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3 unusual facts about sodomy law


Sodomy law

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has waged a violent campaign against homosexuals, claiming that before colonization Zimbabweans did not engage in homosexual acts.

In 1994, Conservative MP Edwina Currie introduced an amendment to Criminal Justice and Public Order Bill which would have lowered the age of consent to 16.

Death penalty was not lifted in England and Wales until 1861, and in 1917, following the Bolshevik Revolution led by V.I. Lenin and Leon Trotsky, even Russia legalized homosexuality.


Estelle Freedman

Her earlier co-authored book with John D'Emilio, Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America, was cited by Justice Anthony Kennedy in his 2003 opinion for Lawrence v. Texas, with which the American Supreme Court overturned all remaining anti-sodomy laws.

John D'Emilio

His and Estelle Freedman's book Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America was cited in Justice Anthony Kennedy's opinion in Lawrence v. Texas, the 2003 American Supreme Court case overturning all remaining anti-sodomy laws.

Lambda Legal

Lambda Legal has played a role in many legal cases in the United States pertaining to gay rights, including the 6-3 United States Supreme Court's 2003 decision in Lawrence v. Texas, which invalidated sodomy laws.

Laws regarding rape

It has evolved from its narrow traditional definition of forced penetration of a vagina by a penis, outside of marriage, to a broader definition, which includes forced sex in marriage (marital rape), and may also include other sexual acts (such as anal or oral sexual penetration); the latter were traditionally dealt with under sodomy laws.

Steve May

During his time in office, May served as the chairman of the House Ways and Means committee and was instrumental in getting Arizona's sodomy law repealed.


see also

Sodomy

On June 26, 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision in Lawrence v. Texas struck down the Texas same-sex sodomy law, ruling that this private sexual conduct is protected by the liberty rights implicit in the due process clause of the United States Constitution, with Sandra Day O'Connor's concurring opinion arguing that they violated equal protection.