Black Caucus Statement on Life of Tyron Garner
(Thursday, September 14, 2006)
Washington, DC - Today, the Black Caucus of the National Stonewall Democrats issued the following statement regarding the life of Tyron Garner:
"This week the GLBT community lost one of it's most courageous heroes. Tyron Garner was not your traditional activist, he did not march in rallies or raise funds for political candidates. However, in his own silent existence he was one of the titans of our movement.
Tyron Garner like countless numbers of GLBT Americans longed to live a quiet life of serenity and comfort with his partner John Geddes Lawrence. However, when the thunderous roar of oppression and discrimination was thrust upon him, he did not cower in retreat, instead he stood to face it with conviction and honor. Because of his efforts, the Supreme Court ruled that homophobic sodomy laws could no longer be used to marginalize and oppress GLBT Americans." - Jasmyne Cannick and Ramon Gardenhire, Co-Chairs, Stonewall Democrats Black Caucus
Tyron Garner, who died on Monday, was a plaintiff in the historic Supreme Court case Lawrence and Garner v. Texas. In 2003, the United States Supreme Court used the case to strike down state laws against sodomy. The decision reversed the Court's 1986 ruling, Bowers v. Hardwick, which upheld that states had the right to outlaw sodomy. In 1998, Garner and John Lawrence were arrested after police burst into Lawrence's apartment and charged the couple with breaking Texas' Homosexual Conduct Law, which banned oral and anal sex between people of the same gender. Police had been sent to the apartment by a false report of an armed intruder.
The Stonewall Democrats Black Caucus works to increase the participation of Black lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Democrats within the Democratic Party, while shaping public policy impacting the Black LGBT community. For more information, visit stonewalldemocrats.org/blackcaucus
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National Stonewall Democrats is the only national organization of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Democrats, with more than 90 local chapters across the nation. NSD is committed to working through the Democratic Party to advance the rights of all people regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
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