North Carolina's General Statutes include outdated laws that legislate sexual behavior that occurs between consenting adults in their own homes. The crime against nature law makes it illegal for a person to engage in oral or anal sex with any other person even if this activity occurs in private, between two consenting adults. 14 Even married couples who engage in oral or anal sex are breaking the law. The existence of a crime against nature law allows for discrimination in custody cases, housing, and employment. Landlords can refuse to rent to unmarried couples, lesbians, and gay men under the guise that they did not want to aid in a crime.
Employers can use the same rationale to deny people jobs.
Political leaders should guarantee a future of privacy and equal rights for all citizens by repealing antiquated laws that sanction discrimination. Although 13 other states and the federal government prohibit the execution of a mentally retarded person, the NC General Assembly failed to pass such a prohibition last session. Our state does not execute children who have committed murder because we recognize that children have not yet developed the abstract reasoning and moral culpability to fully comprehend the consequences of their actions. And like a child, the mentally retarded adult often cannot control impulsive behavior and evaluate the consequences of behavior. Such a person cannot understand her or his actions much less negotiate the complex judicial system.