Queer Theory: Is It Still Called Sodomy When We’re Fucked By The System?
Rainbowarch,
April 24, 2002
By Kerry Shatzer
Sodomy! What a fun word. The word sodomy dates back from
Biblical times, when the sinful cities of Sodom and Gomorrah felt the wrath of
God and were destroyed by fires, locusts, earthquakes, floods, meteors, killer
bees, road rage, obesity, or something like that. All because the townspeople
wanted to sleep with the angels who came down from Heaven to ask Lot if they
could borrow a pillar of salt. Okay, so I never read the Bible. What do you
expect, I’m an atheist for Christ’s sake! Anyways, how sodomy has been
changed over time from an ancient pansexual gang-bang to mean homosexual anal
sex is beyond me. And what does Gomorrah mean? Gonorrhea? Maybe Gomorrah is
Jewish for “The Clap.”
If you blinked and missed it, in March six local men were
charged with sodomy after being arrested at the Award Video adult store in
High Ridge. “What, sodomy?” you ask, “that old thing?” Yes, and
that’s not the half of it. In fact, 13 people in total were arrested for a
variety of charges, including prostitution, drug possession, and sexual
misconduct. However, the charges were later dropped for all except for the 6
homosexual men (and the potheads). The ones caught having heterosexual sex
were not charged, but got away with a warning, a light spanking, and a blow
job. The ones caught having homosexual sex are facing fines and up to year in
jail (where there’s no such thing as sodomy, right?). Hmm, does this seem a
little biased to anyone?
Not according to Jefferson County prosecutor Bob Wilkins,
it isn’t. Supposedly he was “hesitant” to use the obscure, controversial
statute. Not hesitant enough, apparently. He also said, “It is not my
intention to judge the conduct of consenting adults. This is not about
throwing homosexuals in jail.” BULLSHIT! If that was true, the heterosexuals
would have been charged too, or everyone would have been let off. Neither
happened, so that’s exactly what it’s about. Wilkins said he would’ve
liked to prosecute the heterosexuals too, but they weren’t violating any
state laws. But he had no qualms about using an archaic law to single out the
gay patrons. If he wants to prosecute us for sodomy, just go ahead and be
honest about it. But don’t insult our intelligence at the same time.
Missouri is one of five states whose sodomy laws prohibit
homosexual sex only, while eleven states prohibit certain heterosexual and
homosexual sex acts. So what is sodomy, really? Only your state legislators
know for sure. Is mutual masturbation considered sodomy? What about Tossing
Salad? A Hot Carl? I think the Missouri sodomy law says something about
genitalia not being near the mouth or anus of someone of the same sex. If
that’s true, then Bob Wilkins is guilty of it because he has his head up his
ass.
What’s even more outrageous about this whole thing is
that it should be a non-issue. Back in 1999, Missouri’s Western District
Court of Appeals ruled that the state’s ban on gay sex was unconstitutional.
Then why is Bob Wilkins using it? He gets around that by saying the 1999
ruling is “not controlling” because it hasn’t been heard and affirmed by
the Missouri Supreme Court. BULLSHIT! First, the state chose not to appeal the
1999 decision, so the ruling stands. Secondly, if the Missouri Supreme Court
didn’t say anything about it, then obviously they thought the Appeals Court
decision was the right one and they didn’t need to affirm it. So Bob Wilkins
is defining the law as he sees fit. So Bob, don’t give me that bullshit line
that you really didn’t want to use the law and this isn’t about arresting
homosexuals. Because of the 1999 ruling, he had a way to avoid this. He had an
out and he chose not to use it.
So here’s a question: can we arrest Bob Wilkins for
sodomy because he’s fucking us over? The 1999 ruling by the District Court
of Appeals said, “In order to convict a person of sexual misconduct..., the
state must prove that the sexual contact alleged occurred without the consent
of the victim.” Since we didn’t agree to it, it sure as hell wasn’t
consensual! At least the six men arrested for physical sodomy at Award Video
probably were using lube. For our metaphorical fucking, Bob Wilkins tried to
ease the friction with slick comments like, “We don’t make the law, we
just enforce what’s there.” But his rhetoric dried up and we got screwed.
And he didn’t even buy us dinner first.
Am I being a little hard on Bob? Hey, Bob was hard on us.
I’m only returning the favor. What it comes down to is this: sex between two
consenting adults shouldn’t be illegal. The only thing consensual about this
whole thing was the sex going on at Award Video that night and Bob Wilkins’
use of the sodomy law against the six gay men. I think Bob should be charged
with sodomy, a class-A misdemeanor, just like the six gay men they arrested.
Actually his charge should be upgraded to something more severe since he
fucked us over without our consent. Maybe Bob should spend a few days in jail.
Then he’ll know what it really feels like to get fucked! At the very least
he should be ordered to take a cold shower. He just seems a little too eager
to bend us over.
So is it still called sodomy when we get fucked by the
system? All I know is somehow I feel like it’s all my fault. I feel dirty
and unclean. I feel like everyone is blaming us even though we’re the
victims. I can hear them saying, “Well, if you didn’t dress like that and
go to those kind of places, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.” But I’m
sure I’ll get over it. Tonight. And what I’ll remember most about this
sordid affair is what a lousy lay Bob Wilkins was.
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