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Strategies for sodomy law repeal Most remaining sodomy laws are in southern states with small and inexperienced organizations with strong opposition groups and conservative legislatures and judiciaries. Quite often, arrests are not made for sodomy, but for soliciting sodomy—asking someone to perform sodomy—even in the confines of a private conversation—is itself a crime, and often a felony. Seven states consider consensual sodomy convictions serious enough to require the registration of released convicts and notification of their neighbors as is done with rapists and child-molesters: Alabama, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and South Carolina. www.sodomylaws.org /strategies.htm   (1284 words)

Laws Against Sodomy Groups lobbying for repeal of sodomy laws across the country say that the laws provide the underpinnings for discrimination against gay men and lesbians in a wide range of areas, including employment, child custody, and housing. Sodomy originally was banned in every state, but since 1961 the laws have been repealed or ruled unconstitutional in 26 states. "Sodomy laws are used to say that gay people are criminals and, therefore, not entitled to constitutional protections," said New York law professor Aruther Leonard, author of "Sexuality and the Law." The tendency of judges to equate homosexuality with sodomy cost one Virginia father the custody of his 9-year-old daughter. www.lectlaw.com /files/sex14.htm   (1388 words)

glbtq >> social sciences >> Sodomy Laws and Sodomy Law Reform Prior to the Reformation, the laws of England did not purport to regulate private sexual conduct, as matters of moral law were left to the Church for instruction and enforcement. Criminal law in matters of sex has remained predominantly state law in the United States, although the federal government adopted its own "sodomy laws" applicable to federal property, the District of Columbia, and military personnel. Courts differed as to which acts were covered, with many finding that because of their historical origins, the sodomy laws did not prohibit oral sex, although other statutes or common law principles, such as "lewdness" or "wanton and lascivious behavior," could be used to prosecute those apprehended engaging in oral sex. www.glbtq.com /social-sciences/sodomy_laws.html   (811 words)

CNN.com - Supreme Court strikes down Texas sodomy law - Nov. 18, 2003 Of the 13 states with sodomy laws, four -- Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri -- prohibit oral and anal sex between same-sex couples. Laws that might be most vulnerable would be ones that govern fornication and adultery, said Diana Hassel, associate professor of law at Roger Williams University. The court found that law and others like it violated the due process clause of the 14th Amendment. cnn.com /2003/LAW/06/26/scotus.sodomy   (976 words)

Minnesota Sodomy Law Struck Down Sodomy laws, because they are understood to primarily apply to lesbians and gay men, marginalize gay people and their pursuit of equal citizenship," said Coles. In a hearing before Pierce on April 19, attorneys representing the plaintiffs argued that the existence of the law on the state’s books impacted their lives, even though none of them had actually been arrested for or charged with acts of sodomy. The Minnesota ruling comes on the heels of a similar court decision in Arkansas and the repeal of Arizona’s sodomy law by that state’s legislature. www.sodomylaws.org /usa/minnesota/mnnews12.htm   (530 words)

2001 Legislative Report While that portion of the bill was removed and the law was amended to allow teachers to respond to such questions as long as they do not advocate for or promote contraceptive use, the unmistakable message remains that teachers and students are not to be entrusted with comprehensive sex education programs. The new law applies to any person who is “in the state for over 14 consecutive days, or for an aggregate period exceeding 30 days, during any calendar year,” and also requires registration of individuals found not guilty by reason of insanity. Importantly, HB 122 also makes it illegal for law enforcement to erect fake roadblocks by posting signs along a highway warning motorists that a checkpoint is ahead with police and drug-detecting dogs even though no checkpoint exists, and then citing those motorists who maneuver to avoid the inconvenience of the road block. www.acluutah.org /01legrep.htm   (1685 words)

American Civil Liberties Union : Court Strikes Down Minnesota Sodomy Law; Ventura Administration May Fight State Impact Sodomy laws, because they are understood to primarily apply to lesbians and gay men, marginalize gay people and their pursuit of equal citizenship." Pierce's decision striking down the sodomy law noted that the plaintiffs in the case "represent a cross section of Minnesotans impacted by the sodomy statute." The ruling should prevent the law from being enforced or invoked anywhere in Minnesota, according to Leslie Cooper, the ACLU Lesbian and Gay Rights Project staff attorney handling the case. The sodomy law also was used for years to help prevent passage of a state law banning discrimination based on sexual orientation. www.aclu.org /LesbianGayRights/LesbianGayRights.cfm?ID=7271&c=41   (1045 words)

FindLaw for Legal Professionals - Case Law, Federal and State Resources, Forms, and Code Early American sodomy laws were not directed at homosexuals as such but instead sought to prohibit nonprocreative sexual activity more generally, whether between men and women or men and men. A substantial number of sodomy prosecutions and convictions for which there are surviving records were for predatory acts against those who could not or did not consent, as in the case of a minor or the victim of an assault. The Texas sodomy law "raise[s] the inevitable inference that the disadvantage imposed is born of animosity toward the class of persons affected." Id., at 634. caselaw.lp.findlaw.com /scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=000&invol=02-102   (13645 words)

On 26 June, 2003 the United States Supreme Court made a landmark decision against the state of Texas’ law against ...   (Site not responding. Last check: ) Certainly many people think it’s perfectly fine to restrict lawful marriage to only one-one partnerships, which in effect restricts sex to one partner during any period of time (and until death at that) for those who believe sex should be restricted to a marriage relationship. A law that prevents single people from acquiring contraceptives when people who are married can was also judged to violate equal protection. It’s impossible to prove that such a law is intended to harm such people, but it’s likely that anyone introducing such a law would have had such a desire, particularly when the Fourteenth Amendment was constructed to prevent just this sort of use of law. web.syr.edu /~jrpierce/sodomyruling.htm   (4132 words)

Lawrence v. Texas Sodomy Law Protest The plaintiffs contend that the sodomy law should be struck down not only on privacy grounds, but also because it violates the Equal Protection Clause by permitting sexual intimacy only for heterosexual couples and therefore turns queers into a sexless second class with less rights than other citizens. Texas' District Attorney argues that the law is aimed at protecting marriage, family, and children asserts the state's right to regulate any and all sexual practices, even those taking place behind closed doors and among consenting adults. Texas is one of 13 remaining states that still have sodomy laws on the books; in the past 30 years, many states' sodomy laws were either repealed by state legislation or else invalidated by state courts. www.thomasmertoncenter.org /resyst/sodomy   (468 words)

LAWRENCE V. TEXAS   (Site not responding. Last check: ) And the effect of Texas’ sodomy law is not just limited to the threat of prosecution or consequence of conviction. The Texas sodomy law “raise[s] the inevitable inference that the disadvantage imposed is born of animosity toward the class of persons affected.” Id., at 634. Texas’ sodomy law therefore results in discrimination against homosexuals as a class in an array of areas outside the criminal law. supct.law.cornell.edu /supct/html/02-102.ZC.html   (1939 words)

Age Of Consent & Sodomy Law awareness in Queensland Australia - need for urgent action She dangerously misrepresented the truth of the law by suggesting that ALL male to male sex was illegal under 18 years. Law, "sodomy" refers to the act of carnal knowledge (sexual intercourse) by anal intercourse. The Sodomy Law was enacted when sex between men was “decriminalised” in 1990 and was clearly meant to limit sexual activities for male youth (though it is an equally common heterosexual activity). www.queerradio.org /AgeOfConsent.htm   (4252 words)

Lambda Legal: History We convinced New York's courts to strike down the state's sodomy law, which was used unfairly against LGBT people. Lawrence represents the culmination of our carefully laid plan to eradicate sodomy laws state by state until we found the best test case to take the nation's highest court and had the court of public opinion firmly in our camp. We are currently employing a similar strategy in the battle for marriage equality, where we are certain to see many wins and losses in the coming years before all of the elements are in place for the sweeping victory that end marriage discrimination once and for all. www.lambdalegal.org /about-us/history.html   (1541 words)

CNN.com - Supreme Court strikes down Texas sodomy law - Nov. 18, 2003 Of the 13 states with sodomy laws, four -- Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri -- prohibit oral and anal sex between same-sex couples. CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said the decision appeared to strike down most laws governing private sexual conduct, but he said laws governing marriage would be unaffected. Laws that might be most vulnerable would be ones that govern fornication and adultery, said Diana Hassel, associate professor of law at Roger Williams University. www.cnn.com /2003/LAW/06/26/scotus.sodomy   (976 words)

Law.com - Showdown at Supreme Court Over Same-Sex Sodomy Law Lawrence and Garner are asking the Court to hold that the Texas law violates their liberty and privacy interests protected by the due process clause of the 14th Amendment. He says 13 states have sodomy laws that affect everyone, while only four states -- Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas -- have laws outlawing sodomy when the participants are of the same sex. Such laws are used as "an excuse" to discriminate against gay people, she says. www.law.com /jsp/article.jsp?id=1046833611159   (1919 words)

Kentucky Law and Sexual Orientation This law penalizes crimes directed at an individual due to her or his race, color, religion, or national origin because (not simply while) that person was engaged in voting, jury duty, attending public school, or another federally protected right. Today in states that continue to enforce their sodomy laws such as North Carolina, the laws are used almost exclusively against gay and lesbian people. Although several people were arrested monthly under this law and it was used to withhold child custody to gay parents in several cases, it was not successfully challenged until Jeffrey Wasson agreed to pursue his arrest for sodomy solicitation to the courts. web.qx.net /jeff/gayky/laws.htm   (4045 words)

Sodomy While the word sodomy in its contemporary context is generally used to mean "ass rape" or at least "anal sex", historically and legally the term has had a much broader meaning. Thus it is that long-standing laws often reflect the fears and prejudices of earlier generations -- and legal reform is required to bring such laws into accord with our modern perspective, and our current understanding of what is good and right. Consequently, until the mid 1970s it was against the law to be a pussylicker or an assfucker (or a cocksucker, or a mutual masturbator) in most parts of the United States. www.rotten.com /library/sex/sodomy   (766 words)

Sodomy Law To supporters of sodomy laws, the case is an assault on morality and the rule of law. Luckily, the case was assigned to Jerry Buchmeyer, an unusually liberal federal district judge for Texas, who ruled in August 1982 that the sodomy law violated both the right to privacy and equal protection of the law. In Utah, a challenge to the state's fornication and sodomy laws was filed the day after the opinion in Lawrence was handed down. www.lycos.com /info/sodomy-law.html   (639 words)

GLAAD: Texas State Legislator Moves to Drop Sodomy Law The panel agreed with the plaintiffs, two men who were arrested in 1998 for consensual sodomy, that the law was unconstitutional and violated the Equal Rights Amendment of the Texas Constitution. Hardy-Garcia said she has heard that several conservative legislators are looking for a way to keep the sodomy law by getting around the court’s decision that it is unfair treatment. She said there is talk to introduce a bill expanding the sodomy law to apply also to opposite-sex couples. www.glaad.org /publications/archive_detail.php?id=389   (315 words)

FindLaw's Writ - Colb: The Supreme Court Hears the Texas Sodomy Case The fact that police were using the sodomy law as a pretext for harassing gay people evidently may have counted in its favor. To be guilty of the sodomy crime in Texas, it is not enough for one to engage in so-called "deviate" sexual intercourse. Sodomy laws are now, and have long been, a tool for police to persecute people who present themselves to the world as gay. writ.news.findlaw.com /colb/20030326.html   (1930 words)

CNN.com - Supreme Court will decide legality of state sodomy laws - Dec. 3, 2002 In a case that tests the constitutionality of sodomy laws in 13 states, the justices will review the prosecution of two men under a 28-year-old Texas law making it a crime to engage in same-sex intercourse. At issue is the constitutionality of anti-sodomy laws currently in force in a handful of states. State sodomy laws have been on the books for a century or more, and define the act as abnormal sex, including oral and anal sex. archives.cnn.com /2002/LAW/12/02/scotus.sodomy   (639 words)

Lawrence and Garner v. Texas: Sodomy Law, Equality and Privacy A whole body of laws, called "sodomy laws," were instituted in colonial times, threatening individuals with penalties ranging up to death for engaging in certain sexual activities with other consenting adults. These laws were often used to discriminate against same-sex couples for their sexual behavior, and some sodomy laws prohibited behaviors only between same-sex couples, while not criminalizing the same behaviors between heterosexuals.1 The matters appropriate for this Court's resolution are only three: Texas's prohibition of sodomy neither infringes a "fundamental right" (which the Court does not dispute), nor is unsupported by a rational relation to what the Constitution considers a legitimate state interest, nor denies the equal protection of the laws. www.glsen.org /cgi-bin/iowa/educator/library/record/1640.html   (3148 words)

HRC | Alabama Sodomy Law Alabama’s sodomy law was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court on June 26, 2003, as a result of the Court’s decision in Lawrence v. Although the sodomy law did not apply to acts by consenting adults in private, homosexual conduct was criminalized under the sexual misconduct law. In the 2002 Alabama Supreme Court case Ex parte H.H., the sodomy law was used by the court to deny a lesbian mother custody of her children -- despite the holding of the intermediate court that the father verbally, emotionally and physically abused the children. www.hrc.org /Template.cfm?Section=Home&CONTENTID=21313&TEMPLATE=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm   (183 words)

Sounding Board: Sodomy law overturned With audio | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle Texas' sodomy law, as well as similar laws in other states, have always been used to discriminate against otherwise law-abiding citizens. It was a good law to keep homosexual activity in the closet, right where it should be, according to the teachings of God and common sense. Sodomy laws may be stupid, but it is ours to decide. www.chron.com /disp/story.mpl/metro/sboard/1968423.html   (1911 words)

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