sodomy laws
Bedroom conduct statutes
Sodomy laws are statutes criminalizing certain sexual acts, historically targeting anal and oral sex.
Though framed broadly, these laws were primarily enforced against gay men.
In the United States, sodomy laws were struck down as unconstitutional in 2003, though they remain on the books in some states.
The Supreme Court ruled that sodomy laws violated the right to privacy.
- criminalizationMaking conduct unlawful
- consenting adultsPersons legally able to agree
- statutesFormally enacted laws
- religious doctrineOfficial spiritual teaching
- queer historyLGBTQ+ historical scholarship
clandestine · colonialism · Lawrence · prosecution · moral philosophy · crimes against nature · police raids · homosexuality · penal codes · public opinion · jurisprudence · legal precedents · judicial review · civil liberties · Victorian morality · advocacy groups · intimate · felony
- discriminationracism, systemic discrimination, sexism, racial harassment, prejudice
- LGBTQgay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer
- LGBTQ discriminationhomophobia, transphobia, biphobia, hate crimes, prejudice
- LGBTQ historyStonewall riots, gay liberation, Harvey Milk, pride movement, gay rights movement
- LGBTQ rightsgay rights, trans rights, lesbian rights, gay marriage, marriage equality
- LGBTQ+ rightsgay rights, equal rights, lesbian rights, transgender rights, LGBTQ+ rights
sodomy lawssexual freedom
Autonomy over intimate choices
sexual autonomy · right to privacy · sexual liberation · bodily autonomy · personal autonomy
sodomy lawsmarriage equality
Same legal wedlock for all
same-sex marriage · LGBTQ+ rights · anti-discrimination laws · equal protection · civil unions