Arkansas Court Clears Way For Sodomy Law Challenge
The Advocate,
June 25, 1999
In an important step toward overturning one of the remaining state laws banning most
acts of gay and lesbian sexual intimacy, the Arkansas supreme court ruled unanimously
Thursday that a suit challenging the state sodomy law can proceed. Lambda Legal Defense
and Education Fund is bringing the case on behalf of seven lesbian and gay Arkansans,
arguing that the law violates the right to privacy and unfairly criminalizes oral and anal
sex for lesbians and gay men. A three-judge panel for the state's highest court
unanimously rejected attempts by the Arkansas attorney general and the Pulaski County
prosecuting attorney to have the case dismissed. The two defendants in the case already
lost an attempt to stop the lawsuit in a lower court.
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