._ LEGAL BRIEFS ‘The Law and Our Bedrooms A ince Ken Starr, with more ‘ S than a little help from Bill l and Monica, has already ] dragged our collective mind to I the gutter, this is probably a pretty good time to write about sodomy laws. Nineteen states and the military criminalize sodomy, with dramatic rarnifi- l cations for all of us. l What is sodomy? Al- l l though‘ folks tend to throw the ‘. word "sodomy” around as if everyone must know what l they mean, legal definitions of , sodomy are actually quite var- i ied. Historically, many sodomy ’ statutes were vague, simply referring to the "crime against nature.” Nowadays, some sod- omy laws prohibit anal inter- course; broader laws prohibit a variety of consensual sexual acts other than heterosexual vaginal intercourse, including oral sex. Do sodomy laws just apply to gay people? Histori- cally, most sodomy laws were not focused on the sexes of the participants, but on the con- duct in which they engaged. Anal, and in some cases oral, sex were considered abomi- nable, and unlawful, whether enjoyed by two men, a man and a women, or, in the case of oral sex, two women. Of the nineteen state sodomy statutes remaining today, six specifi- cally focus only on gay sexual conduct, while the remaining thirteen apply to gay and het- erosexual conduct alike. In- deed, our Commander—in- Chief has apparently engaged in criminal acts under the mili- tary laws. Are sodomy laws consti- tutional? Striking —'a critical . blow to the civil rights of gay and lesbian Americans, the United States Supreme Court upheld Georgia's sodomy law in its infamous 1986 decision V in Bowers v. Hardwick. Inter- . estingly, even though the law In question applied to gay and heterosexual conduct alike, the US Supreme Court limited its Consideration to the statute's application to ”hom.osexual BY BETH ROBINSON United States Supreme Court has not explicitly overruled the decision. In the meantime, state supreme courts in Kentucky, Tennessee and Montana have concluded that their states’ sodomy laws violated their state constitutions, and cases are pending in several other states. Moreover, international tribunals have recognized that sodomy laws violate certain human rights treaties. Does Vermont have a sodomy law? Fortunately, Ver- mont repealed its ”fellation” statute in the early 1970s. That law prohibited heterosexual and same—sex sexual conduct alike. Do sodomy laws matter? Considering that sodomy laws are very rarely actually en- forced to punish non-commer- cial consensual adult sexual behavior, they have a dramatic effect on all of us. Even though sodomy laws have historically applied to gay and hetero- sexual conduct alike, they have been used to stigmatize gay and lesbian citizens. Courts and others have relied on the continuing existence (and con- stitutionality) of sodomy laws to justify the military’s anti—gay policy, employment discrimi- nation against gays and lesbi- ans, child custody decisions dramatically undercutting the parental rights of gay and les- bian parents, and even limita- tions on rights of association through gay-straight alliance student groups. Indeed, our own Attorney General has pointed to Vermont's 18th cen- tury Levitican prohibition of gay male sexual relations to justify the modern discrimina- tion against families formed by same—sex couples reflected in the marriage laws. Susan Murray and Beth Robinson are attorneys at langrock Sperry 65’ Wool in Middlebury, Vermont whose practices include employ- ment issues, fizmily matters, estate planning, personal injury and workers ’ compensa tion cases, and general commercial and civil liti- gation. This column features timely information about legal is- sues of interest to our community. We hope to provide information about important laws and court cases that may aflectgour rights, as well as practical nuts and bolts advice for protecting ourselves and ourfamilies. If you ‘d like to see us cover a particular topic, please feel free to write OITM or call us at 388-6356. OUT IN THE MOUNTAINS -— OCTOBER 1998 — 21 ired of trying to find a queer section in your bookstore? We buy, sell, , and locate OUR BOOKS. Find of the month: First editions of Inlana' Passage and C'()Illl‘6lCl wit/.7 /be World by Jane Rule wordsrus@together.net - 802-388-8298 Accolade Group Internet Publishing Dorzftforget! ‘Zbwn Meeting - October 10 802.859.8972 otb@villagetrade.com www. vi 1 l agetrade. com/accolade HRC Political Director to Speak at Conference BY VIRGINIA RENFREW This past month the VCLGR board has been busy planning and orga- nizing the sixth annual conference and Town meeting. We hope that you all will be pleased with the brochures that you have received in the mail. If you did not receive a brochure please check out our ad in this paper. It lists the day's agenda with all the workshops. This year our conference will be CO-sponsored by UVM’s Student group. /e/1' I/mm _\'r.m found 1/ Ill THAT BOOK STORE... (/mu‘ on Rizilrntrd .S'rreeI,‘ l_l§l5l) »'\.\l‘ ".:'VllQl_l.~\l{l.\l’\' l’-UUK5 I ‘ rur- sun run: 4 USED AND (llil-0|" l’l{lN’l' B(\0K.\ - POSTCARDS PAPER Fi>iil'\1l-rm - ‘\'‘l \:m Nll B()OKS usually... Monday - Saturday I0:00 — 8:00, Sunday ll:00 - 8:00 80 Railroad Street, St. lolmshury, Vermont 053i‘) 802 748-1722 - e-mail: ras@m.AmrIEro.srrAss.corA B03 STREETER - DAVE WARDEN - 0I\!1i\lillll\l‘l“lll‘“ Extensive Selection Over 200,000 book, music and video titles , ' Over 2,000 periodicals in l0 dillerenl languages lrom l5 dillerenlcountries Everyday Discounts 30% discount on current New York Times cloth bestsellers l0% discount on most other hardcovers ope" fl-”MI,dm,gh’ mm gsummuy Over 500 listening stations to preview CD5 Friday & Saturday BORDERS com: INSIDEL“ BOOKS, MUSIC, VIDEO, AND it (Art. 29 CHURCH ST ° CHURCH STREET MARKETPLACE ' 802-865-2711 Free to be: GLBT Alliance, A Room of Our Own and the UVM‘s 1998 National Coming Out Committee. We are pleased to announce that our guest speaker is Winnie Stachelberg from the Washington based Human Rights Campaign. Conduct,” expressly leaving °P€n the possibility that such laws might not be constitu- lional as applied to the same Cimduct between heterosexu- as. The continuing vitality of Bowers v. Hardwick is ques- llonable. Many people believe that the United State's Su- Pleme Court's recent decision 2‘ R0mer v. Evans (striking l°V.Vn Colorado's anti—gay ini- t‘a“V€) implicitly undercut its Winnie is the Political Director and she will talk about political activities on the federal level. The conference and Town meeting will be an all day event. That same evening VT PRIDE and the VT Gay Social Alternatives will be hosting a fundraising dance at Contois Auditorium starting at 7pm. So plan on making a full day and evening with our community. We are also sending out surveys for all candidates who are running for the legislature and statewide offices. This survey will be asking candidates about their support for issues that effect our community. We will publish the results in the November issues, just before the election. Last week. I was on the Vermont Rainbow Connection TV Program. Sharon Randall interviewed me about VCLGR and the conference. This was the firsl time that I had seen 0 > o. S at (D 3 to :3 1-4- 6 E m :7 ‘U n: to (‘D U m 2 (Q : O W C 9 :3 m U) U) > 0. U m 2 in :3 O COMPUTER $OLUT|ONS'FOFt EVERYONE! the show because my local cable does not carry it. For those of you who do Ca” us. (8o2)352_5557 °W€rS v. Hardwick decision. Indeed, the late Justice Powell, Wh0 cast the deciding vote in kowers v. Hardwick, later ac- "°Wledged that he was Wrong. Nonetheless, the receive it check it out I was very impressed and weas a community need to support this show. Hope to see you all on October 10. 1998 at the VCLGR Conference and Town meeting. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO VOLUNTEER THE DAY OF THE CONFERENCE PLEASE CALL VIRGINIA RENFREW AT 802-496-4333 OR EMAlLyrenfrew@sover.net E-mail us: $upport@CompAssistVt.com Our Web page: www.CompAssistVt.com GAY OWNED AND OPERATED - ALL WORK STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL Troubleshooting 0 Grahic Design 9 Win 95 Up—Grades Q LJOJEQSGH 18l.l.l31U| O sdmpea Qd