North Carolina Pressed to Amend Sodomy Law
Datalounge,
March 13, 2001
RALEIGH—Another attempt is being made to amend
North Carolina’s sodomy statute which prohibits consenting adults, be they
gay or straight, from engaging in oral or anal sex, the Greensboro News &
Record reports.
The newspaper says that previous efforts to weaken or repeal the law have
gone nowhere. Nevertheless, opponents of the law, who brand the statute as
antiquated and puritanical, hope that by phrasing the issue as one of personal
freedom rather than sexual freedom, they can make new headway.
"There is a basic right to privacy that this law violates," said
Jo Wyrick of Equality NC, a lesbian and gay advocacy group. "I think most
people take the attitude that what other people do in their own homes is their
own business."
A measure introduced in the state Senate would exempt consenting adults
from the law, as long as the acts are not for hire or done in public. But few
think this will quiet conservative opposition against repeal.
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