One of my best friends loves to tell me about her sexual escapades. She usually heads to New Orleans for the weekends, and we’ll meet up to rehash our experiences early the next week.
I usually take my turn first and tell her about my not-so-exciting adventures consisting of homework, meetings, football games and The Reveille. When I’m finished, it’s her turn. She starts with the not-so-sexual events and then moves on to the dirty details. I squirm in my seat and hold my breath until she finishes, thankful I’ve vicariously survived her weekend. I didn’t realize until this week that she could be charged with a felony, fined $2,000 and thrown in jail for five years for some of what she’s done.
What would the charge be? Not prostitution or having sex with a minor. Her crime would fall under a 197-year-old Louisiana law that defines crimes against nature, commonly known as the sodomy law. The law specifies anyone having “unnatural carnal copulation” (anal sex) with someone of the same or opposite sex (or with an animal for that matter) can be criminally prosecuted.
A 1966 case affirmed “oral copulation between women” constitutes a crime against nature. The Louisiana Supreme Court added in 1978 that “placing a mouth upon a penis” also qualifies as a crime against nature.
My friend’s crime would fall under the law’s later addition, but I know others who would be guilty on both parts. The point is that Louisiana is one of only nine states making participation in oral and anal sex a crime. Four other states have laws making just having anal sex a crime.
This means if Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky would have gotten caught in Louisiana, they would have had a felony slapped on to impeachment charges.
There have been more than 13 attempts in Louisiana to change the law through appellate courts and the Supreme Court. Earlier this year, the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled the law doesn’t violate a person’s right to privacy. And, just last week, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the sodomy law does not unconstitutionally discriminate against gay men and lesbians on the basis of sex, culture and religion.
Even the Louisiana legislature tried to remove the law from the state constitution but could not do it. It is time for the Louisiana law to be changed.
Supporters of the law argue that gay men and lesbians choose their sexual orientation and that the law was needed to promote marriage and encourage procreation.
Despite what supporters say and what the courts have ruled, the law invades our privacy. What right does the government have to police our bedrooms? Why should the government care about what you do sexually with other consenting adults if the act is not hurting anyone?
The law discriminates against gay men and lesbians throughout the state. Even though it penalizes heterosexual acts, it targets the LGBT community because it makes the most popular sexual options for two gay men or lesbians illegal. Also, the majority of prosecution under the law has to do with gays and lesbians.
The Supreme Court may agree with this argument. It took up a case Monday, agreeing to decide whether the Constitution permits states to enforce anti-sodomy laws exclusively against same-sex couples.
The case is the result of two Houston men, John Geddes Lawrence and Tyron Garner, appealing their convictions and $200 fines for being arrested in 1998. A sheriff’s deputy responding to a false report of an armed intruder found the two men having sex in Lawrence’s apartment.
Even though the case would not directly affect Louisianans, gay activists and lawyers across the country are “cautiously optimistic” that the court may reverse the courts’ decision. The law would be a step in the direction of providing equal protection for people of same-sex orientation.
It’s a long road ahead for gay men and lesbians. It’s a long road ahead for anyone in Louisiana who has anal or oral sex. And, I’m not sure if the change will make listening to my friend’s story any easier, but at least I could know that she, or any of my other friends, aren’t breaking any laws.