United States Anti-"Sodomy" Laws (as of 12/1/95), state by state In the first column, an M indicates misdemeanor, F is felony.

This page got created some years before the US Supreme Court struck down anti-sodomy laws throughout the United States. The ACLU has a lot more information on this at:

http://www.aclu.org/issues/gay/sodomy.html

for more up-to-date listings.

ALABAMA

M 13A-6-65,Sexual Misconduct, 1 year/$2000 Does not apply to married couples.

ALASKA

Repealed effective 1980

ARIZONA

M 13-1411, Crime Against Nature (anal intercourse), 30 days/$500. M 13-1412, Lewd and Lascivious Acts, 30 days/$500

ARKANSAS

M 5-14-111, Sodomy, 1 year/$1000, same sex only. Bill passed unanimously "aimed at weirdos and queers who live in a fairyland world and are trying to wreck family life." Signed into law by governor in 1977.

CALIFORNIA

Repealed effective 1976

COLORADO

Repealed effective 1972

CONNECTICUT

Repealed effective 1971

DELAWARE

Repealed effective 1973

FLORIDA

M 800.02, Unnatural and Lascivious Act, 60 days/$500

GEORGIA

F 16-6-2, Sodomy, 1 to 20 years. Upheld as to homosexuals on the grounds that there is no fundamental federal constitutional right to "engage in sodomy." Bowers v. Hardwick, 478 U.S. 186 (1986). M 16-6-15, Solicitation of Sodomy, 1 year/$1000

HAWAII

Repealed effective 1973

IDAHO

F 18-6605, Crime Against Nature, 5 years to life

ILLINOIS

Repealed effective 1962. First state to repeal sodomy laws, in 1961.

INDIANA

Repealed effective 1977. Earlier effort to repeal said legalization might "give us an opportunity to study it more openly, and to see what causes it, in the hope that we can eventually eliminate it."

IOWA

Repealed effective 1978

KANSAS

M 21-3505, Sodomy, 6 months/$1000, same sex only

KENTUCKY

Held unconstitutional by state Supreme Court 1992. Commonwealth v. Wasson

LOUISIANNA

F 14.89, Crime Against Nature, 5 years/$2000. Held unconstitutional by Orleans Parish Court, appeal pending.

MAINE

Repealed effective 1976

MARYLAND

F 27-553, Sodomy, 10 years. F 27-554, Unnatural or Perverted Sexual Practices, 10 years/$1000. Found not to apply to noncommercial, hetrosexual activity in private. Schochet v. State, 1990.

MASSACHUSETTS

F 272-34, Crime Against Nature, 20 years. F 272-35, Unnatural and Lascivious Acts, 5 years/$100-$1000. Crime Against Nature applies only to anal intercourse. Unnatural and Lascivious Acts has been held not apply to private consensual adult behavior. Commonwealth v. Balthazar, Supreme Judicial Court 1974. It has been suggested that such a ruling would apply to Crime Against Nature.

MICHIGAN

F 750.158, Crime Against Nature, 15 years. Held unconstitutional as applied to private, consensual adult behavior. Michigan Organization for Human Rights v. Kelly (Wayne County Circ. Ct. 1990), no appeal taken, only applies to Wayne County. Held consitutional by Michigan Court of Apeals (People v. Brashier) 1992, effective outside of Wayne County. Decision is needed from the Michigan Supreme Court.

MINNESOTA

M 609.293, Sodomy, 1 year/$3000. Minnesota's law also prohibits sex between humans and birds.

MISSISSIPPI

F 97-29-59, Unnatural Intercourse, 10 years

MISSOURI

M 566.090, Sexual Misconduct, 1 year/$1000, same sex only

MONTANA

F 45-5-505, Deviate Sexual Conduct, 10 years/$50,000, same sex only

NEBRASKA

Repealed effective 1978

NEVADA

Repealed effective 1993

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Repealed effective 1975

NEW JERSEY

Repealed effective 1979

NEW MEXICO

Repealed effective 1975

NEW YORK

Held unconstitutional by state Supreme Court 1980, People v. Onofre

NORTH CAROLINA

F 14-177, Crime Against Nature, 10 years / discretionary fine

NORTH DAKOTA

Repealed effective 1975

OHIO

Repealed effective 1974

OKLAHOMA

F 21-886, Crime Against Nature, 10 years. A 1977 effort to repeal sodomy laws was met with a vote-delaying "chorus of giggles."

OREGON

Repealed effective 1972

PENNSYLVANIA

Held unconstitutional by state Supreme Court 1980. Commonwealth v. Bonadio

RHODE ISLAND

F 11-10-1, Crime Against Nature, 7-20 years. Includes "ordinary extramarital intercourse." -- This was repealed in 1998.

SOUTH CAROLINA

F 16-15-120, Buggery, 5 years/$500. The law actually legislates the "abominable crime of buggery." No further statutory explaination given.

SOUTH DAKOTA

Repealed effective 1977

TENNESSEE

M 39-13-510, Homosexual Acts, 30 days/$50, same sex only

TEXAS

Found unconstitutional by state Court of Appeals, England v. Dallas, no appeal taken. Effective 1994 with the dismissal of Morales v. State.

UTAH

M 76-5-403, Sodomy, 6 months/$1000. In 1982, the Republican State Convention added a plank to its platform stating that homosexuals should be denied the civil, political, social, and economic rights guaranteed to others.

VERMONT

Repealed effective 1977

VIRGINIA

F 18.2-361, Crime Against Nature, 5-20 years

WASHINGTON

Repealed effective 1976

WEST VIRGINIA

Repealed effective 1976

WISCONSIN

Repealed effective 1983

WYOMING

Repealed effective 1977

D.C.

Repealed effective 1993

AMERICAN SAMOA

Repealed effective ?

GUAM

Repealed effective ?

N. MARIANA IS.

Repealed effective ?

VIRGIN ISLANDS

Repealed effective ?

PUERTO RICO

Criminal, penalties unknown.