, D-Marksville
40. Sam Jones, D-Franklin
41. Eddie Lambert, R-Gonzales
42. Bernard LeBas, D-Ville Platte
43. Christopher Leopold, R-Belle Chase
44. Joe Lopinto, R-Metairie
45. Nick Lorusso, R-New Orleans
46. Sherman Mack, R-Livingston
47. Gregory Miller, R-Norco
48. Jay Morris, R-Monroe
49. Jim Morris, R-Oil City
50. Kevin Pearson, R-Slidell
51. Erich Ponti, R-Baton Rouge
52. Rogers Pope, R-Denham Springs
53. Stephen Pugh, R-Ponchatoula
54. Steve Pylant, R-Winnsboro
55. Eugene Reynolds, D-Minden
56. Jerome Richard, I-Thibodaux
57. Harold Ritchie, D-Bogalusa
58. Clay Schexnayder, R-Gonzales
59. John Schroder, R-Covington
60. Alan Seabaugh, R-Shreveport
61. Robert Shadoin, R-Ruston
62. Scott Simon, R-Abita Springs
63. Julie Stokes, R-Kenner
64. Kirk Talbot, R-River Ridge
65. Jeff Thompson, R-Bossier City
66. Lenar Whitney, R-Houma
67. Thomas Willmott, R-Kenner

CORRECTION: The Republican member from Kenner is Julie Stokes. An earlier version of this item misspelled her name. (4/16)

 

 

"The 67 Louisiana Lawmakers Who Just Voted That Gay Sex Should Be Illegal" by Tony Merevick of BuzzFeed, April 16, 2014:

 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/tonymerevick/the-67-louisiana-lawmakers-who-voted-that-gay-sex-should-be