State Sodomy Laws Continue To Target LGBT Americans

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In its decision in Larence v. Texas, the U. S. Supreme Court struck down the sodomy law of the State of Texas - and by implication, the laws in 12 other states, including Virginia. Despite the Supreme Court's ruling many states like Virginia (which except for during the early days of the nation has ALWAYS been in the rear guard of discrimination and reactionary social norms in general) have not purged their sodomy statutes form the states codes. Worse yet, the laws continue to be utilized to target and harass LGBT Americans. In this region of Virginia, the City of Virginia Beach continues to conduct sting actions even as serious crime continues to grow. Thus, anyone who seeks an assignation outside the privacy of their home is looking to get arrested. Equality Matters looks at this continued sad state of affairs:

Eight years later [after Lawrence v. Texas], however, eighteen states still refuse to rewrite their laws and take these anti-gay relics off their books, with countless LGBT Americans continuing to feel their devastating effects as a result. Several state legislatures and courts have exploited loopholes in the Lawrence decision, while others have simply refused to acknowledge the decision altogether.

Nearly a decade after Lawrence, many states have continued to enforce laws prohibiting private, consensual sex between same-sex adults.

In Michigan, the practice of charging and convicting gay men under the state’s “Abominable and Detestable Crime Against Nature” or “Gross Indecency” laws still exists, with violators facing the risk of having to register as sex offenders and prison sentences of up to 15 years. According to Rudy Serra, attorney and Chairman of the Executive Clemency Council for the State of Michigan, police officers continue to aggressively prosecute LGBT people without legal challenge

Unfortunately, the practice of improperly arresting gays and lesbians on "crime against nature" or sodomy charges only to have them later dismissed is not uncommon in states that still maintain these laws. In Virginia, for example, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s office defends the practice, stating it was “how the system works.”

Justice Kennedy wrote a paragraph outlining the parameters of the Supreme Court’s decision: The present case does not involve minors. It does not involve persons who might be injured or coerced or who are situated in relationships where consent might not easily be refused. It does not involve public conduct or prostitution. It does not involve whether the government must give formal recognition to any relationship that homosexual persons seek to enter. The case does involve two adults who, with full and mutual consent from each other engaged in sexual practices common to a homosexual lifestyle. [emphasis added]

This paragraph has been the source of a great amount of ambiguity for those attempting to determine the constitutionality of state sodomy laws.

Even in states where sodomy and “crime against nature” laws are never enforced, the mere presence of the laws sends a powerful signal about the value of LGBT members to state and local communities. These laws reinforce negative stereotypes about homosexuality, same-sex relationships, and the validity of the lives of LGBT people.

As a result, un-repealed sodomy laws continue to reinforce damaging stereotypes about gay and lesbian people, branding them as criminals and justifying anti-gay bigotry.

The last quoted sentence hits at the real reasons such anti-gay statutes persist: to denigrate LGBT citizens and in the process give the imprimatur of the state's power to Christianist religious belief in direct contravention of the U. S. Constitution.