The Parish of East Baton Rouge Metropolitan Council rejected a proposal in a 7-3 vote Wednesday that would have supported State Rep. Patricia Smith’s legislation to take Louisiana’s unconstitutional anti-sodomy laws off the books.
Louisiana’s current anti-sodomy law was used by the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office to arrest gay men in sting operations as recently as last year.
The proposal, co-sponsored by council members John Delgado and Ryan Heck, endorsed the repeal of Louisiana’s ban on consensual oral and anal sex between people in the state.
Heck said the proposal was simply a matter of striking down an unconstitutional law and “cleaning up the books.”
C. Denise Marcelle, one of the three council members in favor of the resolution, said her colleagues who voted against the proposal let their religious beliefs on the issue of sodomy cause them to disregard the law’s unconstitutionality.
Michael Beyer, political science sophomore, attended the meeting, and said he was extremely shocked and disappointed by the results of the vote.
Beyer, who is the panel coordinator for Spectrum , an LGBT advocacy organization on campus, said attending the meeting reminded him of his time in high school, when he was wishing he grew up in a more supportive environment.
Beyer also said the state’s current anti-sodomy laws are painful reminder of our past, and acknowledged Baton Rouge has “a lot of work to do” on the issue of sexual equality.