Sodomy laws in the United States were largely a matter of state rather than federal jurisdiction, except for laws governing the U.S. Armed Forces. By 2002, 36 states had repealed all sodomy laws or had them overturned by court rulings. The remaining anti-homosexual sodomy laws have been invalidated by the 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision Lawrence v. Texas (see above). It is not clear whether or how sodomy laws that apply to both homosexual and heterosexual sex are affected by Lawrence. The United States Supreme Court also implied that the age of consent must be the same for heterosexuals and homosexuals when it ordered the Kansas courts to review the constitutionality of the state's Romeo and Juliet Law.
Despite Lawrence v. Texas, Article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the article banning sodomy, remains a special case in the U.S. Armed Forces in recognition of the fact that "the military is, by necessity, a specialized society separate from civilian society."[13] The United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, the last court of appeals for the military before the Supreme Court, has ruled that the Lawrence v. Texas decision applies to Article 125.
In both United States v. Stirewalt and United States v. Marcum, the court ruled that the "conduct falls within the liberty interest identified by the Supreme Court."[14] However, the court went on to say that despite Lawrence's application to the military, Article 125 can still be upheld in cases where there are "factors unique to the military environment" which would place the conduct "outside any protected liberty interest recognized in Lawrence."[15] Examples of such factors could be fraternization, public sexual behavior, or any other factors that would adversely affect good order and discipline. In both Marcum and Stirewalt, the court found Article 125 to be "constitutional as applied to Appellant."[16]
United States v. Meno and United States v. Bullock are two known cases in which consensual sodomy convictions have been overturned in military courts under the Lawrence precedent.[17][18
This information goes with the above map and you can easily see that several states did not get rid of these laws until 2003. Two consenting adult men could goto jail if caught breaking this law. I think it is very important to learn about such things that have existed in our country as well how far we have come.
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