Last edited: February 14, 2005

 

House Rejects Proposal to Revamp Sodomy Law

Baton Rouge Advocate, June 15, 2001
525 Lafayette St., Baton Rouge, LA 70821
Fax: 504-388-0371
Email: bbankston@theadvocate.com

By Scott Dyer, Capitol News Bureau

An attempt to legalize oral and anal sex between consenting adults in private is apparently dead — at least for this year.

By a vote of 104-0, the House rejected an amendment to ease Louisiana ‘s sodomy law that the Senate placed on House Bill 2047 by Rep. Danny Martiny, R-Kenner.

Martiny urged rejection even though he supported a House effort to revamp the state’s "crime against nature" law last month.

Martiny said the Senate amendment was poorly drafted and didn’t want to put the House through another vote on the controversial issue.

"That was a tough vote for a lot of people," he said of the House bill that failed by six votes last month.

"But at some point in time, it is our duty as a Legislature to look at laws that are archaic and don’t make sense," Martiny said.

Martiny said the recent effort to ease the state’s sodomy law has wrongly interpreted by some to be a gay rights’ initiative.

Martiny said the state’s sodomy law could also apply to married heterosexual couples for sexual acts performed in the privacy of their own bedrooms.

"It applies to all of us," Martiny said.

Martiny said he was concerned the sodomy provision might jeopardize his bill, which, without the sodomy amendment, would clarify the state law requiring the registration of sex offenders.

Martiny’s bill goes to a joint House-Senate conference committee, but he said he will fight any attempt to revive the sodomy revamp on his bill.


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