Court Strikes Down Minnesota Sodomy Law
The Advocate,
May 22, 2001
A Minnesota judge Friday struck down a state law that outlawed oral and
anal sex, calling the law unconstitutional. "This is a tremendous
victory, because of what sodomy laws do but also because of what they
say," said Matt Coles, director of the American Civil Liberties Union
Lesbian and Gay Rights Project, which along with the ACLU’s Minnesota state
affiliate filed suit to challenge the sodomy statute. "A society’s laws
are its core statement of right and wrong. Sodomy laws, because they are
understood to primarily apply to lesbians and gay men, marginalize gay people
and their pursuit of equal citizenship."
Minnesota’s sodomy law, which had been on the books since the 1800s,
prohibited both oral and anal sex between adults. Penalties included up to a
year in jail and up to $3,000 in fines. In recent years the law had been used
indirectly to deny opportunities to gays and lesbians, especially in the areas
of employment and child custody. Efforts to repeal the law in the state
legislature had been unsuccessful. Right-wing groups tried unsuccessfully to
alter the law in recent years, but only so that it would not apply to married
straight couples.
State district court judge Delila F. Pierce struck down the law, saying it
violated the right of privacy guaranteed by the Minnesota constitution. The
plaintiffs in the case included a mix of gay and straight people. One
plaintiff was a quadriplegic married man who, because of his disability, was
able to engage with his wife only in forms of intimacy banned under the law.
Other plaintiffs included a teacher who could have faced losing his state
credential if he was found violating the law, a gay law student who could have
been disbarred for violating state law, and a lesbian who could have faced
eviction because her lease prohibits illegal activity.
Earlier this month Arizona governor Jane Hull signed into law a bill
repealing the sodomy statute in that state. In March a state court in Arkansas
found its sodomy law unconstitutional. The Puerto Rico supreme court is
currently weighing the ACLU’s challenge to the Puerto Rico sodomy law. On
the flip side, a Texas court of appeals last month upheld the Texas sodomy
law. The decision is now being appealed. Fifteen states still have laws
prohibiting oral and anal sex between consenting adults. In 1961 all 50 states
had sodomy laws on the books.
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