Kansas Gays Protest Sodomy Law
365Gay.com Newscenter,
February 17, 2003
Topeka, Kansas—More than 100 protestors
demonstrated against the Kansas sodomy law on the weekend in front of the
Statehouse.
Kansas is one of four states which ban gay sex. The others are Missouri,
Oklahoma and Texas. Both heterosexual and homosexual sodomy are illegal in
nine states.
Holding signs that read "Proud to be a sodomite" and "State
of Kansas out of our bedrooms," protesters demanded that the Kansas
statute against anal and oral sex between gay couples be repealed.
Some protestors held pictures of Matthew Limon, who is serving 17 years and
two months in prison for having sex as an 18-year-old with a 15 year old in
February 2000.
If Limon’s partner had been female, under the state’s "Romeo and
Juliet" law, the maximum prison sentence would have been one year and
three months.
Meanwhile, two Texas men are appealing their 1998 convictions under that
state’s law, claiming it unfairly targets gays. If the US Supreme Court
finds the Texas law unconstitutional, the Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma
statutes would likewise be invalidated.
"Hopefully the Supreme Court will rule in our favor and we won’t
have to deal with legislators," said Steve Brown, president of the Kansas
Democratic Party Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender Caucus.
Representatives of several national LGBT rights groups also attended the
demonstration.
"Sodomy laws create a hostile environment for our family members, our
loved ones and for you," said Samuel Thoron, national president of PFLAG,
who came in from San Francisco for the rally.
[Home] [News] [Kansas]
