Tag: Louisiana

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Louisiana votes to keep unconstitutional sodomy ban

From Yahoo News:

The Louisiana House of Representatives voted not to remove the state’s sodomy ban today, even though it was declared unconstitutional by the U.S Supreme Court in 2003 and cannot be used to arrest people. The 66-27 vote was overwhelmingly against getting rid of the ban.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune explains that a conservative religious lobbying group led the charge to keep the “crime against nature” law — which, again, isn’t even a real law anymore — on the books, sending letters to all members of the House saying the unenforceable law is somehow protecting young people from sexual predators and public health risks.

“Louisiana’s anti-sodomy statute is consistent with the values of Louisiana residents who consider this behavior to be dangerous, unhealthy and immoral,” the letter said, apparently not mentioning that the statute is not consistent with the Constitution and that the East Baton Rogue sheriff’s department was forced to apologize for trying to use it to arrest gay men last year.

It is currently legal in Louisiana to have intercourse with a corpse.

However, receive a blowjob from a consenting adult? Technically a felony and punishable by five years in prison.

LGBT author/activist Dan Savage thinks there are some questions to be posed…

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Rep. Vance McAllister under pressure from Gov. Jindal to resign amid videotape scandal

First term “Christian Values” congressman Vance McAllister is getting more pressure to step down from his congressional seat after video was made public of his “make-out session” with a now-fired staffer.

From CBS News:

Gov. Bobby Jindal, R-La., called the congressman’s behavior an embarrassment. “Congressman McAllister says he wants privacy to work on his issues with his family. The best way to get privacy and work on putting his family back together is to resign from Congress,” Jindal said.

Meanwhile, state GOP chairman Roger Villere issued a blistering statement calling on McAllister to resign, but so far, the 40-year-old freshman congressman was rejecting the calls for him to immediately give up his seat.

“Mr. McAllister’s extreme hypocrisy is an example of why ordinary people are fed up with politics. A breach of trust of this magnitude can only be rectified by an immediate resignation,” Villere said.

“He has embarrassed our party, our state and the institution of Congress,” the chairman continued.

McAllister made his “Christian values” a central component of his campaign.

Interesting to note that GOP chairman Villere never asked for Sen. David Vitter to resign when it was discovered he had been patronizing prostitutes in 2007.

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Louisiana lawmakers kill LGBT housing non-discrimination law

By a vote of 13-5, lawmakers in the Louisiana House Commerce Committee torpedoed a bill that would have prohibited housing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

From Nola.com:

Much of the debate around Brossett’s bill hinged on a property owners’ rights to deny housing to anyone they believe would jeopardize the “safety” and “family” oriented-nature of their community.

Maurice Dugas, a property owner from Pineville, said he thought the bill “could create some major problems” by allowing LGBT Louisianians to sue for actual and punitive damages if they were denied access to housing. Without directly referencing the gay community, he questioned his ability to provide a safe living environment if he was not able to block certain people from his properties.

Kathleen Benfield, from the conservative Christian organization the American Family Association of New Orleans, also testified against the bill on behalf of the Louisiana Family Forum’s Gene Mills, who she said could not make the hearing.

She said the issue presented by the bill was “to protect certain sexual practices outside of marriage” and said this isn’t a civil rights issue since sexual identity and gender expression are not “immutable” like race and “can change over time.” She also said Brossett didn’t present proof that homosexuals are being discriminated against in Louisiana.

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Add Louisiana to the list of states being sued for discriminating against marriage equality

The statewide LGBT human rights organization, Forum for Equality Louisiana, has filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s constitutional ban on marriage equality based on the lack of recognition of same-sex marriages performed in other states.

Via press release:

The lawsuit charges that Louisiana’s refusal to recognize same-sex marriages violates the US constitutional guarantees of equal protection and due process. The lawsuit also asserts that state officials infringe the couples’ First Amendment rights by requiring them to claim that they are unmarried on state tax returns.

The prestigious New Orleans law firm of Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann filed the suit in US District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, on behalf of Forum for Equality Louisiana and four couples who are members of the organization.

The basis of the equal protection violation claim is that Louisiana recognizes marriages legally performed elsewhere, including marriages that cannot be entered into inside the state, such as marriages between first cousins or common-law marriages. Louisiana singles out only same-sex marriages for unequal treatment, a violation of the constitutional guarantees of equal protection and due process.

So just to be clear – right now, you can marry your 1st cousin in Alabama or Tennessee, move to Louisiana and THAT marriage will be recognized. BUT if you marry your same-sex spouse in California or New York, your marriage license is null and void as far as Louisiana is concerned?

That is messed up.

And for the record – Discrimination.

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Louisiana: National Guard won’t process same-sex spousal benefits

Like its neighbor, Texas, Louisiana will not be processing spousal benefits for married same-sex couples at National Guard facilities:

National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Mike Kazmierzak said Maj. Gen. Glenn Curtis, the state’s adjutant general, issued the directive Wednesday.

Kazmierzak cited the state’s constitution.

“The state of Louisiana’s constitution does not recognize same sex marriage, nor does it allow a state official to take part in an act that recognizes same sex marriage,” he said.

Kazmierzak said the Louisiana National Guard isn’t denying same-sex benefits. He said guard personnel can seek to file benefit requests with eight federal military installations ar ound the state for processing.

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Louisiana Sheriff claims he didn’t know anti-sodomy laws were declared unconstitutional ten years ago

East Baton Rouge Sheriff Sid J. Gautreaux

A dozen gay men have been arrested since 2011 by the Sheriff’s Office task force for merely discussing or agreeing to have consensual sex with an undercover agent. Not prostitution, as no money ever changed hands; and not sex in a public place – just consensual sex between two adults in the privacy of a home.

From the Advocate:

An undercover East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff’s deputy was staking out Manchac Park about 10 a.m. one day this month when a slow-moving sedan pulling into the parking lot caught his attention. The deputy parked alongside the 65-year-old driver and, after denying being a cop, began a casual conversation that was electronically monitored by a backup team nearby.

As the two men moved their chat to a picnic table, the deputy propositioned his target with “some drinks and some fun” back at his place, later inquiring whether the man had any condoms, according to court records. After following the deputy to a nearby apartment, the man was handcuffed and booked into Parish Prison on a single count of attempted crime against nature.

The Sheriff now says he didn’t know the law was invalidated by the Supreme Court.

“To our knowledge, the Sheriff’s office was never contacted or told that the law was not enforceable or prosecutable,” a statement from the Sheriff’s Office claims. It was issued Sunday after The Advocate newspaper in Louisiana exposed the illegal undercover sting operation.

That explanation doesn’t square with Metro Councilman John Delgado.

“Does he know that slavery is no longer around?” an outraged Delgado told The Advocate newspaper in Louisiana. “Does he know that we have cars and no longer horse and buggies?”

The newspaper now reports that Delgado is demanding apologies be issued to the 12 men who were arrested, one as recent as this month.

(via the Advocate)

UPDATE:

On Monday, Sheriff Sid J. Gautreaux III issued a statement apologizing “to anyone that was unintentionally harmed or offended by the actions of our investigations.”

The sheriff said that he had instructed his employees to no longer use “this unconstitutional law,” and that he was conducting “a comprehensive evaluation of undercover operations made by our deputies and will make changes to ensure better supervision, training and guidance.”

Think Progress points out that 14 U.S. states still have anti-sodomy laws on the books despite their unconstitutionality.

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Louisiana: Sen. Landrieu “believes” in marriage equality

With so many politicians coming out in favor of marriage equality, the question begs “what’s holding back the four remaining Senate Democrats that have yet to show their support?”

Clearly there’s a lot of concern about keeping their jobs with their socially conservative constituents.

Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana offered CNN an explanation.  CNN reports:

Landrieu told CNN National Political Correspondent Jim Acosta in an interview Friday that she personally believes “people should love who they love and marry who they want to marry,” but that her obligation rests with the people of Louisiana who elected her.

“My state has a very strong constitutional amendment not only against gay marriage but against gay partnerships. So I’m looking at the people of Louisiana trying to represent their interests,” she said.

So Landrieu’s personally in favor of marriage equality, but she’s representing the values of her constituents.

Question: as an elected official – do you lead? Or do you follow?