Sodomy laws are any of the many laws which criminalize
non-reproductive, non-commercial, consensual sex between adults in private.
Recent News
International Rallies Celebrate Gay Freedom
- May 2007
Thursday, May 17, will usher in this year’s annual International Day Against
Homophobia (IDAHO), a date that honors the anniversary of the day in 1990 when
the World Health Organization removed homosexuality from its catalogue of
mental illnesses.
‘Hall of Shame’ Exposes Dangers of
High-Level Homophobia - May 2007
Pope Benedict XVI, US President George W. Bush and Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad have undermined human rights by actively promoting prejudice
against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, Human Rights Watch said
today in its annual “hall of shame” to mark the International Day Against
Homophobia.
U.N. Study
Sees Subtle Discrimination - May 2007
The disabled, gays and lesbians, and people living with HIV/AIDS are suffering
from new and more subtle forms of workplace discrimination, the U.N. labor
agency in Geneva said Thursday.
87 Gay Men Arrested in Iran
- May 2007
Eighty seven gay men were arrested at a private house party in Iran on May
10th, according to the Toronto-based Iranian Queer Organisation, IRQO.
A Gay Iranian
Activist Fled back to Turkey Your Help - April/May 2007
An urgent appeal on behalf of a courageous Iranian gay activist and writer who
was deported back to Iran from Turkey two weeks ago.
Iraq: New Murders of Gays
- April 2007
Iraqi LGBT -- the London-based group with a network of members and supporters
inside Iraq that documents anti-gay violence -- last week released details on
the latest series of murders of Iraqi gays by fanatical Islamist death squads.
Nigeria to Criminalize
Gay Sex and Marriage - April 2007
Nigerian continues to pursue a draconian anti-gay law despite international
condemnation.
Singapore's 'George
Washington' Calls for End to Gay Sex Ban - April 2007
Lee Kuan Yew, the man regarded as the father of Singapore says it is time to
decriminalize gay sex.
Group Honors First Sodomy Persecution
in North America - March 2007
Records don't show whether Richard Cornish felt like a martyr almost 400 years
ago as he stood on a Jamestown gallows with a rope around his neck. But he was
adopted as one by the William and Mary Gay and Lesbian Alumni Association.
GALA and a number of activists and historians recognize Cornish as the first
man prosecuted and executed for homosexuality in the British North American
colonies.
Oklahoma Anti-Gay
Pastor Acquitted for Soliciting a Male Police Officer -
March 2007
A former Baptist minister who had spoken out against homosexuality was
acquitted of propositioning an undercover male police officer. A judge found
Lonnie Latham not guilty of the misdemeanor charge of offering to engage in an
act of lewdness. Latham, 61, was arrested Jan. 3, 2006, outside a hotel in
Oklahoma City. Police had accused Latham of asking the undercover officer for
oral sex, which Latham denied. Latham's attorney, Mack Martin, argued during
the trial that it is not illegal for consenting adults to engage in private
homosexual acts, so a request to participate in such an act is not illegal.
Lawrence v. Texas
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled 6-3 that sodomy laws are unconstitutional.
Hundreds of news articles about Lawrence will be added as time permits.
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US Military | United States
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A state-by-state legal history of sodomy laws: The Sensibilities of Our Forefathers
by George
Painter.
Fun,
First, and Unique Facts by George Painter.
Survey of Key Developments Worldwide by
Alan
Freeman
Calendar of important dates in history
assembled by George Painter.
Research on criminal sex laws
Why this site was created and credits
Email Bob Summersgill for comments or questions about
this site at dcbob99 hyphen laws at yahoo dot com.
