MA Senate Votes To Remove “Archaic” Sodomy Law

Boston’s NBC affiliate reports:

Massachusetts state senators passed a bill Thursday that will strike so-called “archaic laws” from state statutes. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled anti-sodomy laws unconstitutional in 2003 and Massachusetts has legally recognized same-sex marriage since 2004, but sections of state law still feature discriminatory restrictions on sexual interactions between consenting adults, lawmakers said Thursday.

Massachusetts still has laws on its books that could send a person to prison for sodomy or “unnatural acts,” as well as for using the “Holy Name of God” in a curse. Sen. William Brownsberger of Belmont, who identifies as bisexual, quoted a law from 1641: “If any man lieth with mankind, as he lied with a woman, both of them shall have committed abomination, they both shall surely be put to death.”

The Los Angeles Blade reports: 

Bill S.2551 passed by the Senate repeals the “crime against nature” statute entirely and limits the “unnatural and lascivious acts” statute to acts done “in public with the intent of public exposure.”

It also amends Section 53, which criminalizes certain types of behaviors in public, by removing a reference to “common night walkers, common street walkers, both male and female,” which some activists have said has been used to harass trans people committing no actual offense other than being out in public.

Although Democrats hold a commanding 135-24 majority in the state House, Mass Equality says it cannot take for granted that the bill will pass, especially since the state has failed to pass previous iterations of the bill in the past.

BOSTON, Mass. – The Massachusetts state senate unanimously passed a bill Thursday to repeal several archaic criminal laws that were still on the books, including the state’s sodomy law and a law critics have dubbed the “walking while trans” law. https://t.co/0PJEaGxGds

— Brody Levesque (@BrodyLevesque) January 19, 2024

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