Texas lawmakers, during the upcoming state legislative session, will have the opportunity to formally decriminalize gay sex, still technically a misdemeanor under Texas law.

Texas’ defunct ban on “homosexual conduct” is defined in the criminal code of the state as a “deviant sexual contract with another person of the same sex,” has been unenforceable since 2003, when the Supreme Court ruled that it and other state laws criminalized sodomy between consenting adults unconstitutionally.

But language that makes gay sex a Class C felony — punishable by a fine of up to $500 — while unenforceable remains enshrined in Texas law.

Democrats in the state Legislature, which meets only in odd-numbered years, have pushed for years to formally repeal the ban, but have struggled to secure enough bipartisan support. Republicans hold majorities in the state House and Senate and never brought the proposal to a vote before the last session.

The state Republican Party platform calls homosexuality “an abnormal lifestyle choice,” though prominent Texas Republicans like Senator Ted Cruz they said they think the state should repeal the law.

A Texas House committee first voted in 2023 to advance legislation to remove a 1973 ban on gay sex from its criminal code and health and safety code, but the measure ultimately failed to pass. discussion before the end of the session.

On Tuesday, the first day state lawmakers could file legislation before the Legislature convenes Jan. 14, Texas Democrats filed two bills — one in the House and one in the Senate — to formally repeal the ban.

The bills, filed by state Rep. Joe Moody and Sen. José Menéndez, would overturn the state’s ban and remove language from Texas law that requires educational materials for minors to state that “homosexuality is not an acceptable lifestyle.”

Texas lawmakers on Tuesday also filed a slate of bills targeting LGBTQ people, including measures to restrict gender and sexuality education in schools, ban trans people from using facilities that match their gender identity and create a law that recognizes only two genders – male and female – which would end the legal recognition of trans people in the state.

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