Tyron Garner, left, and John Lawrence join a rally at Houston City Hall celebrating the U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2003 that the Texas sodomy law was unconstitutional. ERICH SCHLEGEL: AP
Posted on 09/14/2006 7:56:42 AM PDT by Borges
HOUSTON -- Tyron Garner, one of two men whose 1998 arrests led to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down bans on sodomy, has died, according to a spokesman for the legal firm that represented him.
Garner, 39, died early Monday at a Houston hospital, said Mark Roy, a spokesman for Lambda Legal in New York City. Garner had been suffering from meningitis and had been in his brother's care for the past six months.
"Over the last few months, he lost the use of his legs from meningitis," Roy told The Associated Press.
Garner and John Lawrence were arrested after police -- sent by a bogus report of an armed intruder -- burst into Lawrence's apartment and found the two engaged in consensual sex. They were jailed overnight and charged with breaking Texas' Homosexual Conduct Law, which banned oral and anal sex between people of the same gender.
In its landmark June 2003 ruling, the Supreme Court said that what gay men and women do in the privacy of their bedrooms is their business and not the government's.
The 6-3 decision invalidated laws in Texas and 12 other states. It also galvanized both sides in an ongoing national debate over whether homosexuals are entitled to the same rights as heterosexuals when it comes to marriage and adoption.
"Because Tyrone Garner and John Lawrence had the courage to challenge homophobic sodomy laws, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized that love, sexuality and family play the same role in gay people's lives as they do for everyone else. That's a colossal legacy and one for which his community will forever be thankful," Lambda Legal's executive director Kevin Cathcart said in a statement.
Garner, who sold barbecue from a street stand, told the Houston Chronicle in 2004 that it was hard to endure the loss of his privacy.
"I didn't enjoy being outed with my mugshot on TV," he said. "It was degrading to me."
But the result was worth it, he said.
"I don't really want to be a hero," Garner said. "But I want to tell other gay people 'Be who you are, and don't be afraid."'
Has he met Tookie yet?
Unanswerable question: would he still have grown up to be gay if his parents hadn't named him Tyron?
I have to disagree with th author. I have known 3 guys from my high school days who have "gone over to play for the other side." In all 3 cases, it started small, grew, and grew, until there is nothing left of them but Gayness. Every issue, every perception, every reaction is judged through the QueerLens until this choice is the single focus point of their lives. If this creeping mindset focused on alcohol, or gambling, or any other vice, we would say they were addicted to something...trying to find an outside stimuli to fill some emptiness or hole in their souls. But thanks to the APA, this addiction is no more than a "lifechoice" now.
A demonstration that the Law should be way down on anybody's list of reasons for doing or not doing anything.
Any viral or bacterial infection would be. Homos are like walking petri dishes that eventually get eaten alive by microbes. (You don't mess with mother nature. She can be a real bitch sometimes.)
What's a "gitis"?
I don't know anything else about this guy or his causes, but governments have no business writing anti-sodomy laws. In this case, the Supreme Court was right to overturn a patently unconstitutional law.
Well then I guess you shouldn't have gone along with the settup Mr. homo.
I read an article which stated that the average gay male dies by age 42 and less than one percent of them ever live to draw Social Security.
That was really well put. I have to say, my experience with gay people has been that they are incapable of monogamous behavior and are therefore not to be trusted.
So that's what they call AIDS nowadays?
My question to him would have been: "How does engaging is suicidal unhygienic anal sexual practices with multiple men even remotely quality you as a hero?"
But Tyrone, it seemed, sure enjoyed his public picture being taken and outed at public Houston "celebration" ceremony.(per picture posted on reply #21 of this thread).
BTW, anyone notice that the "loving" arm is not on Tyrone.
It's a redneck term. Suppose there is a superbowl party, and Cletus and his friends are thirsty. Cletus says to his wife, "Hey Thelma, gitis a beer."
".........Cryptococcus neoformans." Crypt o'cockus? Oh, say it ain't so. You made that up, right?
That's OK. At least the government can use their money to pay for all that AIDs research crap.
With a simple change of behavior, AIDs would go extinct and it's elimination would be free.
Where could I find proof of that?
Having said that, I'm not crazy about the government enforcing bedroom laws. On the other hand, this whole thing sounds like it was a setup. It appears to me that God may have a few laws that the Supreme Court can't touch.
I don't know about that...but I would put them on par with any other nice, intelligent addict. They have a problem that is consuming them, that is fed by issues they have with their past or their families, and most will not admit it is a problem because the Left has been preaching to them that "they are just fine as they are." If I told a chronic alcoholic or a heroin addict "Hey, you're fine. Really. You just can't help yourself. It's how God made you" then the Left would call me a heartless bastard. (But they do it every day.)
If anything, it is the ulitimate form of selfishness. They are the center of the Universe, they see themselves as being the ulitimate victim, persecuted by society, and they feel they have no obligations to anyone outside of themselves. They are God.
I mostly feel sorry for these 3 guys I know because they will never know what it is like to be a father. I give up tons of things for my kids because I love them; I sacrifice and go without because I love them so much. It is my gift from God to be able to love and care for my children. But how can they embrace a sinning lifestyle that is all about SELF and nothing else and hope to learn self-sacrifice in the name of a greater good? Ain't gonna happen.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.