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Article: Virginia law makes homosexual activity a crime. (Originated from Newport News Daily Press)
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
- Article date:
- September 8, 1993
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1993 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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NEWPORT NEWS, Va. _ Virginia law clearly forbids homosexual activity.
``Crimes against nature,'' or sodomy, is a Class 6 felony punishable by up to five years in the state penitentiary. The same law defines a sodomite as a person who has oral or anal sex with any male or female.
The nation's highest court says such laws are OK, even when the sex is consensual. In the controversial 1986 case Bowers vs. Hardwick, the U.S. Supreme Court narrowly affirmed states' rights to outlaw private homosexual sodomy between consenting adults.
In his majority opinion, Justice Byron R. White stated, ``Otherwise illegal activity is not always immunized whenever it occurs in the ...
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