Very OT- Law question

[wishspirit]

I am currently doing an essay on America and British Gay Liberation Movements, and I wanted to check that my reading was correct:

It says that homosexuality wasn't de-criminalised fully in the US till 2003, is this correct?

I find it quite hard to believe since England de-criminalised it in 1967.

No debates here about whether it was right or wrong, just an explanation would be great thanks!

 

[wishspirit]

Anything??

 

[mickeyboat]

I think the laws may vary from state to state.

Do you mean the relationship or the act?

IIRC there are still states where the act is illegal.

 

[S. C.]

I have no idea but will give this a bump.

 

[Holidaymouse]

I agree with Mickeyboat. You have to define what you mean by the movement. If we're discussing legal decisions, that varies from state to state. There are some states that allow for marriages, some for civil unions, some for partnerships, and some that still ban it completely.

I would start with Vermont and then read up on the movement in Cali. You might try investigating LGBT sites. (Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans)

 

[MarkFL]

There used to be several states in which the *act* was illegal. There was a Supreme Court ruling in 2003 that made these laws unconstitutional.

(And many people forget that slavery was made illegal in England decades before it was fully abolished in the US. Sometimes we are just a little behind the times.)

 

[snarlingcoyote]

That would be correct, if I remember correctly.

In 2003, many states still had laws against sodomy, fellatio, and other "unnatural acts" on the books. These laws were seldom prosecuted, but were still in place.

Apparently, if I remember correctly (I'll go back and look it up in a minute, but I'll give you what I remember now, how's that?), the Houston PD had a "hot tip" that a particular house in a middle-class neighborhood was a drug-selling house or something of that ilk. The informant was apparently reliable, so the police went and got a search warrant and broke into the home.

They busted in on a happily settled gay couple having sex. Rather than admit their mistake, thereby making themselves culpable to liability for the mistake of breaking into the home of two men who were definitely NOT having drugs, Houston decided to prosecute the men under the sodomy laws, hoping, apparently, that the men would be willing to bargain with them.

The men, already incensed, and with a solid support network in place (Houston has a pretty vibrant -and large -GLBT community.), fought back. The case went all the way to the US Supreme Court. The court ruled that what two consenting, compos mentis adults do in their own bedroom is their business under the right of privacy.

This meant that ALL laws against sodomy or other types of such sexual acts were unconstitutional in all states.

Now I'll go look it up and get back to you with some cites.

 

[DisneyWalker44]

Good place to start reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_v._Texas

 

[snarlingcoyote]

Ah. Wikipedia is my friend.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodomy_laws_in_the_United_States

It was Lawrence vs. Texas . I don't see any evidence they were a couple, and it was a "weapons disturbance" call that had the police entering through an unlocked door.

 

[wishspirit]

Thanks everyone!

Unfortunately I can't cite Wiki! lol!

I just wanted to check, but it is hard to compare like for like, the English law de-criminalised *acts* and put the male *acts* age of consent to the age of 21, but with lots of strings attached. There seems to be no 'like' law in the US, except the 2003 one, I guess it goes state by state!

 

[snarlingcoyote]

Thanks everyone!

Unfortunately I can't cite Wiki! lol!

I just wanted to check, but it is hard to compare like for like, the English law de-criminalised *acts* and put the male *acts* age of consent to the age of 21, but with lots of strings attached. There seems to be no 'like' law in the US, except the 2003 one, I guess it goes state by state!

You can cite the sources quoted in the wiki article, however. Use those sources.

But age of consent in the US is a state by state matter, and may be gender separated. It's a completely bizarre, unfair system. . .for example, Jaime Spears (Brittany's little sis) and her B-friend say she caught the pregnancy bug in California, because in California, they could legally have sex. If she'd swallowed that particular watermelon seed in Louisiana, her b-friend could be arrested and prosecuted for statuatory rape.