|
Last edited: February 13, 2005
| |
Puerto Rico
- Statute: Article 103, Sodomy. Unconstitutional under
Lawrence v. Texas.
- Penalty: 8 - 20 years
- Classification: Felony
- Restrictions: None
Statute
Every person who has sexual intercourse with a person of his same sex or commits the
crime against nature with a human being shall be punished by imprisonment for a fixed term
of ten (10) years. If there are increasing circumstances, the penalty could be risen up to
a maximum of twelve years; if there are extenuating circumstances, it could be reduced
down to a minimum of six years".
History
1937 Puerto
Rico enacts the nation’s last sexual sterilization law and the last that
covers “sexual perverts.”
1967 The
Puerto Rico Supreme Court upholds its sodomy law, saying that the legislators
who enacted the law “have read the Holy Scriptures, the Genesis, the
Deuteronomy; they know about Sodom, the ancient city of Palestine and its
devious sexual practices; they have read Saint Paul, Epistle to the Romans and
Saint Thomas—The Summa Theologica—which deal with the matter.”
1974 Puerto
Rico’s new criminal code creates a unique sodomy law in the United States in
that anal sex is illegal between any two persons, but oral sex is illegal only
between people of the same sex.
News
- Candidates: Will Protect Homosexuals, Not Gay
Marriage - June 10, 2004
- Puerto Rican Evangelists Rally in Support of
Sodomy Law - July 15, 2003
- Many Evangelists Protest Abolition of Sodomy Law
- July 13, 2003
- Another Christian View of Puerto Rico’s Sodomy
Law - July 11, 2003
- Puerto Rico Senate Votes to Kill Sodomy Law
- June 25, 2003
- Puerto Rico Moves to Abolish Sodomy Law -
June 24, 2003
- Puerto Ricans Rally in San Juan - The
Data Lounge, June 4, 2003
- Religious Groups Threaten Lawmakers for Article
103 - Associated Press, May 30, 2003
- Puerto Rico Court Overturns Gay Rights Law -
The Advocate, April
22, 2003
- Court Overturns Puerto Rico Gay Rights Law -
365Gay.com, April 21, 2003
- Gay-Rights Issues Bring Protesters to Streets
- Orlando Sentinel,
April 20, 2003
- Puerto Rico’s Sodomy Law Just “Tip of the
Iceberg” - Puerto Rico’s Sodomy Law Just “Tip of the Iceberg”
- The Gully, March 14, 2003
- Puerto Rico’s Law 103: A Colonial Imposition
- The Gully, March 14, 2003
- Puerto Rico: Cultural Identity, Colonialism, and
Sodomy Laws - July 2, 2002
- Puerto Rico Asked to Enforce Antigay Law -
May 21, 2002
- Case Puts Focus on Gay Rights - May 14, 2001
- San Juan Prepares Review of Sodomy Law -
February 22, 2001
- Puerto Rican Public and Courts Weigh Gay Rights
with Unprecedented Legal Case and Political Action - February 21, 2001
- ACLU Takes First-Ever Gay Rights Case to Puerto Rico Supreme
Court, Citing Cultural Emphasis on Privacy - August 11, 2000
- Puerto Rico High Court to Review Sodomy Law - August 11, 2000
- Puerto Rico OKs T* Birth Certificate - July 28, 2000
- Court Gives Gay-Rights (TV/TS/TG Rights) Activists Hope -
July 17, 2000
- Puerto Rico Gay Legalization Sought - June 4, 2000
- Citing Threats, Intimidation and ‘Clear Danger’ to
Citizens, ACLU Presses Forward to Repeal Puerto Rico’s Sodomy Law - May 22, 2000
- Puerto Rican Activists Stage Fast for Rights - September 9,
1999
- Puerto Rico Case Advances - March 9, 1999
- Citing "Chilling Effect" of Puerto Rico's Sodomy Law,
Judge Says ACLU Challenge Must Go Forward - March 8, 1999
- ACLU v. Puerto Rico Sodomy Law - June 26, 1998
- Puerto Rico's Criminal Ban on Same-Gender Sex, "Crime
Against Nature" Targeted by ACLU Lawsuit - June 22, 1998
- Puerto Rican activists "turn venom into medicine" -
January 23, 1988
Legal Cases
Action Alerts
Allies
Coalition Against Article 103
and Pro Right to Intimacy
COALICIÓN CONTRA El ARTÍCULO 103 Y PRO DERECHO A LA INTIMIDAD
PO Box 9021003
Viejo San Juan PR 00902-1003
Puerto Rico
Tel : 787-787-7274
Fax : 787-787-7686
Email: aaardin@coqui.net
[Home] [News] [History]
|
