
DE-CRIMINALIZING SAME-SEX BEHAVIOR
Changes in state laws since the 1960s

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Changes in legislation since the 1960s:
Prior to 1962, the U.S. military, and all of the states and territories
had maintained "sodomy" laws on their books -- some dating
back more than a century. Some were worded so generally that they would
even criminalize consensual oral sex in private between a married couple.
The penalties for violating sodomy laws -- often called a "crime against nature"
were often severe.
In 1961, Illinois "adopted the American Law Institute's Model Penal Code,
which decriminalized adult, consensual, private, sexual conduct. They
were the first U.S. jurisdiction to repeal its
sodomy law. 1,2
During the 1970s, laws were repealed in additional 18 states and two
territories: American Samoa, California,
Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Guam, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, Maine,
Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon,
South Dakota, Vermont, Washington state, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Alaska, Nevada, North Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands followed suit during the 1980s. Three more
jurisdictions, the District
of Columbia, Nevada, and Rhode Island did so during the 1990s. Arizona
repealed its law in 2001.
In the early 1990s, many conservative Christian individuals and groups,
including local organizations, state-wide groups, independent churches,
the National Association of Evangelicals, the Christian
Coalition actively campaigned to either defeat or overturn gay rights
legislation. Sometimes, the Roman Catholic Church and conservative black
pastors joined the battle against equal rights and protections for gays.
According to author Gary Comstock: "The leaders of this movement
advocated a codification of antihomosexual laws not unlike that of
colonial New England. Some even discussed, and others called for, the
reinstitution of capital punishment for homosexual behavior."
3
According to SodomyLaws.org, by late 2002, only 14 states,
Puerto Rico and the U.S. military still had enforceable sodomy laws on the books.
According to the Associated Press, laws in 13 states remain on the books.
"Sodomy," which has many definitions in law, is illegal for everyone in
Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South
Carolina, Utah and Virginia. In addition, four
contiguous states, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas, criminalize
certain forms of
sexual behavior between persons of the same gender, but permit them if performed by a
man and woman. 4
Penalties range from life imprisonment in Idaho, to 20 years
imprisonment in
Oklahoma and Puerto Rico, to as few as 60 days jail time in Florida. Concurrent
fines range from $2,000 in Alabama and Louisiana to $500 in Texas. Of the
14 jurisdictions, only the law in Texas does not include a jail sentence.
5
Although these laws remain on the books in many jurisdictions, only a
few states still attempt to enforce them. It is probably
impossible to mount a successful repeal campaign in most of these states,
because of opposition from religious conservatives. It will probably
require an action of the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the laws.

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References:
-
The text of the Supreme Court's decision in Bowers v.
Hardwick is online at FindLaw. See Footnote 7 at:
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/
-
Model Penal Code 213.2 (Proposed Official Draft 1962),"
American Law Institute.
-
Gary Comstock, "Unrepentant, self-affirming, practicing: Lesbian/Bisexual/Gay People within organized
religion," Continuum, (1996), Page 12.
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- We urge you to not make personal decisions based on this information. It is possible that additional states may have passed
new legislation between the time that this list was prepared, and now.
-
"Laws in the USA," SodomyLaws.org, at:
http://www.sodomylaws.org/usa/usa.htm

Copyright © 2002 & 2003 by Ontario Consultants on Religious
Tolerance
Originally written: 2002-DEC-13
Latest update: 2003-JAN-17
Author: B.A. Robinson

