R.I.P.

From the Houston Chronicle:

Tyron Garner, one of two men [on the left, in the photo above, John Lawrence is on the right] whose 1998 arrests led to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down bans on sodomy, has died, according to a spokesman for the legal firm that represented him.

Garner died early Monday at a Houston hospital, said Mark Roy, a spokesman for Lambda Legal in New York City. Garner had been suffering from meningitis and had been in his brother's care for the past six months.

Garner and Lawrence were arrested when police entered Lawrence’s apartment on September 17, 1998, responding to a false “weapons disturbance” call, and found the two men engaged in sex.

I wonder what role race played in the arrest. Would the Houston police have arrested two white men caught having consensual sex in the privacy of their home?

According to Wikipedia, Lawrence must have been around 44.

How very sad he's gone.

Complete story here.