The Texas "Homosexual Conduct" law will be challenged in the U.S. Supreme Court this spring - promising to be the case to watch next year. Far more interesting and important then the much talked about failure to overturn the Louisiana sodomy law last month, as the Louisiana case attempted to overturn a sodomy law that applied to all folks in that state, while the Texas law applies only to homosexual activity, and that key distinction may well finally force the Supreme Court to deal with it's two seemingly incompatible decisions regarding gays - the Hardwick decision of 1986, and the "Romer" decision. While the fact that this case is similar to Hardwick in that it's about sex (and states are given great leeway in terms of regulating, but I won't go into all that, ZZZzzzz.... - but Griswold, etc., began the whittling away of all that and the notion of a right to privacy...), and could make it difficult, the "good" news is that it only goes after queers - in other words, it's ok for someone of the opposite sex to give you a blowjob in Texas, but not someone of the same sex - and the Romer decision demonstrated that the court doesn't care for that sort of unfairness - basically targeting one group for different treatment. The reason this law has a good chance of being overturned is that it's aimed at a specific group, and it's unfairness is rather clear. But, even then, it could still mean that those states that outlaw sodomy for everyone may still have those laws standing.

(ok, its 3 a.m. and I ain't as clear as I'd like to be, but this is a BIG deal).