Yesterday, an Oklahoma state district judge in a non-jury trial acquitted former Southern Baptist pastor, Oklahoma Baptist Convention secretary and Southern Baptist Convention executive committeman Lonnie Latham of charges that he offered to engage in an act of lewdness when he asked an undercover officer for oral sex outside an Oklahoma City gay hotel resort in January 2006.
Latham's attorney (an old friend of mine) made the novel argument that since Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003), it is not illegal for consenting adults to engage in private homosexual acts; thus, an oral request to engage in such an act is not illegal.
This means that Southern Baptist pastors all over the state (not to mention Catholic priests) are now free to make requests for oral sex and more to all their congregations.
There is a high probability that the district attorney will appeal this case to the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, since police throughout the state have long harrassed and arrested homosexuals for propositioning undercover officers, especially during election years, and if this case is allowed to stand, it will have a chilling effect on that particular law enforcement technique. This was always a popular assignment for many young rookie cops, many of whom didn't seem to understand that the "crime" was committed with the oral proposition and that they didn't have to let the perpetrator "finish" the job.
This particular case has been national news not only because of Latham's prominence in the Baptist church, but also because of his very outspoken statements against same-sex marriage and in support of homosexuals being able to be "cured" of homosexuality if they joined the Baptist church.
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