Last edited: February 14, 2005


Default Dooms Minnesota Sodomy Law

Gay.com / PlanetOut.com Network, September 4, 2001

By Tom Musbach

SUMMARY: The Minnesota attorney general’s office let a deadline pass Friday for appealing a district court judge’s ruling that the state’s sodomy law is unconstitutional.

The Minnesota attorney general’s office let a deadline pass Friday for appealing a district court judge’s ruling that the state’s sodomy law is unconstitutional.

"Because of the non-appeal, it’s over," said Chuck Samuelson, executive director of the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union, which helped start the lawsuit challenging the state law.

Hennepin County District Judge Delila Pierce ruled in May that the ban on oral sex and other sexual activities between consenting adults violated citizens’ privacy rights under the Minnesota Constitution.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Saturday that Chief Deputy Attorney General Alan Gilbert consulted Gov. Jesse Ventura’s office before deciding that an appeal of Judge Pierce’s ruling lacked merit.

"We just think that the legal principles of the court are soundly based," Gilbert said.

Minnesota is the third state to strike down sodomy laws this year. In April, an Arkansas judged ruled that the state’s ban on consensual sex between adult, same-sex partners was unconstitutional. [The ruling has been appealed to the Arkansas Supreme Court. - Bob] In May, Arizona Gov. Jane Hall signed into law a repeal of her state’s sodomy laws.

According to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, four states — Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri — have sodomy laws that focus on same-sex activities, while 11 other states outlaw various sexual acts for straight and GLBT citizens alike.


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