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Title
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[Letter from Edra Bogle to John Hill, September 23, 1978]
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Identifier
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MSS380_letter_19780923
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Type
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Letters
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Manuscripts
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Date
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9/23/1978
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Description
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Letter from Edra Bogle to Texas Attorney General John Hill about the subject of gay rights in TX. Bogle speaks about her previous support of Hill but expresses dismay over comments that Hill made about the repeal of 21.06 (law that legalized discrimination against gay individuals in Texas) during a recent state convention. She asks Hill to consider the fact that people should be policed in their own homes and that being in a gay relationship means breaking the law, which can cause social and emotional issues for gay individuals.
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Originally formed as the Texas Gay Task Force, the TGLTF was the first statewide gay/lesbian organization in Texas. Organized in 1973 for the purpose of planning annual conferences (until 1990), the TGLTF served as the parent organization for the Lesbian/Gay Democrats of Texas and the Lesbian/Gay Rights Advocates.
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Subject
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Texas Gay / Lesbian Task Force
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Bogle, Edra
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Hill, John
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Format
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2 pgs.
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Language
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en
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Rights
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Materials may not be used without permission. For more information, contact us at (940) 898-3751 or womenshistory@twu.edu.
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Is Part Of
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Texas Gay / Lesbian Task Force Records, 1970s-1991.
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Accrual Method
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Gift
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Provenance
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Bogle, Edra
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extracted text
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[redacted]
September 23, 1978
John HIll
1035 Brown Building
Austin, Texas 78701
Dear Attorney General HIll,
I have been your supporter for the office of governor since July of 1977 when I first wrote in offering help in your campaign. I have liked your support of education and your record on a number of other issues. However, I was very distressed at your comments during the state convention on repeal of 21.06.
Surely a person of your education and experience cannot believe the majority is always right. Polls show that the U.S. Bill of Rights would not be approved by majority vote today. I doubt civil rights for Blacks would be. Why has any majority the right to tell people what they must or must not do personally in private? Sexual acts between adults in private affect no one else; why should anyone else have the right to decide what is right or wrong for an individual?
Indeed, with sensible behavior most people can avoid arrest. Bust as long as the law is against homosexual acts is on the books, it can cause trouble. Crusading police departments can practice enticement to look good with some elements of the population. Selective enforcement against individuals can occur. But much worse, all gay men and women know they are doing something illegal. Few people enjoy breaking laws. Even driving at 60 m.p.h. leaves me a bit wary and guilty. Yet, regardless of the quality and duration of their relationship, gays have no alternatives but either life-long celibacy or law breaking. No majority has the right to inflict on a minority such a choice and the damage either choice involves.
When in my teens, I chose (more on practical grounds than on moral ones) to avoid the problem by never being close to another human being, to live without friends–a choice which is not as rare as you might think. After more than twenty years, having achieved the good job and the Ph.D. I had desired, I realized that wasn’t enough. But it’s too late for me to make up for those twenty years, or to alter completely the sort of person I have become. I do not want the young people I teach in college to have to make that choice. I certainly don’t want them to do what I did. It’s no way to live.
Many of us are at prac with our conscience on moral or religious grounds. We are able to live with the society’s disapproval (especially since the people who know us tend to
[redacted]
September 23, 1978
John HIll
1035 Brown Building
Austin, Texas 78701
Dear Attorney General HIll,
I have been your supporter for the office of governor since July of 1977 when I first wrote in offering help in your campaign. I have liked your support of education and your record on a number of other issues. However, I was very distressed at your comments during the state convention on repeal of 21.06.
Surely a person of your education and experience cannot believe the majority is always right. Polls show that the U.S. Bill of Rights would not be approved by majority vote today. I doubt civil rights for Blacks would be. Why has any majority the right to tell people what they must or must not do personally in private? Sexual acts between adults in private affect no one else; why should anyone else have the right to decide what is right or wrong for an individual?
Indeed, with sensible behavior most people can avoid arrest. Bust as long as the law is against homosexual acts is on the books, it can cause trouble. Crusading police departments can practice enticement to look good with some elements of the population. Selective enforcement against individuals can occur. But much worse, all gay men and women know they are doing something illegal. Few people enjoy breaking laws. Even driving at 60 m.p.h. leaves me a bit wary and guilty. Yet, regardless of the quality and duration of their relationship, gays have no alternatives but either life-long celibacy or law breaking. No majority has the right to inflict on a minority such a choice and the damage either choice involves.
When in my teens, I chose (more on practical grounds than on moral ones) to avoid the problem by never being close to another human being, to live without friends–a choice which is not as rare as you might think. After more than twenty years, having achieved the good job and the Ph.D. I had desired, I realized that wasn’t enough. But it’s too late for me to make up for those twenty years, or to alter completely the sort of person I have become. I do not want the young people I teach in college to have to make that choice. I certainly don’t want them to do what I did. It’s no way to live.
Many of us are at prac with our conscience on moral or religious grounds. We are able to live with the society’s disapproval (especially since the people who know us tend to
