Lawmaker:
U.S. Supreme Court Ruling Invalidates Michigan Law
Associated Press, June 26,
2003
LANSING, Mich.—The U.S. Supreme
Court’s decision to strike down a ban on gay sex in Texas invalidates a
similar law in Michigan, a state lawmaker and gay rights advocates said
Thursday.
Michigan’s law prohibits even married couples from
certain sex acts.
The 1931 anti-sodomy law requires a maximum 15 years in
prison for a person convicted of a felony for “the abominable and detestable
crime against nature either with mankind or with any animal.”
State Rep. Leon Drolet, a conservative Republican from
Macomb County’s Clinton Township, is working on legislation that would
repeal the state law.
Drolet said some of his colleagues in the Legislature are
skittish about supporting his bill because they see it as a gay rights issue.
“It is perceived as friendly toward people who are
gay,” he said. “But people, I think, across the board agree that
government doesn’t belong in the bedroom.”
Drolet said his support of repealing the anti-sodomy law
doesn’t go against his reputation as one of the most conservative House
Republicans. He said it follows his campaign promise to reduce the size and
scope of government.
Sean Kosofsky, policy director of gay rights advocacy
group the Triangle Foundation in Detroit, said Michigan is one of 14 states
that have laws similar to the one in Texas that was ruled unconstitutional on
Thursday.
Kosofsky said it’s important that state lawmakers
repeal the law although it was invalidated by the high court decision and it
isn’t used often.
“It’s embarrassing to Michigan to have this law on
the books,” he said.
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