An unenforceable law has its uses

Malta has passed a civil unions law! This is significant because Malta is highly Catholic.



I had reported that Peter LeBarbara of Americans for Truth About Homosexualty was detained at the Canadian border while they decided whether the brochures and books he was carrying amounted to hate speech.

Well, LaBarbara did go on to his speaking gig at the University of Regina. Apparently, they had a change of heart (or maybe he wasn't exactly invited in the first place) and asked him and a colleague to leave. They refused to go and were arrested.

They were released and had time to visit another university. Instead they cut their visit short to return to Chicago. Timothy Kincaid of Box Turtle Bulletin suspects LaBarbara was ready to play the martyr card for his cause, but then "decided that the martyr thing was more fun in theory than in practice."



Eleven years ago the Supremes ruled that sodomy laws were unconstitutional. At the time there were only 13 states that used such laws to criminalize private consensual gay sex. Not many states actually repealed those laws. And last summer Louisiana showed why.

Even though the sodomy law was unenforceable, it was the reason behind an entrapment campaign last summer near Baton Rouge. Sheriff deputies propositioned men. When the victim agreed to private consensual sex, they were arrested. The purpose was, of course, intimidation.

So a legislator introduced a bill to remove the law. No go. By a large majority the state House voted to keep a discriminatory yet unenforceable law.