Bill to repeal unlawful state sodomy ban advances in Texas House

AUSTIN — A House committee has passed a bill that would repeal the state’s unconstitutional and unenforceable law criminalizing gay sex. House Bill 2055 by Rep. Venton Jones, D-Dallas, would remove the state’s ban on “homosexual conduct” from state statute two decades after it was deemed unconstitutional. The House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence voted unanimously in favor of the bill on Wednesday, after Jones amended it to keep portions of current law that say “homosexuality is not a lifestyle acceptable to the general public.” Jones, who is gay and the state’s first openly HIV-positive lawmaker, issued a statement saying he…