Last edited: April 26, 2002

 

Calendar for November

November 1

1890 — Mississippi adopts a new constitution which permits the exclusion of the public from trials of those accused of the "crime against nature."

1897 — The Illinois Supreme Court is the first to rule that fellatio constitutes the "crime against nature."

1937 — The Mississippi Supreme Court rules that cunnilingus does not violate the state’s "crime against nature" law.

1974 — The Massachusetts Supreme Court strikes down as unconstitutional the state’s unnatural and lascivious acts law. It says that the law can not be applied to private, non-commercial sexual activity between adults.

November 2

1909 — The District of Columbia Court of Appeals reverses the vagrancy conviction of a man who had solicited a police officer for oral sex. It says a single immoral act does not constitute vagrancy.

1947 — In Chicago, the Humboldt Elementary School is investigated for widespread sodomy among the students.

1966 — The North Carolina Supreme Court rules that the state’s 1965 sodomy law revision that stated no penalty is controlled by another state law setting a maximum penalty of 10 years for crimes for which no penalty is set.

November 3

1916 — A California appellate court reverses the conviction of a man for fellatio, because the word "fellatio" in his indictment was not an English word in general knowledge.

1939 — The Maine Supreme Court rules that consent is no defense to a sodomy charge.

1967 — The Minnesota Supreme Court rejects the habeas corpus petition of a man in prison for 9 years for sodomy. He claims the public defender made unspecified "promises" to induce him to plead guilty.

1983 — The Hawaii Supreme Court rules that the state’s broadly worded privacy amendment to the state constitution is actually very narrow in focus, covering only the so-called "fundamental rights" as enunciated by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Hawaii court specifically says that it does not protect sodomy as a right.

November 4

1816 — The Michigan Territory adopts a new criminal code that outlaws sodomy with a penalty of up to 21 years at solitary and hard labor and a fine.

1835 — Massachusetts makes its "crime against nature" law gender-neutral, but retains the severe 20-years-in-prison penalty.

1893 — The West Virginia Supreme Court rules that repeal of a statute in derogation of the common law revives the common-law provision. Since the state recognizes common-law crimes, this means that repeal of the sodomy law will not legalize consensual sodomy.

1898 — The Hawaii Supreme Court upholds a sodomy conviction after a non-unanimous jury verdict and upon uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice.

1913 — Oregon voters defeat a proposed law to sterilize "sexual perverts" by a 56%-44% margin.

1968 — The Arizona Supreme Court makes its third rejection of a vagueness challenge to the state’s sodomy law.

1985 — The U.S. Supreme Court announces that it will hear Georgia’s appeal of the Eleventh Circuit’s striking of Georgia’s sodomy law. The initial vote in October is 7-2 against hearing the appeal, which would have left the striking of the law standing. Ultraconservative Justices Byron White and William Rehnquist are the only two wanting to hear the case. Then, liberals William Brennan and Thurgood Marshall change their votes to hear the case, wanting to use it as a vehicle to expand privacy rights. That makes it 5-4 against hearing the case, which still will put it on the docket, since it takes only four votes to hear a case. Then, Brennan decides that the court’s conservative majority would vote to uphold the law, so he switches against hearing the case, making it 6-3, so that the case would not be heard. Then, reactionary Chief Justice Warren Burger changes his vote to hear the case, making it 5-4 against, again putting the case on the court’s docket. Pressure then is put on Thurgood Marshall to change his vote, but is not successful because he does not want to be seen as parroting Brennan. As a result, four justices voted to hear the case, putting it on the court’s docket.

November 5

1861 — Colorado passes its first criminal code and makes sodomy a crime with a compulsory sentence of life imprisonment.

1973 — The U.S. Supreme Court rules, in a case from Florida, that the term "crime against nature" is not vague and overbroad.

1973 — The U.S. Supreme Court refuses to hear a challenge to the Oklahoma sodomy law.

November 6

1829 — Florida reinstates common-law crimes, but with a set penalty of up to one year in prison and a $500 fine.

1967 — The Indiana Supreme Court upholds a sodomy conviction while conceding that the prosecutor was "overenthusiastic" and "overzealous."

November 7

1948 — A New York City radio show has a panel discussing a letter received from a man entrapped into soliciting him for sex. This is the first time the show dedicates an entire program to one issue.

1955 — The U.S. Supreme Court refuses to hear a challenge to the Oklahoma crime against nature law, brought by a man convicted of consensual relations with another man.

1966 — The Louisiana Supreme Court upholds the sodomy convictions of two women for engaging in cunnilingus.

1969 — The Oregon Court of Appeals upholds a sodomy conviction despite prejudicial remarks of the prosecutor.

November 8

1912 — The Michigan Supreme Court upholds a sodomy conviction despite possible prejudice against the defendant.

1944 — The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reverses a lower court and orders an investigation of an Indiana man’s claim of false imprisonment on sodomy charges.

1961 — The North Carolina Supreme Court rules that penetration must be proven to convict for sodomy.

November 9

1674 — After the English take final control of what is now New York, the 1665 sodomy law takes effect.

1906 — A California appellate court upholds the sodomy conviction of a man not told of his court date to be held just five weeks later.

1960 — Massachusetts bans parole for those convicted of the "crime against nature" or its attempt, but not "unnatural and lascivious acts.

1977 — The Massachusetts Supreme Court overturns a conviction for sex in a theatre cubicle, saying that the jury should have been given the option to decide if a theatre cubicle was a public place.

1995 — A Louisiana appellate court rules that a man can not recover damages from a dentist for consensual sexual relations with him years before.

November 10

1841 — A Pennsylvania court dismisses a sodomy charge brought against the curator of the Chinatown Museum brought by an apparent ex-amour who has extorted money from him.

1923 — The New Jersey Supreme Court upholds the "private lewdness" conviction of two men for consensual sex with each other.

1976 — The California Supreme Court rules that a person tried under the repealed consenting adult laws can not be sentenced if the conviction was not final at the time of the repeal.

1978 — The Nevada Supreme Court rules that sodomy can be accomplished by merely licking a penis, without any penetration.

November 11

1901 — The new Alabama constitution specifically denies the right to vote to anyone convicted of the "crime against nature."

November 12

1875 — Washington Territory enacts a vagrancy law covering "disorderly persons." Since there is no sodomy law in the territory, this is the only law that can cover acts of sodomy.

1947 — A New York appellate court overturns the sodomy conviction of a "man of education and culture" accused by a mentally retarded vagrant, thus showing class bias.

1952 — A California appellate court upholds the oral copulation conviction of two men caught in a car and seen by police looking in with a flashlight.

1973 — The District of Columbia Court of Appeals overturns the solicitation conviction of a man because of gross misconduct by the trial judge.

November 13

1759 — In the Netherlands, minister Andreas Klink is banished for life for having committed sodomy. He defends his attractions as natural.

1912 — The North Carolina Supreme Court upholds the right of juries to return verdicts of attempt to commit sodomy rather than for the completed act.

1914 — A California appellate court reverses a sodomy conviction for having "carnal knowledge" of Frank Love. It says that the term "carnal knowledge" can exist only between people of the opposite sex.

1954 — The Kansas Supreme Court rules that solicitation to commit sodomy is not an attempt to commit it.

1957 — A Texas appellate court upholds a sodomy conviction even though the facts of the case show that the arresting officer could not have seen what he claimed to see in the dark from a great distance.

November 14

1910 — The Louisiana Supreme Court rules that the "crime against nature" and "sodomy" are synonymous terms.

1917 — A Georgia appellate court rules that cunnilingus performed by a male violates the state’s sodomy law.

1934 — A California appellate court upholds an oral copulation conviction over the defendant’s contention of "inherent improbability" of the trial testimony.

1955 — The U.S. Supreme Court refuses to hear a challenge to the Ohio sodomy law.

1957 — The Church of England Assembly endorses the Wolfenden Report that recommended decriminalizing consensual sodomy.

1960 — A California appellate court upholds the oral copulation conviction of two men in a restroom stall. A busybody looked under the door.

1966 — The Maine Supreme Court upholds a sodomy conviction, despite the admission of conflicting testimony, and after admission of "pornographic" photos owned by the defendant.

1995 — The Austrian Parliament defeats a bill to lower the age of consent for homosexual sex to the same as heterosexual sex.

November 15

1636 — Plymouth colony outlaws consensual sodomy with a penalty of death.

1912 — Portland newspapers report what becomes known as the "Vice Clique Scandal." Some 68 men are involved in prosecutions for private, consensual sexual relations.

1935 — Oregon adopts a new sterilization law and requires names of all known "sexual perverts" in the state to be turned over to the Board of Eugenics.

1950 — The Puerto Rico Supreme Court rules that emission is not necessary for a conviction of sodomy.

November 16

1880 — The Ohio Supreme Court affirms its 1876 decision that a man accused of sodomy by another can not sue for slander, but asks the legislature to change that by either outlawing sodomy or making its accusation actionable.

1889 — The Cleveland Street Scandal in England breaks. The Cleveland Street brothel provides teenage boys for many prominent and affluent London men.

1897 — The District of Columbia Court of Appeals rules that common-law crimes are recognized in the District, even without a statute receiving them. This effectively reinstates sodomy as a crime, since there is no sodomy statute under District law, and makes sodomy a crime throughout the United States.

1938 — The Montana Supreme Court overturns a sodomy conviction based on the fact that a young man and his alleged lover live near each other (and move to stay close when the other moves), hang around together, and are found by police sleeping in the same bedroom—in separate beds. The Court warns of the dangers of basing convictions on such circumstantial evidence.

1944 — The Washington Supreme Court overturns a sodomy conviction because the state was able to prove only an attempt.

1955 — A Pennsylvania appellate court upholds the sodomy conviction of a man after prejudicial remarks were made by the prosecutor to the jury.

1967 — A Michigan appellate court rejects the contention of a man and woman that the "crime against nature" can be committed only by people of the same sex.

1977 — The Texas Court of Appeals overturns the public lewdness conviction of a Gay man, because his acts never were specified.

1999 — The Rhode Island Supreme Court rules that all pending consensual sodomy prosecutions at the time of the 1998 legislative repeal must be abandoned.

November 17

1715 — North Carolina adopts all laws of England, making the buggery statute operative.

1960 — A county bar association in Ohio files charges against an attorney for misrepresenting a client arrested for sodomy. The Ohio Supreme Court disbars the attorney and refuses to reinstate him in 1967.

1975 — The U.S. Supreme Court upholds the Tennessee "crime against nature" law.

1980 — The Rhode Island Supreme Court affirms that cunnilingus is a "crime against nature."

November 18

1910 — The South Dakota Supreme Court rules that the state’s "crime against nature" law outlaws fellatio.

1919 — A California appellate court upholds the sodomy conviction of a man and rejects his contention that his partner’s incestuous relationship with his brother should have been raised to impeach his credibility.

1925 — A California appellate court upholds the sodomy conviction of a man after photos and condoms found in his home were admitted into evidence against him.

1932 — A California appellate court rules that a trial judge need not visit the scene of the alleged act of sodomy.

1953 — The Illinois Supreme Court upholds a conviction for keeping a house of ill fame—a Gay bath house.

November 19

1925 — The Nebraska Supreme Court reverses the sodomy conviction of a man that was based solely on the deathbed declaration of a syphilis victim that he got syphilis from the defendant.

1959 — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit votes 3-0 to order the District of Columbia Court of Appeals to furnish an attorney to a man charged with solicitation and appealing his conviction.

November 20

1940 — The Maryland Attorney General issues another opinion backing up the 1918 opinion that sodomy is an "infamous crime" that would bar someone from military service.

1951 — The Georgia Attorney General lists sodomy as an "offense against the family."

1973 — A California appellate court upholds the dismissal of a teacher acquitted of oral copulation. Both the California and United States Supreme Courts refuse to review the decision.

November 21

1922 — The Iowa Supreme Court upholds a sodomy conviction even though it felt trial questions were leading.

1984 — The Minnesota Supreme Court rules that cunnilingus violates the state’s sodomy law.

1995 — The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals upholds the solicitation conviction of a man, partially because he was of the same sex as the solicited undercover officer.

2000 — The Virginia Court of Appeals upholds the solicitation convictions of 10 men for soliciting or fondling undercover police officers while seeking sex in a public park.

November 22

1950 — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rules that two teenagers who witnessed an act of fellatio on a third teenager were not accomplices.

1961 — The Oregon Supreme Court rules that the state’s sodomy law outlaws cunnilingus.

1967 — The Washington Supreme Court again upholds the right of the state to convict sodomy defendants based on the uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice.

November 23

1828 — Florida repeals its common-law reception statute, thus legalizing sodomy.

1943 — The Indiana Supreme Court upholds a conviction for attempted sodomy of a man who made repeated attempts to seduce a male teenager, and the teenager had police arrest the man.

1977 — Wisconsin enacts a new criminal code that reduces the penalty for sodomy from a felony to a misdemeanor, with a maximum penalty of 9 months in jail.

1977 — An Ohio court dismisses an importuning charge because the undercover police officer encouraged the solicitation.

1998 — Reversing a 1996 decision, the Georgia Supreme Court strikes down the state’s sodomy law on broad privacy grounds.

November 24

1982 — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturns the lewdness conviction of a man for dropping to his knees during a dance and kissing the clothed crotch of another man.

November 25

1120 — The sinking of the "White Ship" kills the sons of England’s King Henry I. A writer claims they died as punishment for sodomy.

1953 — The Montana Supreme Court upholds a sodomy conviction over protests of the prosecutor’s statements. The court reporter did not record them all, thus removing them from review.

1964 — The North Carolina Supreme Court rules that a sodomy indictment merely stating that the defendant "committed the abominable and detestable crime against nature" with a named male person was sufficient.

1968 — The Michigan Court of Appeals upholds the constitutionality of the state’s sodomy law.

1980 — The Kentucky Supreme Court rules that circumstantial evidence can be used to prove penetration in sodomy cases.

November 26

1861 — Nevada passes its first criminal code and retains the life sentence for sodomy.

1958 — The British House of Commons debates, but shelves, the Wolfenden Report.

November 27

1700 — Pennsylvania raises the penalty for sodomy to life imprisonment for whites and death for blacks. In addition, whites can be flogged every three months during the first year of confinement and, if married, castrated and automatically divorced.

1911 — The Washington Supreme Court upholds a sodomy conviction even though a witness gave contradictory and admittedly untrue evidence.

1956 — A California appellate court says that violations of the oral copulation law automatically make the defendant a vagrant as well.

1956 — The California Attorney General issues an opinion that the oral copulation law permits a jail sentence of less than a year, but that the crime against nature law does not.

1996 — The Austrian Parliament defeats, on a tie vote, a bill to lower the age of consent for sexual relations between men to the same age as between women or between a man and a woman.

November 28

1951 —The Oklahoma Court of Appeals upholds a consensual sodomy conviction and refers to Washington Confidential as proof that homosexuality is overrunning the nation.

November 29

1876 — Utah outlaws sodomy.

1967 — A California appellate court rejects a privacy argument and upholds the constitutionality of the state’s "oral copulation" law.

November 30

1898 — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upholds the "crime against nature" conviction of a man called "a raging, vicious bull."

1915 — The Missouri Supreme Court rules that fellatio violates the state’s amended sodomy law.

1959 — A Pennsylvania court rules that placing a mouth on a penis without allowing the penis to penetrate the mouth does not violate the state’s sodomy law.

1967 — The New Hampshire Supreme Court rejects a claim that fellatio does not violate the state’s "unnatural and lascivious acts" law.

2000 — England equalizes its age of consent for Gay male sex with that of Lesbian and heterosexual activity.


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