From: may@hpcesma.ce.hp.com (Elaine May)
Newsgroups: soc.motss
Subject: Re: Need up-to-date Info on Sodomy Laws
Date: 22 Jan 1993 18:39:03 GMT
Organization: HP Corporate Engineering - Palo Alto, CA
Reply-To: may@hpcesma.ce.hp.com
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I got the info I need -- perhaps nifty.andrew was down last night or
HP's network was confused.  At any rate, here's an up-to-date (I believe)
list.  If anyone has any corrections, I'd appreciate it if you pass them
along to me.

My information here is from "The Rights of Gay People" published in 1983
(so it is a bit dated).  Some of these laws may have been revoked by 
legislation or judicial decisions.  The ISBN is 0-553-23136-7.  [I have
updated this list with information I got from the Internet.  Updates
are in brackets].

To summarize, there were 24 [21] states (and the District of Columbia) which
had laws on the books regulating sexual practices between consenting
adults.  Of these 25 [22], 8 [6] prohibited certain acts between people who 
were not married to one another or people who were not of opposite sexes.
In 20 [18] cases, oral sex is mentioned in the same statute as anal sex.

-- details follow [I may have counted wrong] --

In Alabama, you can get up to one year in jail for "any sex act between
persons not married involving the sex organs of one and the mouth or anus
of the other".  This statute is titled Sexual Misconduct.

In Arizona, anal or oral intercourse is a Crime Against Nature and is a 
class 3 misdemeanor.  In Virginia, it is called the same thing but there
it is a felony.  

In Arkansas, Sodomy is defined as oral or anal sex between two men or 
anal or vaginal penetration by two women.  It, too, is a misdemeanor.

In the District of Columbia, both oral and anal sex are defined as sodomy.
There, it is a felony.  Georgia is the same.

In Idaho, sodomy, fellatio, and "any other unnatural copulation" is
defined as a Crime Against Nature which is a felony.

In Kansas, Sodomy is defined as "oral or anal copulation between persons
who are not husband or wife or consenting adult members of the opposite
sex."  Here, it is a misdemeanor.

Kentucky simply defines Sodomy as "engaging in deviate sexual intercourse
with a person of the same sex."  That is a misdemeanor offense.  [Found
unconstitutional by Kentucky Supreme Court in 1992.]

Louisiana says that a Crime Against Nature is any oral or anal sex.
It is a felony there.

Sodomy (no further definition given) and Unnatural or Perverted Sexual
Practices (oral or any other unnatural sex act) are felonies with penalties 
of up to 10 years imprisonment in Maryland.

Massachusetts outlaws anal intercourse under its Sodomy and Buggery statute.
It is a felony offense.  South Carolina has the same law.

In Michigan, a man can get 15 years in jail (felony) for performing sodomy
with another man, woman or animal.  [Struck down by lower court, appeal
is pending as of 1991].

In Minnesota and Utah, both anal and oral sex are prohibited by a
Sodomy statute which carries a misdemeanor penalty.

Mississippi succintly defines Unnatural Intercourse as sodomy and proscribes
a not-to-exceed 10 year prison term and felony status.

Any sex act between two people of the same sex is defined as Sexual 
Misconduct in Missouri and is a misdemeanor.

In Montana, same sex relations are called Deviate Sexual Conduct and are
felonies.

Nevada makes oral and anal sex between two people of the same sex a felony
and calls it a Crime Against Nature.

Oral or anal sex is a felony in North Carolina and is called a Crime
Against Nature.  The same is true in Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Rhode Island.

In Pennsylvania, Voluntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse, defined as oral
or anal sex between two humans who are not husband and wife, is a misdemeanor.
[Revoked in 1983].

Sexual Perversion, oral or anal sex, is a misdemeanor in Wisconson.  
[Revoked in 1984].

--
Elaine May                               Hewlett-Packard Corporate Engineering
may@hpcesma.ce.hp.com		         Palo Alto, California
Newsgroups: soc.motss