The ACLU says that a homophobic pastor’s arrest for propositioning an undercover policeman was probably a violation of his civil rights…

The American Civil Liberties Union says that a pastor who frequently speaks out against homosexuality and was arrested last week for propositioning a male police officer was charged in violation of the Supreme Court’s ruling on gay sex. The Rev. Lonnie Latham, 60, appeared briefly in court on Thursday on charges of lewd conduct, a misdemeanor. Latham was arrested January 3 after allegedly asking an undercover officer to join him in his hotel room for oral sex. Police impounded Latham’s 2005 Mercedes. (story) He was released on a $500 bond. As he was leaving jail he said: “I was set up. I was in the area pastoring to police.”

The ACLU is right of course. The police were conducting a prostitution sting in the area, and the lewd conduct charge was apparently laid on Latham because he never suggested that money change hands. But in that case his arrest can only be for propositioning the cop. That’s speech, and since Lawrence they can’t argue that he was propositioning the cop to commit a crime. This is the second state now that I know of, that seems to be flaunting the Supreme Court decision that overturned the sodomy laws. Virginia being the other. Back in the days after Brown v. Board of Education, some people, including lawmakers in the old Confederacy, were calling for “massive resistance” to racial integration. You can just see something similar brewing over Lawrence. How dare you say we have to treat homosexuals as if they were citizens too… And if president Junior is able to stack the Supreme Court with religious right nutcases like Scalito we may live to see a day when same sex couples are once again made into criminals. The Oklahoma District Attorney seems to think he’s merely being even handed about it…

Oklahoma County District Attorney Wes Lane said Oklahoma law prohibits a person from offering to engage in a lewd act “regardless of whether money is sought for or engaged.” “In this case, that is exactly what Mr. Latham is alleged to have done. To his misfortune, that individual was an Oklahoma City police officer,” Lane said.

…which is another way of saying the law criminalizes a certain kind of speech. But no…this is just a backdoor way of trying to keep people from having sex. I guess the theory is if they can’t ask, they don’t do. Next time you hear one of these rightwing crackpots bellyaching about liberals and nanny government, just laugh in their face.