BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Louisiana will remain one of a dozen states that continue to prohibit sodomy, though a U.S. Supreme Court ruling struck down such laws a decade ago.
Gay rights groups have targeted the statutes for repeal, saying police in several states have used anti-sodomy laws to target gay men, including in Baton Rouge.
But lawmakers in the Louisiana House sided with religious and conservative groups in refusing to repeal the state’s anti-sodomy law last week.
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The Supreme Court ruled in Lawrence v. Texas in 2003 that it is unconstitutional to bar consensual sex between adults, calling it a violation of the 14th Amendment. Sarah Warbelow, legal director for the Human Rights Campaign, says out of 14 states that had anti-sodomy laws, only Montana and Virginia have repealed theirs since the ruling.
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