EPISODE ONE: Buchanan v. Batchelor
In 1969, Dallas police officers arrested Alvin Buchanan twice for having sex with another man in violation of the Texas sodomy law. After being sentenced to a five-year prison term, Buchanan challenged his conviction through a federal lawsuit. But could he convince a federal court that the sodomy statute violated the US Constitution? And how did Buchanan v. Batchelor contribute to the state legislature’s approval of an even more discriminatory law in 1973?
KEY SOURCES
Episode 1: Buchanan v. Batchelor
Full Interview with Karen Wisely, August 12, 2022 (Audio with transcript)
Full Interview with Joshua Prager, August 18, 2022 (Audio with transcript)
Buchanan v. Batchelor (1970) at Justia.com
Joshua Prager, “The Accidental Activist,” Vanity Fair, February 2013
Joshua Prager, The Family Roe: An American Story (New York: Norton, 2021)
WFAA-TV Interview with Linda Coffee, June 1970 (Video)
Henry McCluskey, Jr. at the Texas Obituary Project
“Suit Filed Against Vice Unit,” Dallas Morning News, n.d.
Texas Gay Newspaper Coverage of Buchanan v. Batchelor at HoustonLGBTHistory.org
KXAS-NBC 5 Interview with Henry Wade, July 3, 1964 (Video)
Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) at Oyez.org
Roe v. Wade (1973) at Oyez.org
Sarah Hughes, “The President is Sworn In,” Texas Observer, November 29, 1963