The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that sodomy laws were unconstitutional back in 2003’s Lawrence v. Texas, but lawmakers in Montana are still pondering whether or not to lift a statute that makes gay sex a crime on par with bestiality.
On Friday a House committee heard testimony on SB 107, which would remove homosexual conduct from the state’s criminal code. (The bill already passed the state Senate in a 39-11 vote.)
What’s truly galling is that the Montana Supreme Court ruled that the state’s sodomy ban was unconstitutional in 1997—years before the SCOTUS ruling. And yet the state’s House Judiciary Committee killed a similar attempt at repeal in 2011.
The statute is “only there to remind people that we are indeed second-class citizens, that we are unworthy, that Montana is not a welcoming place for us, that we are despised,” said Sen. Christine Kaufmann (D-Helena), an out lesbian.
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Opponents of dumping the law have come up with all kinds of degrading and dishonest reasons for it: Jeff Laszloffy of the Montana Family Foundation insists the state hasn’t “come to grips” with how it wants to treat the LGBT community (you get back to us when you have, Jeff). Dallas Erickson of the group Montana Citizens for Decency Through Law said he “dreads that we are slouching toward Gomorrah” by even considering lifting the ban.
And then there are the folks who say they’re concerned about being able to prosecute child molesters if the law is repealed.
Don’t feel too bad, Montana: 12 other states still ban consensual sodomy (Virginia only dropped its law last week), so there’s every chance you won’t wind up the last state in the union to join the 21st century.
Mofdgheb
Is that a real book? Sounds intriguing…. Sodomy, how you tempt me!
doug105
@Mofdgheb: Don’t be silly we all know satan bottoms for Saddam.
MuscleModelBlog.com
It’s hard to believe that a law like this is still on the books… and what’s even harder to believe are the idiotic excuses people come up with to defend the law–but then again, it is Montana, I suppose.
LandStander
“a statute that makes gay sex a crime on par with bestiality.”
You are aware that sodomy does not mean “gay sex” right? Anti-sodomy laws target straight people to who, as far as I am aware, also practice oral and anal sex.
yaoming
It’s listed on Amazon, so it must be real:
http://www.amazon.com/Satans-Sodomy-Baby-Eric-Powell/dp/B0030MT02O
boring
The Goon is rad as fuck and the fact that Queerty’s audience isn’t overly familiar with it isn’t all that shocking (because it’s rad as fuck).
damon459
@MuscleModelBlog.com: Really? Did you know 3 cities so far have anti-discrimination laws that protect not only gay’s and lesbians but transgender people as well in housing, employment, and public accommodations? Yes the law is still on the books and we are trying to get it removed, it’s not enforceable. Sadly we have a vocal group in the eastern part of the state that is completely nuts, most of them moved here from other states.