A
sodomy law is a
law that
defines certain
sexual acts as
sex crimes. The precise sexual acts meant by
the term
sodomy are rarely spelled out in the
law, but are typically understood by courts to include any sexual
act which does not lead to
procreation.
It also has a range of similar
euphemisms.
These acts typically include
oral sex,
anal sex and
bestiality; in practice such laws have rarely
been enforced against heterosexual couples.
Such laws have roots in antiquity, and are linked to religious
proscriptions against certain sex acts. Contemporary supporters of
sodomy laws argue that there are additional reasons for retaining
them.
Sodomy laws can be found around the world. Today, consensual
homosexual acts between adults are illegal in about 70 out of the
195 countries of the world; in 40 of these, only male-male sex is
outlawed. This number has been declining since the second half of
the
20th century.
History
The Middle
Assyrian Law Codes (1075 BC)
state: If a man have intercourse with his brother-in-arms, they
shall turn him into a
eunuch. This is the
earliest known law condemning the act of male to male intercourse
in the military.The
Lex
Scantinia was written by the
Romans. It includes laws restricting homosexual
acts, but not banning the behavior. Utilizing male slaves as
homosexual sex objects was not outlawed as long as the slave was on
the receiving end.
Most anti-sodomy laws in Western countries originated from a
Judeo-Christian world-view established from the Bible. The Biblical
book of
Leviticus says: "If a man also lie
with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed
an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood
[shall be] upon them." The New Testament has been said to condemn
Sodomy; the biblical book of Romans says, "Therefore God gave them
over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies
would be dishonored among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of
God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than
the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen 26 for this reason God
gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the
natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way
also the men abandoned the natural function of the women and burned
in their desire toward one another, men with men committing
indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of
their error 28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile
to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved
mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled
with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are
full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,
30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they
invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they are
senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Although they know
God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death,
they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of
those who practice them. 2:1 You, therefore, have no excuse, you
who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge
the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass
judgment do the same things." (Rom. 1:24-2:1).
In
England
, Henry VIII
introduced the first legislation under English criminal law against
sodomy with the Buggery Act of
1533, making buggery punishable by
hanging, a penalty not lifted until
1861.
Following Sir
William
Blackstone's
Commentaries on the Laws of
England, the crime of sodomy has often been defined only
as the
abominable and detestable crime against nature, or
some variation of the phrase. This language led to widely varying
rulings about what specific acts were encompassed by its
prohibition.
After the
publishing of the Wolfenden report
in the UK
, which asserted that "homosexual behaviour between
consenting adults in private should no longer be a criminal
offence", many western governments, including the United States
, have repealed laws specifically against homosexual
acts while retaining sodomy laws. In June 2003, the
U.S.
Supreme Court ruled in Lawrence
v. Texas
that
state laws criminalizing private,
non-commercial sexual activity between consenting adults at home on
the grounds of morality are unconstitutional since there is
insufficient justification for intruding into people's liberty and
privacy.
All of
Europe, North
America, Latin America and
South America have recently abolished
sodomy laws (except for; Belize
, Guyana
and along
with several Caribbean
islands
; including Antigua and Barbuda
, Barbados
, Dominica
, Grenada
, Jamaica
, Saint Kitts
and Nevis
, Saint
Lucia
, Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines
and Trinidad and Tobago
). This trend among Western nations has not
been followed in all other regions of the world (Africa, some parts
of Asia, Oceania and the Caribbean Islands), where sodomy often
remains a serious crime.
Homosexual acts remain punishable by death in
Iran
, Mauritania
, Saudi
Arabia
, Sudan
, United Arab
Emirates
, Yemen
, some parts
of Nigeria
and Somalia
.
Prison for
life in; Barbados (Not
enforced for in private - Under review) Bangladesh
, Guyana, Maldives
, Myanmar
/Burma
, Pakistan
, Qatar
, Sierra Leone
, Tanzania and Uganda.
In Asia,
there have never been Western-style Sodomy laws in People's
Republic of China
, Taiwan
, North Korea
, South
Korea
, or Vietnam
; whilst
Sodomy laws have been repealed in Japan
, Kazakhstan
, The
Philippines
, Thailand
, and India
.
Other discriminatory measures may exist against homosexuals in
these countries.
Sources:
Sodomy laws by country
Australia
Australia inherited the United Kingdom's sodomy laws on colonisation in 1788. These
were retained in the criminal codes passed by the various colonial
parliaments during the 19th century, and
by the state parliaments after
Federation.
Following
the Wolfenden report, the Dunstan Labor government introduced a
consenting adults in private type defence in South
Australia
in
1972. This defence was initiated as a bill by Murray Hill,
father of former
Defence Minister
Robert Hill, and
repealed the state's sodomy law in 1975. The
Campaign Against Moral
Persecution during the 1970s raised the profile and acceptance
of Australia's gay and lesbian communities, and other states and
territories repealed their laws between 1976 and 1990.
The exception was
Tasmania
, which retained its laws until the Federal Government and the United Nations Human Rights Committee forced their
repeal in 1997. The details are given in the book
Living
out Loud: A History of Gay and Lesbian Activism in
Australia.
When male
homosexuality was decriminalised in the Australian
Capital Territory
in 1976, then Norfolk Island
in 1993, following South Australia in 1975 and Victoria
in 1981 - At the time of legalization (for the
above), the age of consent, rape, defences, etc were all set
gender-neutral and equal . Western
Australia
legalised male homosexuality in 1989 - Under the
Law Reform (Decriminalization of Sodomy) Act 1989, as did
New South
Wales
and the Northern Territory
in 1984 with unequal ages of consent of 18 for
New South
Wales and the Northern Territory and 21 for Western Australia. Then since 1997, the states and territories
that retained different ages of consent or other vestiges of sodomy
laws have tended to repeal them later; Western Australia did so in 2002, and New South Wales and the Northern Territory did so in 2003. Tasmania was the last state to decriminalise sodomy, doing
so in 1997 after the groundbreaking cases of Toonen v Australia and Croome v Tasmania (it is also notable that
Tasmania was the first jurisdiction to recognize same-sex couples
in Australia.)
Brazil
Brazilian criminal law does not punish any sexual act performed by
consenting adults, but allows for prosecution, under statutory rape
laws and the children's protection act, when one of the
participants is under 14 year of age and the other an adult, as per
Articles 214, 223, 224 and 225 of the Brazilian Penal Code and
Articles 240 and 244-A of the
Estatuto da Criança e do
Adolescente - Law 8.069.Article 235 of the Brazilian Military
Criminal Code - DL 1.001/69-, however, does incriminate any contact
deemed to be libidinous, be it of a homosexual nature or not, made
in any location subject to military administration. Since the
article is entitled
Of pederasty or other libidinous acts,
gay rights advocates claim that, since the Brazilian armed forces
are comprised almost exclusively by males, the article allows for
witch-hunts against homosexuals in the military service.
Canada
Before 1859, Canada relied on British law to prosecute sodomy. In
1859, Canada repatriated its buggery law in the Consolidated
Statutes of Canada as an offense punishable by death. Buggery
remained punishable by death until 1869. A broader law targeting
all homosexual male sexual activity ("gross indecency") was passed
in 1892, as part of a larger update to the criminal law. Changes to
the criminal code in 1948 and 1961 were used to brand gay men as
"criminal sexual psychopaths" and "dangerous sexual offenders."
These labels provided for indeterminate prison sentences. Most
famously,
George Klippert, a
homosexual, was labelled a dangerous sexual offender and sentenced
to life in prison, a sentence confirmed by the Supreme Court of
Canada. He was released in 1971.
Canadian
law now permits anal sex by consenting parties
above the age of 18, provided no more than two people are
present. The bill repealing Canada's sodomy laws was the
Criminal Law
Amendment Act, 1968-69 (Bill C-150), which received royal
assent on
June 27,
1969.
The bill had been introduced in the House of Commons by
Pierre Trudeau, who famously stated that
"there's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation". In
the 1995
Court of Appeal for
Ontario case
R. v. M. (C.), the
judges ruled that the relevant section (section 159) of the
Criminal Code of Canada
violated
section
15 of the
Charter of
Rights and Freedoms when one or both of the partners are 16 to
18 years of age; this has not been tried in court again.
A similar decision was made by the
Quebec Court of Appeal in the 1998
case
R. v. Roy.
Exceptions are made between a married husband and wife, where it is
legal if they are married.
China, People's Republic of
Sodomy was never explicitly criminalized, but used to be prosecuted
under the Criminal Code article against "hooliganism", which was
repealed in 1997. Though still not clear in statutes, it is
generally believed that private sex in any form between two
consenting adults does not violate laws. However, if someone under
18 is involved, the adult partner will be prosecuted. In a notable
case in 2002, a man who had anal intercourse with a teenager was
sentenced to three and a half years in prison.
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
"Homosexual Buggery".
In Hong Kong
SAR,
according to the Hong Kong
Crimes Ordinance Section 118C, both of the two men must be at
least 21 to commit homosexual buggery legally or otherwise both of
them can be liable to life imprisonment. Sect 118F states that committing homosexual
buggery not privately is also illegal and can be liable to
imprisonment for 5 years.
"Heterosexual Buggery". A man who commits buggery with a girl under
21 can also be liable to life imprisonment (
Sect 118D) while no similar laws concerning
committing heterosexual buggery otherwise than in private.
In 2005, Judge Hartmann found these 4 laws: Sect 118C, 118F,
118H, and
118J were discriminatory towards gay male and
unconstitutional against the
Hong
Kong Basic Law and Bills of Rights Ordinance in the judicial
review filed by a Hong Kong citizen. It was believed that the age
of consent had been reduced from 21 to 16 for any kind of
homosexual sex acts. However, there were still individuals caught
in spite of the judgement and there have been both cases in which
the defendants were judged guilty and not guilty. Still, no
revision has been made to the 4 deemed unconstitutional laws so
far.
Macau Special Administrative Region
In
Macau
SAR,
according to Article 166 & 168, committing anal coitus
with whomever under the age of 17 is a crime and shall be punished
by imprisonment of up to 10 years (committing with whoever under
14) and 4 years (committing with whoever between 14 and 16)
respectively.
Taiwan
In
Taiwan, the
Criminal Code of
Republic of China Article 10 officially defines anal intercourse to be a
form of sexual intercourse, along with vaginal and oral
intercourse. The age of consent is 18, and
Article 277 and the Child and Youth Sexual Transaction
Prevention Act
Article 22 make it a criminal offense to engage in
sexual contact with minors. The law is written in gender neutral
terms and does not discriminate against homosexual conduct.
Denmark
In 1933 Denmark became the first country in Europe to fully
legalize homosexuality. The age of consent has been set at 15 since
1977.
France
Since the
Penal Code of 1791, France
has not
had laws punishing homosexual conduct per se between
over-age consenting adults in private. However, other
qualifications such as "offense to good mores" were occasionally
retained in the 19th century
(see Jean Jacques
Régis de Cambacérès). Furthermore, the
age of consent for homosexual sex was kept to
the age of the
legal majority (21
then 18), above the age for heterosexual sex (15), until
1981.
In 1960, a parliamentary amendment by
Paul
Mirguet added homosexuality to a list of "
social scourges", along with
alcoholism and
prostitution. This prompted the government to
increase the penalties for public display of a sex act when the act
was homosexual.
Transvestites or
homosexuals caught
cruising were
also the target of police repression.
In 1980, the 1960 law making homosexuality an aggravating
circumstance for public indecency was repealed. Then in 1982, under
president
François
Mitterrand, the law from 1942 (
Vichy
France) making the age of consent for homosexual sex higher
(18) than for heterosexual sex (15) was also repealed, despite the
vocal opposition of
Jean Foyer in the
National Assembly.<<A
href="http://archives.assemblee-nationale.fr/7/cri/1981-1982-ordinaire1/153.pdf"
target="_blank"> Proceedings of the National assembly, 2nd
sitting of 20 December 1981
Germany
Paragraph 175, which punished "fornication between men", was eased to an
age of consent of 21 in East Germany
in 1957 and in West Germany
in 1969. This age was lowered to 18 in the
East in 1968 and the West in 1973, and all legal distinctions
between
heterosexual and
homosexual acts were abolished in the East in
1988, with this change being extended to all of Germany in 1994 as
part of the process of
German
Reunification.
In modern
German, the term
Sodomie has a meaning different from the
English word "
sodomy": it does not refer to
anal sex at all, but acts of
Zoophilia.
Gibraltar
Section 115 of the Criminal Offences Act prohibits "buggery with
another person or with ananimal" and Section 116 prohibits "an act
of gross indecency with another man", with the proviso that "Where
the acts constituting the offences referred to in sections115 and
l16, occurred in private between two men who consented theretoand
at the time were over the age of 18 neither of such persons shall
be guiltyof an offence". This has the unusual effect of permitting
anal sex with a man, but not with a woman. Furthermore "in private"
is defined as only between two persons, i.e. the presence of a
third person makes it an offence. Also of note is the
discriminatory age of consent which is 16 for heterosexual and
lesbianism acts, but 18 for gay men.
Hungary
Homosexuality in Hungary
was decriminalized in 1962, Paragraph 199 of the Hungarian Penal Code from then on
threatened "only" adults over 20 who engaged themselves in a
consensual same-sex relationship with an underaged person between
14 and 20. Then in 1978 the age was lowered to 18. Since
2002, by the ruling of the
Hungarian Constitutional
Court repealed Paragraph 199 - Which provided an equal
age of consent of
14,
regardless of sexual orientation and/or gender. Since 1996, the
Unregistered Cohabitation Act 1995 was provided for any
couple, regardless of gender and/or sexual orientation and from the
1 July, 2009 the
Registered Partnership Act 2009 becomes
effective, and provides a registered partnership just for same-sex
couples - since that opposite-sex already have marriage, this would
in-turn create duplication
[745927].
Iceland
Homosexuality has been legal in Iceland
since 1940, but equal age of consent was not
approved until 1992. Civil union
was legalised by
Alþingi in 1996 with
44 votes pro, 1 con, 1 neutral and 17 not present. Those laws were
changed to allow adoption and
artificial insemination for
lesbians 27th of June 2006 among other things.
Civil Union of Lesbians and Gays is now equal to marriage of
heterosexual people, except it cannot be performed by religious
foundations, only the State.
India
India also inherited the anti-sodomy laws in its criminal code from
the
British Raj, which were not present
in its history of codified or customary legal system before. That
section of Indian law, Section 377 of the
Indian Penal Code, was read down by
the Delhi High Court on July 2, 2009 in so far that it can no
longer be applied to consensual sex between adults (of any gender)
in private. Section 377 called for a maximum punishment of life
imprisonment for all
carnal intercourse against the order of
nature with any man, woman or animal (primarily interpreted to
be homosexuality, especially sodomy, including between consenting
adults). This law had rarely been executed, if at all, in case of
consenting adults, although sometimes was in the news when a
homosexual rapist was apprehended. Police repression in alleged or
real gay bars is common, and is often highlighted by the
contemporary media. Homosexual marriages are
de jure
banned.
However, this law was ruled unconstitutional
by the Delhi High
Court
on 2 July 2009 and the law read down.
Government to decide on future course of action, if any.
Israel
The
State of
Israel
inherited its sodomy ("buggery") law from the
British Mandate of
Palestine but there is no record that it was ever enforced
against homosexual acts that took place between consenting adults
in private. In the late 1960s the Supreme
Court of Israel
ruled that these laws could not be enforced and
they were formally repealed by the Official legislature
in 1988. The
age
of consent for both heterosexuals and homosexuals is sixteen
years of age.
Italy
In
modern-day republican Italy
, same-sex
intercourse between consenting
adults, as well as anal sex between heterosexual partners above
the legal age of consent is not punishable as a
felony.
Japan
In the
Meiji Period, sex between men
was punishable under the sodomy laws announced in 1872 and revised
in 1873. This was changed by laws announced in 1880 （
:ja:同性愛#同性愛に関する法と政治）.
Since that time no further laws criminalizing homosexuality have
been passed. From 1 January, 2008 sexual acts are governed by the
Anti-Prostitution Law and sex related to
children under 18 are protected by
Law for Punishing Acts Related to Child
Prostitution and Child Pornography, and for Protecting Children
.
Korea, North
Although
no homosexual related laws are currently known in North Korea, the government states that while they respect
those who are homosexuals, they reject many western gay cultures as
they embrace consumerism, classism and promiscuity.
Korea, South
Sexual relationships between same sex are regarded as sexual
harassment in the Military Penal Code.
Malaysia
Section 377 of the penal code prohibits heterosexual and homosexual
sodomy with punishments including up to twenty years in prison
and/or fines and
flogging.
New Zealand
New Zealand inherited the United Kingdom's sodomy laws in 1854.The
Offences Against The Person Act of 1867 changed the penalty of
buggery from execution to life imprisonment for "Buggery". In 1961
in a revision of the Crimes Act, the penalty was reduced to a
maximum of 7 years between consenting adult males.
Homosexual sex was legalised in New Zealand as a result of the
passage of the
Homosexual Law
Reform Act 1986. The age of consent was set at 16 years, the
same as for heterosexual sex
[745928].
Since 4 September, 2007 two out of the three territories of New
Zealand (Niue and Tokelau) legalized homosexuality with an equal
age of consent as well by the
Niue Amendment Act 2007. Cook Islands still has
a sodomy law on the books
Crimes Act (1969), s153 and a155.
Poland
Poland is one of the very few countries in the world where
homosexuality was never considered a crime by the state of law.
Forty years after Poland lost her independence in 1795, the sodomy laws of Russia
, Prussia
, and Austria
came into force in the occupied Polish
lands. They were officially abandoned in
1932, even though they had had actually no power since
Poland regained her independence in
1918.
In fact, medieval Polish has a word for today’s "gay":
mężołóstwo (that could be translated into
English as
manication).
Russia
In
Russia
sexual
activity between males was criminalized by state law on March 4,
1934. Sexual activity between females was not mentioned in
the law. On
May 27,
1993,
homosexual acts between consenting males were decriminalized.
Singapore
Section
377A of the
Singapore Penal
Code criminalizes ("outrages on decency") additionally punishes
commission, solicitation, or attempted male same-sex "gross
indecency", with imprisonment up to two years
[745929]. Prior to October 2007 Singaporean
Section 377 was added by the British colonial administration in
1858, replacing Hindu law at the time which had not criminalized
consensual same-sex sexuality.
In October 2007, Singapore
has "repealed section 377 in the New Penal Code it
will reduce the maximum sentence for male-male sex to just a
maximum term of 2 years in prison under "maintained" section
377A.
Sweden
Sweden
legalized
homosexuality in 1944. The age of consent is 15, regardless
of whether the sexual act is heterosexual or homosexual, since
equalization in 1972. The Swedish Crime Law (SFS 1962:700), chapter
six ('About Sexual Crimes'), shows gender-neutral terms and does
not distinguish between sexual orientation. The only sexual act
specifically mentioned in the law is intended indecent exposure
(SUS 1762:779), chapter seventeen.
Thailand
Sodomy was decriminalized in Thailand in
1956.
United Kingdom
Sodomy was historically known in England and
Wales as
buggery, and is
usually interpreted as referring to anal intercourse between two
males or a male and a female. In England and Wales Buggery was made
a
felony by the
Buggery Act in 1533, during the reign of
Henry VIII. The punishment for
those convicted was the death penalty right up until 1861. A lesser
offence of "attempted buggery" was punished by 2 years of jail and
some time on the
pillory. In 1885,
Parliament enacted the
Labouchere
Amendment, which prohibited
gross indecency between
males, a broad term that was understood to encompass most or all
male homosexual acts.
Following the Wolfenden report, sexual acts between two
adult males, with no other people present, were made legal in
England and Wales in 1967, in
Scotland
in 1980 and Northern Ireland
in 1982.
In the 1980s and 1990s, attempts were made by
gay rights organizations
to equalize the age of consent for heterosexuals and homosexuals,
as the age of consent for homosexuals was set at 21, while the age
of consent for heterosexuals was 16. Efforts were also made to
modify the "no other person present" clause so that it dealt only
with minors. In 1994, Conservative MP
Edwina Currie introduced an amendment to
Criminal Justice and Public Order Bill which would have lowered the
age of consent to 16. The amendment failed, but a compromise
amendment which lowered the age of consent to 18 was accepted.
Therefore the age of consent disparity remained, albeit reduced.
However, the July 1, 1997 decision in the case
Sutherland v. United Kingdom resulted in
the
Sexual Offences
Act 2000 which further reduced it to 16, and the "no other
person present" clause was modified to "no minor persons present".
Today, the universal age of consent is 16 in England, Scotland,
Wales and Northern Ireland. The
Sexual Offences NI Order
2008 [745930] brought Northern Ireland into line with the
rest of the United Kingdom on the 2 February, 2009 (prior to that,
the age of consent for both heterosexuals and homosexuals was
17).
United States
[[Image:Map of US sodomy laws.svg|right|thumb|400px|US
sodomy laws by the year when they were repealed
or struck down.
]]
Sodomy laws in the
United States were largely a matter of state rather than
federal jurisdiction, except for laws governing the
U.S. Armed Forces. By
2002, 36 states had repealed all sodomy laws or had them overturned
by court rulings. The remaining
anti-homosexual sodomy laws have been
invalidated by the 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision
Lawrence v. Texas (see above). It is not clear
whether or how sodomy laws that apply to both homosexual and
heterosexual sex are affected by
Lawrence. The United
States Supreme Court also implied that the
age of consent must be the same for
heterosexuals and homosexuals when it ordered the Kansas courts to
review the constitutionality of the state's
Romeo and Juliet
Law.
Despite
Lawrence v. Texas, Article 125 of the
Uniform Code of
Military Justice, the article banning sodomy, remains a special
case in the
U.S. Armed Forces in recognition of the fact that
"the military is, by necessity, a specialized society separate from
civilian society." The United States Court of Appeals for the Armed
Forces, the last court of appeals for the military before the
Supreme Court, has ruled that the
Lawrence v.
Texas decision applies to Article 125.
In both
United States v. Stirewalt and
United
States v. Marcum, the court ruled that the "conduct
falls within the liberty interest identified by the Supreme Court."
However, the court went on to say that despite
Lawrence's
application to the military, Article 125 can still be upheld in
cases where there are "factors unique to the military environment"
which would place the conduct "outside any protected liberty
interest recognized in
Lawrence." Examples of such factors
could be fraternization, public sexual behavior, or any other
factors that would adversely affect good order and discipline. In
both
Marcum and
Stirewalt, the court found
Article 125 to be "constitutional as applied to Appellant."
United States v. Meno and
United States
v. Bullock are two known cases in which consensual
sodomy convictions have been overturned in military courts under
the
Lawrence precedent.
The term "crime against nature" was first used in law in
1828.
State laws at time of 2003 Supreme Court decision
U.S. Supreme Court decision
Lawrence v. Texas (2003) invalidated sodomy laws
in the fifty states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. At
that time, the laws stood as follows:
- Alabama — All sodomy acts illegal - affects only
unmarried couples. Penalty = (1
year/$1,000)
- Alaska (repealed through legislative action 1980)
- Arizona (repealed through legislative action 2001)
- Arkansas — struck down by Jegley
v. Picado, 80 S.W.3d 332 (Ark.
2001)
- California (repealed through legislative action 1976)
- Colorado (repealed through legislative action 1972)
- Connecticut (repealed through legislative action 1971)
- Delaware (repealed through legislative action 1973)
- Florida — All sodomy acts illegal.
Penalty = (60 days/$500)
- Georgia — struck down by Powell
v. Georgia, 510 S.E.2d 18
(1998)
- Hawaii (repealed through legislative action 1973)
- Idaho — All sodomy acts illegal.
Penalty = (5 years to life)
- Illinois (repealed through legislative action 1962)
- Indiana (repealed through legislative action 1976)
- Iowa (repealed through legislative action 1978)
- Kansas — Same-Sex sodomy acts illegal.
Penalty = (6 months/$1,000)
- Kentucky — struck down by Commonwealth v. Wasson, 842 S.W.2d 487 (Ky.
1992)
- Louisiana — All sodomy acts illegal.
Penalty = (5 years/$2,000)
- Maine (repealed through legislative action 1976)
- Maryland — struck down by Williams
v. State, 1998 Extra LEXIS
260, Baltimore City Circuit Court, January 14, 1999
- Massachusetts — struck down by GLAD v. Attorney General, SJC-08539 (Mass.
Supreme Judicial Ct. 2002)
- Michigan - In Michigan Organization for Human Rights v.
Kelley 1990, a trial
court ruled Michigan's sodomy law unconstitutional under the state
constitution. This ruling is believed to apply to
all state prosecutors; however, due to the fact that the judge's
decision has not yet been appealed, the current status of the law
is unclear. (all sexes; felony punishable by up to
15 years imprisonment, repeat offenders get life)
- Minnesota — struck down by Doe v.
Ventura, No. MC 01-489, 2001 WL
543734 (Minn. Dist. Ct 2001)
- Mississippi — All sodomy acts illegal.
Penalty = (10 years)
- Missouri — Same-Sex sodomy acts illegal.
Penalty = (1 year/$1,000), then repealed through
legislative action in 2006
- Montana — struck down by Gryczan
v. Montana, 942 P.2d 112
(1997)
- Nebraska (repealed through legislative action 1978)
- Nevada (repealed through legislative action 1993)
- New Hampshire (repealed through legislative action 1975)
- New Jersey (repealed through legislative action 1979)
- New Mexico (repealed through legislative action 1975)
- New York — struck down by People
v. Onofre, 415 N.E.2d 936 (N.Y.
1980) and repealed by the legislature in 2000.
- North Carolina — All sodomy acts illegal.
Penalty = (10 years/discretionary fine)
- North Dakota (repealed through legislative action 1973)
- Ohio (repealed through legislative action 1974)
- Oklahoma — Same-Sex sodomy acts illegal.
Penalty = (10 years)
- Oregon (repealed through legislative action 1972)
- Pennsylvania — struck down by Commonwealth v. Bonadio, 415 A.2d 47 (Pa. 1980) and
repealed by the legislature in 1995.
- Rhode Island (repealed through legislative action 1998)
- South Carolina — All sodomy acts illegal.
Penalty = (5 years/$500)
- South Dakota (repealed through legislative action 1977)
- Tennessee — Struck down in Campbell v. Sundquist, 926 S.W.2d 250 (1996)
- Texas — Same-Sex sodomy acts illegal.
Penalty = ($500)
- Utah — All sodomy acts illegal.
Penalty = (6 months/$1,000)
- Vermont (repealed through legislative action 1977)
- Virginia — All sodomy acts illegal.
Penalty = (1-5 years)
- Washington (repealed through legislative action 1976)
- West Virginia (repealed through legislative action 1976)
- Wisconsin (repealed through legislative action 1983)
- Wyoming (repealed through legislative action 1977)
- District of Columbia (City Council repealed law in 1995;
Congress did not veto repeal as it did the first time in 1981)
- Puerto Rico (repealed through legislative action 2005)
- "repealed" - means abolished from the law books (statutes)
- "law invalidated" (by Lawrence vs Texas) - means still in the
law books, but not enforced (statutes)
Source: and Updated on 6-9-06
Note that in the 1970s, sodomy laws were repealed in two states
(Idaho
[745931] and Arkansas
[745932]), but before the repeal took effect, the
sodomy law(s) were re-introduced
[745933] [745934] [745935] [745936].
Zimbabwe
Mugabe has waged a violent
campaign against homosexuals,
arguing that before colonisation Zimbabweans did not engage in
homosexual acts. His first major public condemnation of
homosexuality came in 1995 during the Zimbabwe International Book
Fair in August 1995. He told the audience that homosexuality:
"...Degrades human dignity. It's unnatural and there is
no question ever of allowing these people to behave worse than dogs
and pigs. If dogs and pigs do not do it, why must human beings? We
have our own culture, and we must re-dedicate ourselves to our
traditional values that make us human beings... What we are being
persuaded to accept is sub-animal behaviour and we will never allow
it here. If you see people parading themselves as lesbians and
gays, arrest them and hand them over to the police!"
In September 1995, Zimbabwe's parliament introduced legislation
banning homosexual acts. In 1997, a court found
Canaan Banana, Mugabe's predecessor and the
first President of Zimbabwe, guilty of 11 counts of sodomy and
indecent assault. Banana's trial proved embarrassing for Mugabe,
when Banana's accusers alleged that Mugabe knew about Banana's
conduct and had done nothing to stop it. Regardless, Banana fled
Zimbabwe only to return in 1999 and served one year in prison for
his homosexual acts. Banana was also stripped of his
priesthood.
See also
References
- (Or )
- Speeches Foreign & Commonwealth Office
- ILGA World Legal Survey (Last updated: 31 July
2000, accessed 19 April 2006); updates from Homosexuality laws of the
world.
- The Code of the Assura, c. 1075 BCE
- Leviticus 18:22 & 20:13
- Law 82-683 of 4 August 1982
- Homosexuality in India
-
http://lobis.nic.in/dhc/APS/judgement/02-07-2009/APS02072009CW74552001.pdf
- GenerationQ.net - News, Entertainment, Lifestyle
and Opinion for GLBT Australia, USA, Canada, UK, Europe, Asia and
South America
- Parker v. Levy (1974)
- U.S. v. Stirewalt
- U.S. v. Marcum
- U.S. v. Marcum
-
http://www.sldn.org/binary-data/SLDN_ARTICLES/pdf_file/2309.pdf
- http://www.sodomylaws.org/usa/military/milnews052.htm
- http://www.actwin.com/eatonohio/gay/sodomy.html
- http://www.sodomylaws.org/usa/alabama/alabama.htm
- Nola.com's Printer-Friendly Page
- Gay Guide - GayTimes
- Gay News From 365Gay.com
- Gay News From 365Gay.com
-
http://www.hrc.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&CONTENTID=30422&TEMPLATE=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm
- [1]
- http://www.actwin.com/eatonohio/gay/GAY.htm
- Page 213 Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender:
Men and Women in the World's Cultures
- Page 180 Hungochani: The History of a
Dissident Sexuality in Southern Africa
- Under African Skies, Part I: 'Totally unacceptable
to cultural norms' Kaiwright.com
- Page 93 Body, Sexuality, and Gender v.
1
- Canaan Banana, president jailed in sex scandal,
dies The Guardian
Further reading
- Graham Willett, Living out Loud: A History of Gay and
Lesbian Activism in Australia, 2000. ISBN 1-86448-949-9.
- Peter McWilliams, Ain't Nobody's Business If You
Do, 1998. ISBN 0-931580-58-7.
External links
Wikis
Quiz
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Search