The Second Annual Sodomy Challenge is Underway
Educational Campaign Raises Funds for the Bisexual Resource Center
CONTACT:
Contact Person: Deborah Block-Schwenk
Organization: Bisexual Resource Center
Telephone Number: 617-424-9595
Email Address: brc@biresource.org
Web site address: www.biresource.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Boston, MA, September 4, 2002
The Bisexual Resource Center (BRC) today launched
the 2nd Annual Sodomy Challenge on its website, www.biresource.org. The Sodomy
Challenge is a unique campaign to raise awareness about the existence of laws
that prohibit certain sexual activities between consenting adults. Fourteen
U.S states and Puerto Rico currently have sodomy laws on the books.
Participants in the Sodomy Challenge use a pledge sheet to educate friends,
family and neighbors about this threat to privacy, and raise funds to support
the educational and advocacy work of the Bisexual Resource Center (BRC). The
campaign ends on National Coming Out Day, October 11th.
According to www.sodomylaws.org,
more than 90% of adult Americans regularly engage in acts of
"sodomy" (definitions differ depending on location, from oral or
anal sex to vague offenses like ‘gross lewdness’ and ‘gross indecency’).
However, many people are not aware that laws criminalizing these activities
exist. While most sodomy statutes apply to both different -sex and same-sex
couples, these laws are often applied more rigorously against those in
same-sex situations. Sodomy laws are used as evidence in custody cases to
prove that a gay or bisexual parent is unfit because he or she is legally a
"criminal." In some places, those convicted for consensual sodomy
are placed on the same "sex offender" registries as serial rapists
and pedophiles, and their names must be released to the community.
"Millions of Americans have their privacy threatened by these archaic
laws, especially those with same-sex partners," said Pete Chvany, chair
of the BRC’s Development Committee. "We hope the Sodomy Challenge will
encourage people to learn more and help get these laws repealed. At the
Bisexual Resource Center, we are committed to a world where people’s ability
to love—and the ways they choose to express that love are not
criminalized."
Participation in the Sodomy Challenge is open to everyone. Information and
pledge sheets for download are available at: http://www.biresource.org/sodchal2002/index.html.
For additional information, contact us at brc@biresource.org
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