Senate Revives Proposal to Change Sodomy Law
Baton Rouge
Advocate, June 14, 2001
525 Lafayette St., Baton Rouge, LA 70821
Fax: 504-388-0371
Email: bbankston@theadvocate.com
By Marsha Shuler and Randy McClain, Capitol News Bureau
The Senate breathed new life Wednesday into a proposal to legalize oral and
anal sex in private between consenting adults.
The Senate voted 19-14 to add the provision to another bill dealing with
sex offenders and then approved the altered House Bill 2047 on a 23-12 vote.
The Senate maneuver will force another House vote on the controversial
proposal, perhaps as early as today.
Gay-rights advocates and lawmakers who think the state’s current
anti-sodomy law amounts to an invasion of privacy against even married couples
said they’re encouraged the bill has a chance to pass.
"This is a law for single, married, straight, gay, everyone,"
said Chris Daigle, government affairs director with the Louisiana Electorate
of Gays and Lesbians.
Under Louisiana’s sodomy law, oral and anal sex are felonies, regardless
of whether the participants are homosexuals, heterosexuals or even married to
each other.
The law, which is rarely enforced, has a maximum five-year prison sentence.
"The law makes 70 percent to 80 percent of the people in Louisiana
felons," Daigle said, adding that homosexuals in the state are afraid of
selective enforcement by police.
The fate of the bill in the House is uncertain. The House killed earlier
legislation that would have loosened the law.
Baton Rouge’s parks director complained at the time that relaxing the law
might complicate efforts to stop homosexual activity in local parks.
Under the new Senate-backed change, sexual activity would specifically
remain illegal in public parks and restrooms.
But sex acts between consenting adults in private would not be deemed a
crime against nature.
Daigle said his organization doesn’t condone public sex acts.
The Legislature’s consideration of killing the state’s sodomy law comes
amid a small flurry of activity on the same front in other states.
Arizona repealed its sodomy law last month. Republican Gov. Jane Hull
signed the bill, saying, "Keeping archaic laws on the books does not
promote high moral standards. Instead it teaches the lesson that laws are made
to be broken," she said.
Sen. Charles Jones, D-Monroe, said some sex acts between married couples
could be considered a crime under state law.
"At some point we must recognize that government intrusion into
private lives has to stop," Jones said. "We still have the right to
privacy under the Louisiana Constitution."
"This amendment says government ought not intrude in our personal
lives, in our own homes," Jones said.
Sen. Art Lentini, R-Metairie, objected, saying the addition makes a change
in criminal law in a bill designed to fix another problem.
There was no other vocal Senate opposition.
Some opponents say selective enforcement is a real danger. A 1982 Georgia
case went to the U.S. Supreme Court after police arrested two men in their
bedroom engaging in oral sex. In a 5-4 decision, the high court in 1987 (sic:
it was 1986) upheld the arrest.
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