'''Sodom''' was a legendary (possibly fictional) ancient city located in the Middle East. The exact whereabouts of the city are unknown but it was possibly in geographic proximity to the Dead Sea.<ref name="britannica">https://www.britannica.com/place/Sodom-and-Gomorrah/Religious-views</ref> The area of the Dead Sea borders Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west. It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley, and its main tributary is the Jordan River. <ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Sea</ref>
{{pp-semi-indef|small=yes}}
[[File:Édouard-Henri Avril (28).jpg|thumb|''Ancient Greek sodomising a goat'' by [[Édouard-Henri Avril]]]]
[[File:Sodoma - Elluin.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[François-Rolland Elluin|François Elluin]], ''Sodomites provoking the wrath of God'', from ''Le Pot-Pourri de Loth'', 1781]]
'''Sodomy''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|ɒ|d|əm|i}}) is generally [[Anal sex|anal]] or [[oral sex]] between people or [[Human sexual activity|sexual activity]] between a person and a non-human animal ([[Zoophilia|bestiality]]), but it may also mean any non-[[Reproduction|procreative]] sexual activity.<ref name="Phelps">{{cite book|author=Shirelle Phelps|title=World of Criminal Justice: N-Z|publisher=[[Gale (publisher)|Gale Group]]|year=2001|page=686|isbn =0787650730|accessdate=January 13, 2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=izwvAQAAIAAJ&q=World+of+Criminal+Justice:+N-Z.&dq=World+of+Criminal+Justice:+N-Z.&hl=en&sa=X&ei=kx3UUp3gMJGqqQH32YDACw&ved=0CEIQ6AEwAA}}</ref><ref name="Scheb">{{cite book|authors=John Scheb, John Scheb, II|title=Criminal Law and Procedure|publisher=[[Cengage Learning]]|year=2013|page=185|isbn =128554613X|accessdate=January 13, 2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VZoWAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA185&dq=&hl=en&sa=X&ei=eB7UUsnOCYqjrgHB9oDADQ&ved=0CEEQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=&f=false}}</ref><ref name="Newton">{{cite book|author=David Newton|title=Gay and Lesbian Rights: A Reference Handbook, Second Edition|publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]|year=2009|page=85|isbn =1598843079|accessdate=January 13, 2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gjcUFK4RZNcC&pg=PA85&dq=&hl=en&sa=X&ei=-xzUUoveD8GbrgGsuIHIDQ&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=&f=false}}</ref> Originally, the term ''sodomy'', which is derived from the story of [[Sodom and Gomorrah]] in the [[Book of Genesis]],<ref name="Douglas">{{cite book|authors=J. D. Douglas, Merrill C. Tenney|title=Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary|publisher=[[Zondervan]]|year=2011|pages=1584 pages|isbn =0310492351|accessdate=September 21, 2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8Tq7UcPMwacC&pg=PT3169&dq=&hl=en&sa=X&ei=P3Q-UpHVB4SW2AW_yoH4BA&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=&f=false}}</ref> was commonly restricted to anal sex.<ref name="Edsall">{{cite book|author=Nicholas C. Edsall|title=Toward Stonewall: Homosexuality and Society in the Modern Western World|publisher=[[University of Virginia Press]]|year=2006 |pages=3–4|isbn =0813925436|accessdate=September 21, 2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0qjwZeKNyh4C&pg=PA3&dq=&hl=en&sa=X&ei=fmY-UrL3K6TC2QXS-YDoBQ&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAjgU#v=onepage&q=&f=false}}</ref><ref name="Sumner">{{cite book|author=Colin Sumner|title=The Blackwell Companion to Criminology|publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]]|year=2008|pages=310–320|isbn =0470998954|accessdate=September 21, 2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=seDrXjekCWwC&pg=PA311&dq=&hl=en&sa=X&ei=cm0-UrmQGsHh2AXAvYHoAg&ved=0CFYQ6AEwCDgK#v=onepage&q=&f=false}}</ref> [[Sodomy law]]s in many countries criminalized the aforementioned behaviors.<ref name="Sumner"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tnr.com/article/unnatural-law|title=Unnatural Law |last=Sullivan |first=Andrew |authorlink=Andrew Sullivan |date=March 24, 2003|work=The New Republic |accessdate=November 27, 2009|quote=Since the laws had rarely been enforced against heterosexuals, there was no sense of urgency about their repeal.}} (Or {{cite journal |last=Sullivan |first=Andrew |authorlink=Andrew Sullivan|title=Unnatural Law |journal=The New Republic |volume=228 |issue=11 |date=2003-03-24}})</ref> In the [[Western world]], many of these laws have been overturned or are not routinely enforced.
==Terminology==
**''The complete biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah is not included on this pages because of it's use to promote social discrimination, violence, and murder.''
The term is derived from the [[Ecclesiastical Latin]] ''{{lang|la|peccatum Sodomiticum}}'' or "sin of Sodom", which in turn comes from the Ancient Greek word {{lang|grc|Σόδομα}} (Sódoma).<ref>[http://www.myetymology.com/english/sodomy.html myetymology.com], Sodomy</ref> [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] (chapters 18–20) tells how God wished to destroy the "sinful" cities of [[Sodom and Gomorrah]]. Two angels are invited by [[Lot (Bible)|Lot]] to take refuge with his family for the night. The men of Sodom surround Lot's house and demand that he bring the messengers out so that they may "know" them (the expression includes sexual connotations). Lot protests that the "messengers" are his guests and offers the Sodomites his virgin daughters instead, but then they threaten to "do worse" with Lot than they would with his guests. Then the angels strike the Sodomites blind, "so that they wearied themselves to find the door." (Genesis 19:4-11, [[King James Version of the Bible|KJV]])
[[File:Sodom and Gomorrah afire, by Jacob Jacobsz. de Wet d. J., probably Köln, c. 1680, oil on canvas - Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt - Darmstadt, Germany - DSC01149.jpg|thumb|Sodom and Gomorrah afire by Jacob de Wet II, 1680]]
In current usage, the term is particularly used in law. [[Sodomy law|Laws]] prohibiting sodomy were seen frequently in past Jewish, Christian, and Islamic civilizations, but the term has little modern usage outside Africa, Asia, and the United States.<ref>[http://www.sodomylaws.org/ sodomy laws] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070704130716/http://www.sodomylaws.org/ |date=2007-07-04 }}</ref> These laws in the United States have been challenged and have sometimes been found unconstitutional or been replaced with different legislation.<ref>[https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/02-102.ZS.html ''Lawrence v. Texas'' in which The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that sodomy laws are unconstitutional on June 26, 2003]</ref>
Many cognates in other languages, such as [[French language|French]] {{lang|fr|[[:fr:sodomie|''sodomie'']]}} (verb {{lang|fr|''sodomiser''}}), [[Spanish language|Spanish]] {{lang|es|[[:es:sodomía|''sodomía'']]}} (verb {{lang|es|''sodomizar''}}), and [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] {{lang|pt|[[:pt:sodomia|''sodomia'']]}} (verb {{lang|pt|''sodomizar''}}), are used exclusively for penetrative anal sex, at least since the early nineteenth century. In those languages, the term is also often current [[vernacular]] (not just legal, unlike in other cultures) and a formal way of referring to any practice of anal penetration; the word ''sex'' is commonly associated with consent and pleasure with regard to all involved parties and often avoids directly mentioning two common aspects of social [[taboo]]—human sexuality and the anus—without a shunning or archaic connotation to its use.
In modern [[German language|German]], the word {{lang|de|[[:de:Sodomie|''Sodomie'']]}} has no connotation of anal or oral sex and specifically refers to [[zoophilia|bestiality]].<ref>See [[Paragraph 175#Version of June 28.2C 1935|Paragraph 175 StGB, version of June 28, 1935]].</ref> The same goes for the [[Polish language|Polish]] {{lang|pl|[[:pl:sodomia|''sodomia'']]}}. The [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]] word {{lang|no|[[:no:sodomi|''sodomi'']]}} carries both senses. In [[Danish language|Danish]], {{lang|da|[[:da:sodomi|''sodomi'']]}} is rendered as "unnatural [[carnal knowledge]] with [[Gay sexual practices|someone of the same sex]] or (now) with [[Zoophilia|animals]]".<ref>[http://ordnet.dk/ods/ordbog?query=sodomi "Sodomi"] (''[[Ordbog over det danske Sprog]]'')</ref>
In [[Arabic language|Arabic]] and [[Persian language|Persian]], the word for sodomy, {{lang|ar|لواط}} (Arabic pronunciation: ''{{lang|ar|liwāṭ}}''; Persian pronunciation ''{{lang|fa|lavât}}''), is derived from the same source as in Western culture, with much the same connotations as English (referring to most sexual acts prohibited by the [[Qur'an]]). Its direct reference is to [[Islamic view of Lot|Lot]] (لوط ''Lūṭ'' in Arabic) and a more literal interpretation of the word is "the practice of Lot", but more accurately it means "the practice of Lot's people" (the Sodomites) rather than Lot himself.
The word ''[[wikt:sod#Etymology 2|sod]]'', a noun or verb (to "sod off") used as an insult, is derived from ''sodomite''.<ref>[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sod Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary. Main Entry: sod]<nowiki>[3,noun]</nowiki>. "Etymology: short for sodomite. Date: 1818."</ref><ref name="OED">[http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/sod_2?view=uk sod<sup>2</sup> Compact Oxford English Dictionary, "ORIGIN abbreviation of SODOMITE." June 23, 2005.] {{ISBN|978-0-19-861022-9}}</ref> It is a general-purpose insult term for anyone the speaker dislikes without specific reference to their sexual behaviour. ''Sod'' is used as slang in the United Kingdom and the [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] and is considered mildly offensive. However, in New Zealand and Australia it is not considered offensive at all, but only 'coarse', because it is locally assumed, even if incorrectly, that it refers to 'sod' as in a wet clump of dirt.{{Citation needed|date=December 2017}}
While religion and the law have had a fundamental role in the historical definition and punishment of sodomy, sodomitical texts present considerable opportunities for ambiguity and interpretation. Sodomy is both a real occurrence and an imagined category. In the course of the eighteenth century, what is identifiable as sodomy often becomes identified with effeminacy, for example, or in opposition to a discourse of manliness. In this regard, Ian McCormick has argued that "an adequate and imaginative reading involves a series of intertextual interventions in which histories become stories, fabrications and reconstructions in lively debate with, and around, 'dominant' heterosexualities ... Deconstructing what we think we see may well involve reconstructing ourselves in surprising and unanticipated ways."<ref>Ian McCormick, ''Secret Sexualities: A Sourcebook of 17th and 18th Century Writing.'' (London and New York: Routledge), p. 9, p. 11.</ref>
==History==
==History==
In the biblical accounts of the Sodom and Gomorrah mythology, both cities were destroyed by “sulfur and fire” by God because of their "wickedness". <ref>Genesis 19:24</ref> It has been theorized that if the story does have a historical basis and that the cities were likely destroyed by a natural disaster. One such idea is that the Dead Sea was devastated by an earthquake between 2100 and 1900 BCE. This might have unleashed showers of steaming tar<ref>{{cite book|last1=Isbouts|first1=Jean-Pierre|author-link1=Jean-Pierre Isbouts|title=The Biblical World: An Illustrated Atlas|year=2007|publisher=[[National Geographic Books]]|isbn=978-1-4262-0138-7|page=71|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UTEQRDWYJ0kC&pg=PR57}}</ref> or the petroleum and gases existing in the area may have ignited and possibly contributed to the imagery of “brimstone and fire” that accompanied the geological upheaval that destroyed the cities.<ref name="britannica"/> Another theory put forward in September 2021 is that the destruction of Tall el-Hammam, a Bronze Age city in the Jordan Valley, by an exploding comet or meteor may have inspired the biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah. At the time of the disaster, around 1650 B.C.E., Tall el-Hammam was the largest of three major cities in the valley. <ref> https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/destruction-of-city-by-space-rock-may-have-inspired-biblical-story-of-sodom-180978734/</ref>
===Hebrew Bible===
There is much disagreement between the different religious sects and the three major religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam as to the "sin" of Sodom and Gomorrah ranging from inhospitality to homosexuality.<ref>https://www.str.org/w/what-was-the-sin-of-sodom-and-gomorrah-1 </ref> These debates are irreverent and produce few positive results. What is not inconsequential is how the mythology of Sodom and Gomorrah has been used in the past and is currently being used as justification to persecute and even murder people, especially by fundamentalist and extremist Christians and Muslims. <ref>https://www.hrw.org/report/2022/01/26/even-if-you-go-skies-well-find-you/lgbt-people-afghanistan-after-taliban-takeover</ref><ref>https://www.newsweek.com/pastor-gay-people-solution-killings-bible-1714037</ref>
In the Hebrew Bible, [[Sodom and Gomorrah|Sodom]] was a city destroyed by God because of the evil of its inhabitants. No specific sin is given as the reason for God's great wrath. The story of Sodom's destruction — and of [[Abraham]]'s failed attempt to intercede with God and prevent that destruction — appears in [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] 18-19. The connection between Sodom and homosexuality is derived from the described attempt by a mob of the city's people to rape [[Lot (biblical person)|Lot]]'s male guests. Some suggest the sinfulness for which Sodom was destroyed might have consisted mainly in the violation of obligations of hospitality, which were important for the original writers of the Biblical account.<ref>Boswell, pp. 92–98</ref>
In [[Book of Judges|Judges]] 19-21, there is an account, similar in many ways, where Gibeah, a city of the Benjamin tribe, is destroyed by the other tribes of Israel in revenge for a mob of its inhabitants raping and killing a woman.
Neither view about why Sodom was destroyed takes into account the fact that its destruction was planned before the guests arrived in the city, [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] 18:17.
Many times in the [[Torah|Pentateuch]] and [[Nevi'im|Prophets]], writers use God's destruction of Sodom to demonstrate His awesome power. This happens in [[Deuteronomy]] 29; [[Isaiah]] 1, 3, and 13; [[Jeremiah]] 49 and 50; [[Book of Lamentations|Lamentations]] 4; [[Book of Amos|Amos]] 4.11; and [[Zephaniah]] 2.9. Deuteronomy 32, Jeremiah 23.14, and Lamentations 4 reference the sinfulness of Sodom but do not specify any particular sin.
Specific sins which Sodom is linked to by the prophets of the Old Testament are [[adultery]] and [[lie|lying]] ({{bibleverse||Jeremiah|23:14|KJV|}}).
In Ezekiel 16, a long comparison is made between Sodom and the [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|kingdom of Israel]]. "Yet you have not merely walked in their ways or done according to their abominations; but, as if that were too little, you acted more corruptly in all your conduct than they." (v. 47, NASB) "Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy. Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. (vss. 49–50, NASB) (Note that the Hebrew for the word "thus" is the conjunction "ו" which is usually translated "and", thus KJV, NIV, and CEV omit the word entirely.)
There is no explicit mention of any sexual sin in Ezekiel's summation and "abomination" is used to describe many sins.
The [[Authorized King James Version]] translates {{bibleverse||Deuteronomy|23:17|KJV}} as "There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel," but the word corresponding to "sodomite" in the Hebrew original, Qadesh ([[Hebrew]]:קדש), does not refer to Sodom and has been translated in the [[New International Version]] as "[[Sacred prostitution|shrine prostitute]]"; male shrine prostitutes may have served barren women in fertility rites rather than engaging in homosexual acts; this also applies to other instances of the word sodomite in the King James Version.<ref>{{Citation
| last = Anderson
| first = Ray Sherman
| title = The shape of practical theology: empowering ministry with theological praxis
The [[New Testament]], like the [[Old Testament]], references Sodom as a place of God's anger against sin, but the [[Epistle of Jude]] provides a certain class of sin as causative of its destruction, the meaning of which is disputed.
{{quotation|1=Jude 1:5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
<br>6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
<br>7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.|2=[[Authorized King James Version]]<br>[http://studybible.info/compare/Jude%201:7 Compare Jude 1:7 in multiple versions]}}
The Greek word in the New Testament from which the phrase is translated "giving themselves over to fornication", is "ekporneuō" ("ek" and "porneuō"). As one word it is not used elsewhere in the New Testament, but occurs in the [[Septuagint]] to denote whoredom (Genesis 38:24 and Exodus 34:15). Some modern translations as the [[NIV]] render it as "sexual immorality".
The Greek words for "strange flesh" are "heteros", which almost always basically denotes "another/other", and "sarx", a common word for "flesh", and usually refers to the physical body or the nature of man or of an ordinance.
In the Christian expansion of the prophets, they further linked Sodom to the sins of [[impenitence]] ({{bibleverse||Matthew|11:23|KJV|}}), careless living ({{bibleverse||Luke|17:28|KJV|}}), [[fornication]] ({{bibleverse||Jude|1:7|KJV|}} [[KJV]]), and an overall "filthy" lifestyle ({{bibleverse|2|Peter|2:7|KJV|}}), which word ("aselgeiais") elsewhere is rendered in the KJV as [[lasciviousness]] ({{bibleverse||Mark|7:22|KJV|}}; {{bibleverse|2|Corinthians|12:21|KJV|}}; {{bibleverse||Ephesians|4:19|KJV|}}; {{bibleverse|1|Peter|4:3|KJV|}}; {{bibleverse||Jude|1:4|KJV|}}) or [[incontinence (philosophy)|wantonness]] ({{bibleverse||Romans|13:13|KJV|}}; {{bibleverse|2|Peter|2:18|KJV|}}).
====Epistle of Jude====
==Sodomy==
The [[Epistle of Jude]] in the New Testament echoes the Genesis narrative and potentially adds the sexually immoral aspects of Sodom's sins: "just as [[Sodom and Gomorrah]] and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire". (v. 7, English Standard Version). The phrase rendered "sexual immorality and unnatural desire" is translated "strange flesh" or "false flesh", but it is not entirely clear what it refers to.
'''Sodomy''' is primarily used to describe anal sex (commonly know as butt-fucking) but may also be oral sex or sexual activity between a person and a non-human animal (bestiality), or any non-procreative sexual activity.<ref name="Phelps">{{cite book|author=Shirelle Phelps|title=World of Criminal Justice: N-Z|publisher=[[Gale (publisher)|Gale Group]]|year=2001|page=686|isbn =0787650730|accessdate=January 13, 2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=izwvAQAAIAAJ&q=World+of+Criminal+Justice:+N-Z.&dq=World+of+Criminal+Justice:+N-Z.&hl=en&sa=X&ei=kx3UUp3gMJGqqQH32YDACw&ved=0CEIQ6AEwAA}}</ref><ref name="Scheb">{{cite book|authors=John Scheb, John Scheb, II|title=Criminal Law and Procedure|publisher=[[Cengage Learning]]|year=2013|page=185|isbn =128554613X|accessdate=January 13, 2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VZoWAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA185&dq=&hl=en&sa=X&ei=eB7UUsnOCYqjrgHB9oDADQ&ved=0CEEQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=&f=false}}</ref><ref name="Newton">{{cite book|author=David Newton|title=Gay and Lesbian Rights: A Reference Handbook, Second Edition|publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]|year=2009|page=85|isbn =1598843079|accessdate=January 13, 2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gjcUFK4RZNcC&pg=PA85&dq=&hl=en&sa=X&ei=-xzUUoveD8GbrgGsuIHIDQ&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=&f=false}}</ref> Originally, the term ''sodomy'', which is derived from the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Book of Genesis,<ref name="Douglas">{{cite book|authors=J. D. Douglas, Merrill C. Tenney|title=Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary|publisher=[[Zondervan]]|year=2011|pages=1584 pages|isbn =0310492351|accessdate=September 21, 2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8Tq7UcPMwacC&pg=PT3169&dq=&hl=en&sa=X&ei=P3Q-UpHVB4SW2AW_yoH4BA&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=&f=false}}</ref> was restricted to anal sex.<ref name="Edsall">{{cite book|author=Nicholas C. Edsall|title=Toward Stonewall: Homosexuality and Society in the Modern Western World|publisher=[[University of Virginia Press]]|year=2006 |pages=3–4|isbn =0813925436|accessdate=September 21, 2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0qjwZeKNyh4C&pg=PA3&dq=&hl=en&sa=X&ei=fmY-UrL3K6TC2QXS-YDoBQ&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAjgU#v=onepage&q=&f=false}}</ref><ref name="Sumner">{{cite book|author=Colin Sumner|title=The Blackwell Companion to Criminology|publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]]|year=2008|pages=310–320|isbn =0470998954|accessdate=September 21, 2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=seDrXjekCWwC&pg=PA311&dq=&hl=en&sa=X&ei=cm0-UrmQGsHh2AXAvYHoAg&ved=0CFYQ6AEwCDgK#v=onepage&q=&f=false}}</ref> The main use of this word was in the persecution of homosexuals, boylovers and others and lead to the advent of "Sodomy laws" used to criminalized sexual behaviors linked to homosexuality.<ref name="Sumner"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tnr.com/article/unnatural-law|title=Unnatural Law |last=Sullivan |first=Andrew |authorlink=Andrew Sullivan |date=March 24, 2003|work=The New Republic |accessdate=November 27, 2009|quote=Since the laws had rarely been enforced against heterosexuals, there was no sense of urgency about their repeal.}} (Or {{cite journal |last=Sullivan |first=Andrew |authorlink=Andrew Sullivan|title=Unnatural Law |journal=The New Republic |volume=228 |issue=11 |date=2003-03-24}})</ref> In the Western world, many of these laws have been overturned in the 21st century or are not routinely enforced. However in the United States, many of these laws remain on the books and there has been a recent push by conservatives and religious zealots to nullify Federal prohibitions on these laws.
One theory is that it is just a reference to the "strange flesh" of the intended rape victims, who were angels, not men.<ref>Boswell, p. 97</ref> Countering this is traditional interpretation, which notes that the angels were sent to investigate an ongoing regional problem(Gn. 18) of fornication, and extraordinarily so, that of a homosexual nature,<ref>Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible</ref><ref>Vincent's Word Studies</ref> "out of the order of nature."<ref>Commentary on the Old and New Testaments by Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown</ref> "Strange" is understood to mean "outside the moral law",<ref>Word pictures in the New Testament, Archibald Thomas Robertson</ref> ({{bibleverse||Romans|7:3|KJV}}; {{bibleverse||Galatians|1:6|KJV}}) while it is doubted that either Lot or the men of Sodom understood that the strangers were angels at the time.<ref>Gill, Gn. 19</ref>
==Sodomite==
Sodomite is a word that was historically used to label gay men and boylovers, particularly in the middle ages ( 5th to the late 15th) and into the Renaissance (the 15th and 16th centuries) and before the advent of the word homosexual in 1868. "The earliest surviving use of the word "sodomite" used in a sexual sense may be an exchange of letters in 395 C. E. between Saint Jerome and a priest named Amandus, who asks for advice on how to deal with a woman who has left her husband because he was "an adulterer and a sodomite." <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20080704144443/http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/sodomy.html</ref>
====Philo====
==Sodomy laws==
The [[Hellenistic]] [[Jewish]] [[philosopher]] [[Philo]] (20 BC - 50 AD) described the inhabitants of Sodom in an extra biblical account:
While sodomy laws may be enforced against anyone deemed to be immoral, they are primary intended/enacted to promote the persecution and to punish [[homosexual]]s, [[boylover]]s, and other sexual and gender minorities.
"As men, being unable to bear discreetly a satiety of these things, get restive like cattle, and become stiff-necked, and discard the laws of nature, pursuing a great and intemperate indulgence of gluttony, and drinking, and unlawful connections; for not only did they go mad after other women, and defile the marriage bed of others, but also those who were men lusted after one another, doing unseemly things, and not regarding or respecting their common nature, and though eager for children, they were convicted by having only an abortive offspring; but the conviction produced no advantage, since they were overcome by violent desire; and so by degrees, the men became accustomed to be treated like women, and in this way engendered among themselves the disease of females, and intolerable evil; for they not only, as to effeminacy and delicacy, became like women in their persons, but they also made their souls most ignoble, corrupting in this way the whole race of men, as far as depended on them" (133-35; ET Jonge 422-23).<ref>[https://www.scribd.com/doc/8326130/The-Works-of-Philo The works of Philo a contemporary of Josephius] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160119043027/http://www.scribd.com/doc/8326130/The-Works-of-Philo |date=2016-01-19 }} Page 528</ref>
===Sodomy laws in the Middle Ages (from the collapse of Roman civilization in the 5th century CE to the period of the Renaissance)===
In medieval Europe, attitudes toward homosexuality was determined by religious culture; the Catholic Church, which dominated the religious landscape, considered, and still considers, sodomy as a mortal sin and a "crime against nature". By the 11th century Sodomy was increasingly viewed as a serious moral crime and punishable by mutilation or death.
====Josephus====
In early Medieval years, homosexuality was given no particular penance; it was viewed like all the other sins. For example, during the eighth century, Pope Gregory III gave penances of 160 days for unnatural female acts and usually one year for males who committed acts of sodomy, the passive partner being treated more severely.<ref>John Boswell, ''Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality'' page 180</ref> During the Inquisition itself, individuals were rarely investigated for sodomy alone; it was usually associated with the expression of heretical beliefs and attacks on the Church. Those who did not recant their heresy would be severely punished.<ref>John Boswell, ''Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality'' page 285</ref>
The Jewish historian [[Josephus]] used the term "Sodomites" in summarizing the [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] narrative: "About this time the Sodomites grew proud, on account of their riches and great wealth; they became unjust towards men, and impious towards [[God]], in so much that they did not call to mind the advantages they received from him: they hated strangers, and abused themselves with Sodomitical practices" "Now when the Sodomites saw the young men to be of beautiful countenances, and this to an extraordinary degree, and that they took up their lodgings with Lot, they resolved themselves to enjoy these beautiful boys by force and violence; and when Lot exhorted them to sobriety, and not to offer any thing immodest to the strangers, but to have regard to their lodging in his house; and promised that if their inclinations could not be governed, he would expose his daughters to their lust, instead of these strangers; neither thus were they made ashamed." (''Antiquities'' 1.11.1,3<ref>http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/ant-1.htm</ref> — circa AD 96). His assessment goes beyond the Biblical data, though it is seen by conservatives as defining what manner of fornication (Jude 1:7) Sodom was given to.
===Medieval Christendom===
The Papal ''restoratio'' of the 11th century led to increasingly harsher attitudes towards Sodomites.
[[File:Dante sodom.jpg|thumb|[[Dante]] and [[Virgil]] interview the sodomites, from {{Interlanguage link multi|Guido da Pisa|it}}'s commentary on the ''Commedia'', c. 1345]]
The primarily sexual meaning of the word ''sodomia'' for Christians did not evolve before the 6th century AD. [[Byzantine Emperor|Roman Emperor]] [[Justinian I]], in his novels no. 77 (dating 538) and no. 141 (dating 559) amended to his [[Corpus iuris civilis]], and declared that Sodom's sin had been specifically same-sex activities and desire for them. He also linked "famines, earthquakes, and pestilences" upon cities as being due to "such crimes",<ref>trans. in Derrick Sherwin Bailey, Homosexuality and the Western Christian Tradition, (London: Longmans, Green, 1955), 73-74</ref> during a time of recent earthquakes and other disasters (see [[Extreme weather events of 535–536]]). He may have also used the anti-homosexual laws he enacted upon personal and political opponents, in case he could not prove them guilty of anything else.{{Citation needed|date=February 2008}}
The Council of Nablus in 1120, in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, enacted severe penalties for Sodomy in the aftermath of the defeat of the Antiochene army at the Field of Blood the year before. Canons 8-11 establish punishments for sodomy, the first appearance of such punishments in medieval law. According to canon 8, an adult sodomite, "tam faciens quam paciens" (both the active and the passive parties), should be burned at the stake. If, however, the passive party is a child or an elderly person, canon 9 says that only the active party should be burned, and it will suffice that the passive party repent, as he is presumed to have sinned against his will. If the sodomy is against his will but he keeps it hidden for whatever reason, canon 10 says that he too will be judged as a sodomite. Canon 11 allows for a sodomite to repent and avoid punishment, but if he is found to have participated in sodomy a second time, he will be allowed to repent again but will be exiled from the kingdom.
While adhering to the death penalty by beheading as punishment for homosexuality or adultery, Justinian's legal novels heralded a change in Roman legal paradigm<ref>For the legal and cultural background in [[Roman Republic|Republican]] and [[Roman Empire|Imperial Rome]] prior to Christian rule, see [[Sexuality in ancient Rome]] and ''[[Lex Scantinia]]''.</ref> in that he introduced a concept of not only secular but also divine punishment for homosexual behavior. Individuals might ignore and escape secular laws, but they could not do the same with divine laws, if Justinian declared his novels to be such.{{Citation needed|date=September 2011}}
===Sodomy laws in the Renaissance (the 13th, 14th, or 15th century)===
Christians earlier than Justinian are also seen to denounce same-sex relations. St. [[John Chrysostom]] in the 4th century regarded such as worse than murder in his fourth homily on {{bibleverse||Romans|1:26-27|KJV}} [http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/210204.htm], while [[Paul the Apostle]] in the ''[[Epistle to the Romans]]'' referred to same sex relations as ''"shameful lust"'' and which acts were contrary to nature, with men suffering a ''"due penalty"'' in their bodies. Just like the Jews, early Christians prior to Justinian I are not known to have used the word ''sodomia'' for the carnal sin they abhorred, though [[Philo of Alexandria]] (20 BC - 50 AD)<ref>Jewish philosopher, Writing on the life of Abraham</ref> and [[Methodius of Olympus]] (AD 260-312)<ref>Commentary on the sin of Sodom</ref> attributed homosexual relations to Sodom, as may have Josephus, (AD 37 – c. 100)<ref>Antiquities 1.11.1</ref><ref>33-34; ET Jonge 422-23; The Sodom tradition in Romans Biblical Theology Bulletin, Spring, 2004 by Philip F. Esler</ref> [[Augustine of Hippo]], (AD 354-430)<ref>Confessions. Commenting on the story of Sodom from Genesis 19</ref> and certain [[pseudepigrapha]]cal texts.<ref>[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf08.iii.xiv.html Testament of Benjamin; Concerning a Pure Mind, 9:1]</ref><ref>[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf08.iii.x.html Testament of Naphtali, 3.5]</ref><ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/fbe/fbe117.htm Book of the Secrets of Enoch (Slavonic Apocalypse of) 10:4; in J recension Ch. I.118] (late 1st century AD)</ref>
In thirteenth century France Sodomy resulted in castration on the first offense, dismemberment on the second, and burning on the third. [[Lesbian]] ( a term never used in the Middle Ages) behavior was punished with specific mutilations for the first two offenses and burning on the third as well.
Justinian's interpretation of the story of Sodom may have been forgotten today (as some hold it had been, along with his law novellizations regarding homosexual behavior immediately after his death) had it not been made use of in fake [[Charlemagne|Charlemagnian]] [[capitularies]], fabricated by a [[Franks|Frankish]] monk using the pseudonym Benedictus Levita ("Benedict the Levite") around 850 AD, as part of the [[Pseudo-Isidore]]. Benedict's three capitularies particularly dealing with Justinian's interpretation of the story of Sodom were:
By the mid-fourteenth century in many cities of Italy, civil laws against Sodomy were common. If a person was found to have committed sodomy, the city's government was entitled to confiscate the offender's property.<ref>John Boswell, ''Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality'' pages 289-291</ref>
*''XXI. De diversis malorum flagitiis.'' ("No. 21: On manifold disgraceful wrongs")
By 1533, King Henry VIII had enacted the death penalty for sodomy, which became the basis for many anti-sodomy laws to establish the death penalty ''The Buggery Act 1533''. This also led to the fact that although the Renaissance traced its origins to ancient Greece, none of the literary masters dared to publicly proclaim "males' love".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/the-buggery-act-1533|title=The Buggery Act 1533|website=The British Library|access-date=2020-04-03}}</ref> Sex between men was punishable by death until 1861 in the UK.
*''CXLIII. De sceleribus nefandis ob quae regna percussa sunt, ut penitus caveantur.'' ("No. 143: On sinful vices due to which empires have crumbled, so that we shall do our best to beware of them")
*''CLX. De patratoribus diversorum malorum.'' ("No. 160: On the perpetrators of manifold evil deeds")
It was in these fake capitularies where Benedictus utilized Justinian's interpretation as a justification for ecclesiastical supremacy over mundane institutions, thereby demanding{{Citation needed|date=January 2014}} burning at the stake for carnal sins in the name of Charlemagne himself. Burning had been part of the standard penalty for homosexual behavior particularly common in Germanic [[protohistory]] (as according to Germanic folklore, sexual deviance and especially same-sex desire were caused by a form of malevolence or spiritual evil called ''[[Nīþ|nith]]'', rendering those people characterized by it as non-human fiends, as ''nithings''), and Benedictus most probably was of the Germanic tribe of the Franks.
==Sodomy laws in the Modern Era ==
===Early modern era (16th, 17th and 18th centuries)===
An examination of trials for rape and sodomy during the 18th century at the Old Bailey in London shows that the treatment of rape was often lenient, while the treatment of sodomy was often severe. However, the difficulty of proving that penetration and ejaculation had occurred meant that men were often convicted of the lesser charge of 'assault with sodomitical intent', which was not a capital offence.<ref>[http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/static/Crimes.jsp#assaultwithsodomiticalintent Crimes tried at the Old Bailey], ''Proceedings of the Old Bailey'' online</ref>
Benedict broadened the meaning for ''sodomy'' to all sexual acts not related to procreation that were therefore deemed ''counter nature'' (so for instance, even solitary masturbation and anal intercourse between a male and a female were covered), while among these he still emphasized all interpersonal acts not taking place between human men and women, especially homosexuality.
In France in the 18th century, sodomy was still theoretically a capital crime, and there are a handful of cases where sodomites were executed. However, in several of these, other crimes were involved as well. Records from the Bastille and the police lieutenant d'Argenson, as well as other sources, show that many who were arrested were exiled, sent to a regiment, or imprisoned in places (generally the Hospital) associated with moral crimes such as prostitution. Of these, a number were involved in prostitution or had approached children, or otherwise gone beyond merely having homosexual relations. Ravaisson (a 19th-century writer who edited the Bastille records) suggested that the authorities preferred to handle these cases discreetly, lest public punishments in effect publicize "this vice".
Benedict's rationale was that the punishment of such acts was in order to protect all Christianity from divine punishments such as natural disasters for carnal sins committed by individuals, but also for heresy, superstition and heathenry. According to Benedictus, this was why all mundane institutions had to be subjected to ecclesiastical power in order to prevent moral as well as religious laxity causing divine wrath.{{Citation needed|date=August 2007}}
[[File:Execution Sodomites Ghent 1578 (1).jpg|thumb|Monks accused of sodomy burned at the stake, [[Ghent]] 1578]]
Periodicals of the time sometimes casually named known sodomites, and at one point even suggested that sodomy was increasingly popular. This does not imply that sodomites necessarily lived in security - specific police agents, for instance, watched the Tuileries, even then a known cruising area. But, as with much sexual behaviour under the Old Regime, discretion was a key concern on all sides (especially since members of prominent families were sometimes implicated) - the law seemed most concerned with those who were the least discreet.
For delaying reasons described in the article [[Pseudo-Isidore]], but also because his crucial demands for capital punishment had been so unheard of in ecclesiastical history priorly based upon the humane Christian concept of forgiveness and mercy, it took several centuries before Benedict's demands for legal reform began to take tangible shape within larger ecclesiastical initiatives.
This came about with the [[Medieval Inquisition]] in 1184. The sects of [[Cathars]] and [[Waldensians]] were a common target, and these heretics were not only persecuted for alleged satanism but were increasingly accused of fornication and sodomy. In 1307, accusations of sodomy and homosexuality were major charges levelled during the [[Trial of the Knights Templar]]. Some of these charges were specifically directed at the Grand Master of the order, [[Jacques de Molay]].<ref>G. Legman "The Guilt of the Templars" (New York: Basic Books, 1966): 11.</ref> It is this event which led into the medieval and early-modern [[witch hunts]] that were also largely connoted with sodomy.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Templars|author=W. A. P.|authorlink=Walter Alison Phillips}}</ref>
Persecution of Cathars and the [[Bogomiles]] sect in [[Bulgaria]] led to the use of a term closely related to ''sodomy'': ''buggery'' derives from French ''bouggerie'', meaning "of Bulgaria".<ref>Oxford English Dictionary</ref>
The association of ''sodomy'' with hereticism, satanism, and witchcraft was supported by the Inquisition trials. The resulting infamy of sodomy motivated a continuing discrimination and persecution of homosexuals and sexual deviants in general long after the Medieval period had ended. {{Citation needed|date=April 2010}}
The [[Book of Wisdom]], which is included in the Biblical canon by Orthodox and Roman Catholics, but excluded by modern Jews, Protestants, and other Christian denominations, makes reference to the story of Sodom, further emphasizing that their sin had been failing to practice hospitality:
:"And punishments came upon the sinners not without former signs by the force of thunders: for they suffered justly according to their own wickedness, insomuch as they used a more hard and hateful behavior toward strangers."
:"For the Sodomites did not receive those, whom they knew not when they came: but these brought friends into bondage, that had well deserved of them." ([[King James Version of the Bible|KJV]], [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/bible/kjv.Wis.19.html#Wis.19.13 Wisdom 19:13-14])
===Sodomy laws in 18th-century Europe===
{{Refimprove section|date=April 2010}}
[[File:Amsterdam sodomites 1730.png|thumb|upright|A [[wanted poster]], published in the city of [[Amsterdam]] in 1730, accusing ten men of "the abominable crime of sodomy" (''{{lang|nl|de verfoeyelyke Crimen van Sodomie}}'')]]
An examination of trials for rape and sodomy during the 18th century at the [[Old Bailey]] in London shows that the treatment of rape was often lenient, while the treatment of sodomy was often severe. However, the difficulty of proving that penetration and ejaculation had occurred meant that men were often convicted of the lesser charge of 'assault with sodomitical intent', which was not a capital offence.<ref>[http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/static/Crimes.jsp#assaultwithsodomiticalintent Crimes tried at the Old Bailey], ''Proceedings of the Old Bailey'' online</ref>
In France in the 18th century, sodomy was still theoretically a capital crime, and there are a handful of cases where sodomites were executed. However, in several of these, other crimes were involved as well. Records from the Bastille and the police lieutenant d'Argenson, as well as other sources, show that many who were arrested were exiled, sent to a regiment, or imprisoned in places (generally the Hospital) associated with moral crimes such as prostitution. Of these, a number were involved in prostitution or had approached children, or otherwise gone beyond merely having homosexual relations. Ravaisson (a 19th-century writer who edited the Bastille records) suggested that the authorities preferred to handle these cases discreetly, lest public punishments in effect publicize "this vice".{{Citation needed|date=February 2012|reason=since April 2010 section template}}
[[File:Hangin outside Newgate Prison.jpg|left|thumb|An execution taking place outside Newgate Prison]]
Periodicals of the time sometimes casually named known sodomites, and at one point even suggested that sodomy was increasingly popular. This does not imply that sodomites necessarily lived in security - specific police agents, for instance, watched the [[Tuileries]], even then a known cruising area. But, as with much sexual behaviour under the Old Regime, discretion was a key concern on all sides (especially since members of prominent families were sometimes implicated) - the law seemed most concerned with those who were the least discreet.{{Citation needed|date=February 2012|comment=since April 2010 section template}}
In 1730, there was a wave of sodomy trials in the [[Netherlands]]; some 250 men were summoned before the authorities; 91 faced decrees of exile for not appearing. At least 60 men were sentenced to death.<ref>Rictor Norton, [http://rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen/1730news.htm The Dutch Purge of Homosexuals 1730]</ref>
In 1730, there was a wave of sodomy trials in the [[Netherlands]]; some 250 men were summoned before the authorities; 91 faced decrees of exile for not appearing. At least 60 men were sentenced to death.<ref>Rictor Norton, [http://rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen/1730news.htm The Dutch Purge of Homosexuals 1730]</ref>
[[File:Pratt-and-smith.png|thumb|350 px| November 27, 1835 - Pratt & Smith hanged for the crime of buggery]]
===Modern Era (19th century to present)===
====United Kingdom====
The last two Englishmen that were hanged for sodomy were executed in 1835. [[James Pratt and John Smith]] died in front of [[Newgate Prison]] in [[London]] on 27 November of that year.<ref>[http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/newgate.html See]</ref><ref>[http://www.madelinehunter.com/history10.html Alternative date April 8, 1835 seen 2012] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121120003411/http://madelinehunter.com/history10.html |date=November 20, 2012 }}</ref> They had been prosecuted under the [[Offences against the Person Act 1828]], which had replaced the 1533 [[Buggery Act]].
The last two Englishmen that were hanged for sodomy were executed in 1835. James Pratt and John Smith died in front of Newgate Prison in London on 27 November of that year.<ref>[http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/newgate.html See]</ref><ref>[http://www.madelinehunter.com/history10.html Alternative date April 8, 1835 seen 2012] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121120003411/http://madelinehunter.com/history10.html |date=November 20, 2012 }}</ref> They had been prosecuted under the Offences against the Person Act 1828<ref>https://the-singapore-lgbt-encyclopaedia.fandom.com/wiki/Offences_against_the_Person_Act_1828</ref>, which had replaced the 1533 Buggery Act.
==Modern sodomy laws==
{{main article|Sodomy law}}
===United States===
====United States====
{{Main article|Sodomy laws in the United States}}
In the 1950s, all states had some form of law criminalizing sodomy, and in 1986 the United States Supreme Court ruled that nothing in the United States Constitution bars a state from prohibiting sodomy. However, state legislators and state courts had started to repeal or overturn their sodomy laws, beginning with Illinois in 1961, and thus in 2003, only 10 states had laws prohibiting all sodomy, with penalties ranging from 1 to 15 years imprisonment. Additionally, four other states had laws that specifically prohibited same-sex sodomy.
In the 1950s, all states had some form of law criminalizing sodomy, and in 1986 the United States Supreme Court ruled that nothing in the United States Constitution bars a state from prohibiting sodomy. However, state legislators and state courts had started to repeal or overturn their sodomy laws, beginning with Illinois in 1961, and thus in 2003, only 10 states had laws prohibiting all sodomy, with penalties ranging from 1 to 15 years imprisonment. Additionally, four other states had laws that specifically prohibited same-sex sodomy.
On June 26, 2003, the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]] in a 6–3 decision in ''[[Lawrence v. Texas]]'' struck down the [[Texas]] same-sex sodomy law, ruling that this private sexual conduct is protected by the liberty rights implicit in the [[Due process|due process clause]] of the [[United States Constitution]], with [[Sandra Day O'Connor]]'s concurring opinion arguing that they violated equal protection. (''See [[Sodomy law]].)'' This decision invalidated all [[U.S. state|state]] sodomy laws insofar as they applied to noncommercial conduct in private between consenting civilians and overruled its 1986 ruling in ''[[Bowers v. Hardwick]]'' which upheld [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]'s sodomy law.
On June 26, 2003, the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]] in a 6–3 decision in ''Lawrence v. Texas'' struck down the [[Texas]] same-sex sodomy law, ruling that this private sexual conduct is protected by the liberty rights implicit in the due process clause of the United States Constitution, with Sandra Day O'Connor's concurring opinion arguing that they violated equal protection. This decision invalidated all state sodomy laws insofar as they applied to noncommercial conduct in private between consenting civilians and overruled its 1986 ruling in ''Bowers v. Hardwick'' which upheld [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]'s sodomy law.
In the [[U.S. military]], the United States Army Court of Criminal Appeals has ruled that the ''Lawrence v. Texas'' decision applies to Article 125 of the [[Uniform Code of Military Justice]], the statute banning sodomy. In ''United States v. Stirewalt'':
In the U.S. military, the United States Army Court of Criminal Appeals has ruled that the ''Lawrence v. Texas'' decision applies to Article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the statute banning sodomy. In ''United States v. Stirewalt'':
<blockquote>CRAWFORD, Chief Judge (concurring in part and in the result): I agree with the result in this case but I "would reserve for another day the questions of whether and how ''Lawrence'' [''v. Texas'', 539 U.S. 558 (2003)] applies to the military. "1 ''Like United States v. Marcum'', "the factual differences between Lawrence and Appellant's case are striking" for the reasons mentioned by the majority as well as the circumstances surrounding the charges themselves.<ref>[http://www.armfor.uscourts.gov/opinions/2004Term/03-0433.htm U.S. v. Stirewalt]</ref></blockquote>
<blockquote>CRAWFORD, Chief Judge (concurring in part and in the result): I agree with the result in this case but I "would reserve for another day the questions of whether and how ''Lawrence'' [''v. Texas'', 539 U.S. 558 (2003)] applies to the military. "1 ''Like United States v. Marcum'', "the factual differences between Lawrence and Appellant's case are striking" for the reasons mentioned by the majority as well as the circumstances surrounding the charges themselves.<ref>[http://www.armfor.uscourts.gov/opinions/2004Term/03-0433.htm U.S. v. Stirewalt]</ref></blockquote>
Line 150:
Line 63:
Stirewalt's conviction of sodomy stood due to the circumstances surrounding the crime. 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''."<ref>[http://www.armfor.uscourts.gov/opinions/2004Term/02-0944.htm ''U.S. v. Marcum'']</ref> Examples of such factors could be fraternization, public sexual behavior, or any other factors that would adversely affect good order and discipline. ''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.<ref>[http://www.sldn.org/binary-data/SLDN_ARTICLES/pdf_file/2309.pdf United States v. Meno, United States Court of Criminal Appeals] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227001854/http://www.sldn.org/binary-data/SLDN_ARTICLES/pdf_file/2309.pdf |date=2008-02-27 }}</ref>
Stirewalt's conviction of sodomy stood due to the circumstances surrounding the crime. 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''."<ref>[http://www.armfor.uscourts.gov/opinions/2004Term/02-0944.htm ''U.S. v. Marcum'']</ref> Examples of such factors could be fraternization, public sexual behavior, or any other factors that would adversely affect good order and discipline. ''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.<ref>[http://www.sldn.org/binary-data/SLDN_ARTICLES/pdf_file/2309.pdf United States v. Meno, United States Court of Criminal Appeals] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227001854/http://www.sldn.org/binary-data/SLDN_ARTICLES/pdf_file/2309.pdf |date=2008-02-27 }}</ref>
==World religions==
====Other====
Views on sodomy in contemporary [[world religion]]s.
In the following nation states, same-sex acts are illegal and in the bolded countries below, sodomy remains punishable by death.<ref>https://www.bl.uk/lgbtq-histories/articles/the-men-killed-under-the-buggery-act</ref>
===Judaism===
<blockquote>Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw ''good''.
:— [[Authorized King James Version|KJV]], {{bibleverse||Ezekiel|16:49-50|KJV}}).</blockquote>
Classical Jewish texts are seen by many as not stressing the homosexual aspect of the attitude of the inhabitants of Sodom as much as their cruelty and lack of [[hospitality]] to the "stranger".<ref>[http://rictornorton.co.uk/homopho2.htm The Inhospitable Sodomites]</ref> The 13th-century Jewish scholar [[Nachmanides]] wrote, "According to our sages, they were notorious for every evil, but their fate was sealed for their persistence in not supporting the poor and the needy." His contemporary Rabbenu Yonah expresses the same view: "Scripture attributes their annihilation to their failure to practice ''[[tzedakah]]'' [charity or justice]."<ref>[http://www.shemayisrael.co.il/publicat/hazon/tzedaka/Tzedakah_Activists_Vs_Sodomites.html ''Tzedakah Activists vs. Sodomites'', Shema Yisrael Torah Network]</ref>
'''Afghanistan''', Algeria, Angola, Antigua & Barbuda, Bangladesh, Barbados, Bhutan, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Burundi, Cameroon, Comoros, Cook Islands, Dominica, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Egypt, Gambia, Gaza, Ghana, Grenada, Guinea, Guyana, India, Indonesia, '''Iran,''' '''Iraq''', Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, '''Mauritania''', Mauritius, Morocco, Myanmar, Namibia, '''Nigeria''', Oman, '''Pakistan''', Papua New Guinea, '''Qatar''', Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, '''Saudi Arabia''', Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, '''Somalia''', Samoa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, '''Sudan''', Swaziland, '''Syria''', Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, '''United Arab Emirates''', '''Uganda''', Uzbekistan, '''Yemen''', Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Prohibitions on same-sex activities among men (#157) and bestiality (#155–156) are among the [[613 commandments]] as listed by [[Maimonides]] in the 12th century; however, their source in [[Leviticus 18]] does not contain the word ''sodomy''. The idea that homosexual intercourse was involved as at least a part of the evil of Sodom arises from the story in [[Genesis 19]] (NIV):
{{quote|Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them." ({{Bibleref2|Genesis|19:4-7|KJV;NIV|Gen.19:4–7 compare}})
The Hebrew verb used is ''to know'', which can have a sexual meaning in the Bible, but doesn't always, and might have a sexual meaning here, judging from Lot's shocked reaction:
"No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing ..."}}
===Christianity===
The traditional interpretation sees the primary sin of Sodom as being homoerotic sexual acts,<ref>Robert A. J. Gagnon, ''The Bible and Homosexual Practice'', pp. 73–74</ref><ref>[http://www.westernsem.edu/files/westernsem/gagnon_autm05_0.pdf Gagnon, ''Why the Disagreement over the Biblical Witness on Homosexual Practice'', pp. 46–50] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512090559/http://www.westernsem.edu/files/westernsem/gagnon_autm05_0.pdf |date=2008-05-12 }}</ref> connecting the Sodom narrative with [[Leviticus 18]], which lists various sexual crimes, which, according to verses 27 and 28, would result in the land being "defiled":
{{quote|for the inhabitants of the land, who were before you, committed all of these abominations, and the land became defiled; otherwise the land will vomit you out for defiling it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you.}}
Some scholars, such as Per-Axel Sverker, align this passage with the traditional interpretation, claiming that the word [[Abomination (Bible)|abomination]] refers to sexual misconduct, and that while homoerotic acts were not the only reason Sodom and Gomorrah were condemned, it was a significant part of the picture.
Others, the earliest of whom was [[D.S. Bailey|Derrick Sherwin Bailey]], claim that this passage contradicts the traditional interpretation altogether. In their view the sins of Sodom were related more to violation of [[hospitality]] laws than sexual sins.<ref>Derrick Bailey, ''Homosexuality and the Western Christian Tradition'' (Hamden: Conn.: Archon, 1975 reprint from 1955), 4-5</ref> This also coincides with traditional Jewish interpretations of these texts as well.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Destruction of Sodom |url=http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/246615/jewish/The-Destruction-of-Sodom.htm|website=Chabad.org|publisher=Chabad (Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement)|accessdate=4 April 2015}}</ref>
The primary word in contention is the Hebrew word ''yâda‛'' used for ''know'' in the Old Testament. Biblical scholars disagree on what "know" in this instance refers to, but most of conservative Christianity interprets it to mean "sexual intercourse",<ref>Greg Bahnsen, ''Homosexuality: A Biblical View'' (Phillipsburg: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing, 1978), p. 32.</ref><ref>''A Reformed Response to Daniel Helminiak's Gay Theology'', by Derrick K. Olliff and Dewey H. Hodges</ref> while the opposing position interprets it to mean "interrogate."<ref>John J. McNeil, ''The Church and the Homosexual'', p. 50</ref> Lot's offering of his two virgins has been interpreted to mean that Lot is offering a compromise to assure the crowd that the two men have no untoward intentions in town, or that he is offering his virgins as a substitute for the men to "know" by sexual intercourse.
Those who oppose the interpretation of sexual intent toward Lot's guests point out that there are over 930 occurrences of the Hebrew word (yâda‛) for "know" in the Old Testament, and its use to denote sexual intercourse only occurs about a dozen times, and in the [[Septuagint]] it is not rendered sexually. Countering this is the argument that most of the uses of ''yâda‛'' denoting sex is in Genesis,<ref>''Homosexuality and the Old Testament'', P. Michael Ukleja</ref> (including once for premarital sex: Genesis 38:26), and in verse 8 sex the obvious meaning. Its use in the parallel story in Judges 19 is also invoked in support of this meaning,<ref>''Sodom: Inhospitality or Homosexuality?'', by Dave Miller, Ph.D., Apologetics Press</ref><ref>Dr. James B. DeYoung, ''Homosexuality'', pp. 118–122</ref> with it otherwise providing the only instance of "knowing" someone by violence.
===Islam===
While the [[Quran]] clearly disapproves of the sexual practices of the "people of Lot" ("What, of all creatures do ye come unto the males, and leave the wives your Lord created for you?"<ref>Sura 26:165–167, quoted in Wafer, p. 88</ref>), only one passage can be interpreted as taking a particular legal position towards such activities:
{{quote|As for the two of you who are guilty thereof, punish them both; and if they repent and improve, then let them be. Lo, God is relenting, merciful.<ref>Sura 4:16, quoted in Wafer, p. 88</ref>}}
[[Hadith]] (reports of [[Muhamma]]d's sayings and deeds from those close to him in his lifetime) on the subject are inconsistent, with different writers interpreting the Prophet in different ways.<ref>Wafer, p. 89</ref> [[Shariah]] (Islamic law) defines sodomy outside marriage as adultery or fornication or both, and it thus attracts the same penalties as those crimes (flogging or death), although the exact punishment varies with schools and scholars.<ref name="Jong">Jivraj & de Jong, p. 2</ref> In practice, few modern Muslim countries have legal systems based fully on Shariah, and an increasing number of Muslims do not look to shariah but to the Quran itself for moral guidance.<ref name="Jong"/> For sodomy within marriage, the majority of [[Shia Islam|Shiite]] interpreters hold that (1) anal intercourse, while strongly disliked, is not ''haram'' (forbidden) provided the wife agrees; and (2), if the wife does not agree, then it is preferable to refrain.<ref>[http://www.al-islam.org/m_morals/chap3b.htm Al-Islam.org]</ref>
Despite the formal disapproval of religious authority, [[Gender segregation and Islam|gender segregation in Muslim societies]] and the strong emphasis on virility leads adolescents and unmarried young men to seek alternative sexual outlets to women, especially with males younger than themselves.<ref>Schmitt & Sofer, p. 36</ref> Not all sodomy is homosexual, but for many young men heterosexual sodomy is considered better than vaginal penetration, and female prostitutes report the demand for anal penetration from their male clients.<ref>Dialmy, pp. 32 and 35, footnote 34</ref>
==See also==
==See also==
*[[Buggery]]
*[[Homosexuality]]
*[[Homosexuality and Christianity]]
*[[Prison rape]]
*[[Religion and sexuality]]
*[[The Bible and homosexuality]]
==References==
==References==
;Notes
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{Reflist|30em}}
;Bibliography
{{Refbegin|30em}}
*Boswell, John, ''Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality'' (University Of Chicago Press; 8th Edition. edition, 2005).
*Crompton, Louis, ''Homosexuality and Civilization'' (Belknap Press, 2003)
*{{Cite book|last=Dialmy|first=Abdessamad|title=Which Sex Education for Young Muslims?|publisher=World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists|year=2010|url=http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/14368256/413849807/name/Which}}
*Davenport-Hines, Richard, ''Sex, Death and Punishment: Attitudes to sex and sexuality in Britain since the Renaissance'' (William Collins and Sons Ltd, 1990)
*Hays, Richard B. (2004), ''The Moral Vision of the New Testament'' (London: Continuum). pg. 381
*Goldberg, Jonathan, ''Reclaiming Sodom'' (London and New York: Routledge, 1994)
*{{Cite book|last=Jahangir|first=Junaid bin|chapter=Implied Cases for Muslim Same-Sex Unions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PqRq1bBbT54C&pg=PR3&dq=Islam+and+homosexuality,+Volume+2|editor=Samar Habib|title=Islam and homosexuality, Volume 2|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2010}}
*Jordan, Mark D., ''The Invention of Sodomy in Christian Theology'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998).
*Laqueur, Thomas, ''Making Sex: Body and Gender from the Greeks to Freud'' (Harvard University Press, 1990).
*Maccubbin, Robert Purks (ed.), '''Tis Nature's Fault: Unauthorized Sexuality During the Enlightenment'' (Cambridge University Press, 1988)
*McCormick, Ian (ed) ''Secret Sexualities: A Sourcebook of 17th and 18th Century Writing''. (London and New York: Routledge)
*{{Cite book|last1=Schmitt|first1=Arno|last2=Sofer|first2=Jehoeda|title=Sexuality and Eroticism among Males in Muslim Societies|publisher=Haworth Press|year=1992|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kw_BVSVmNsUC&dq=Sexuality+and+eroticism+among+males+in+Moslem+societies}}
*{{Cite book|last=Schmitt|first=Arno|title=Liwat im Fiqh: Männliche Homosexualität?, Volume IV|publisher=Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies|date=2001–2002|url=http://www.uib.no/jais/content4.htm|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110906123507/http://www.uib.no/jais/content4.htm|archivedate=2011-09-06|df=}}
*{{Cite book|last1=Van Jivraj|first1=Suhraiya|last2=de Jong|first2=Anisa|title=Muslim Moral Instruction on Homosexuality|publisher=Yoesuf Foundation Conference on Islam in the West and Homosexuality – Strategies for Action|year=2001|url=https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:KjIohrD0R-AJ:www.safraproject.org/Reports/Muslim_Moral_Instruction_on_Homosexuality.pdf+Islam,+Homosexuality+and+Migration&hl=km&gl=kh&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESi8Wm3zisCleP-UN8czw5a7tpJLFe2ekZJF6ccbenXhff2ub-0SP0uu-fIfZvZBmHiuZ6vVJfYvaxtkKcxiMSQV-p_WTdlSR_wOVD0XVZznB9RJgtgWUUEOQNlfd8jgYiPqL4U0&sig=AHIEtbTAKkG0EQImULQIOH5QsnBAyVuR_w}}
*{{Cite book|last=Wafer|first=Jim|chapter=Mohammad and Male Homosexuality|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hQuHFPKp8L0C&pg=PA87&lpg=PA87&dq=Muhammad+and+male+homosexuality|editor1=Stephen O. Murray|editor2= Will Roscoe|title=Islamic Homosexualities: Culture, History and Literature|publisher=New York University Press|year=1997}}
{{Refend}}
==External links==
==External links==
{{Wiktionary|Sodomy}}
*For more on the religious mythology see: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodom_and_Gomorrah Sodom and Gomorrah (Wikipedia)]
{{Commons category|Sodom}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080704144443/http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/sodomy.html ''Sodomy'' by Prof. Eugene F. Rice]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080704144443/http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/sodomy.html ''Sodomy'' by Prof. Eugene F. Rice]
[[Category:Anal eroticism]]
[[Category:LGBT articles]]
[[Category:LGBT history]]
[[Category:Sexuality and religion]]
[[Category:Sex crimes]]
[[Category:Sex crimes]]
[[Category:Middle East]]
[[Category:Religion]]
Latest revision as of 13:02, 4 April 2023
Sodom was a legendary (possibly fictional) ancient city located in the Middle East. The exact whereabouts of the city are unknown but it was possibly in geographic proximity to the Dead Sea.[1] The area of the Dead Sea borders Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west. It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley, and its main tributary is the Jordan River. [2]
The complete biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah is not included on this pages because of it's use to promote social discrimination, violence, and murder.
In the biblical accounts of the Sodom and Gomorrah mythology, both cities were destroyed by “sulfur and fire” by God because of their "wickedness". [3] It has been theorized that if the story does have a historical basis and that the cities were likely destroyed by a natural disaster. One such idea is that the Dead Sea was devastated by an earthquake between 2100 and 1900 BCE. This might have unleashed showers of steaming tar[4] or the petroleum and gases existing in the area may have ignited and possibly contributed to the imagery of “brimstone and fire” that accompanied the geological upheaval that destroyed the cities.[1] Another theory put forward in September 2021 is that the destruction of Tall el-Hammam, a Bronze Age city in the Jordan Valley, by an exploding comet or meteor may have inspired the biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah. At the time of the disaster, around 1650 B.C.E., Tall el-Hammam was the largest of three major cities in the valley. [5]
There is much disagreement between the different religious sects and the three major religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam as to the "sin" of Sodom and Gomorrah ranging from inhospitality to homosexuality.[6] These debates are irreverent and produce few positive results. What is not inconsequential is how the mythology of Sodom and Gomorrah has been used in the past and is currently being used as justification to persecute and even murder people, especially by fundamentalist and extremist Christians and Muslims. [7][8]
Sodomy
Sodomy is primarily used to describe anal sex (commonly know as butt-fucking) but may also be oral sex or sexual activity between a person and a non-human animal (bestiality), or any non-procreative sexual activity.[9][10][11] Originally, the term sodomy, which is derived from the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Book of Genesis,[12] was restricted to anal sex.[13][14] The main use of this word was in the persecution of homosexuals, boylovers and others and lead to the advent of "Sodomy laws" used to criminalized sexual behaviors linked to homosexuality.[14][15] In the Western world, many of these laws have been overturned in the 21st century or are not routinely enforced. However in the United States, many of these laws remain on the books and there has been a recent push by conservatives and religious zealots to nullify Federal prohibitions on these laws.
Sodomite
Sodomite is a word that was historically used to label gay men and boylovers, particularly in the middle ages ( 5th to the late 15th) and into the Renaissance (the 15th and 16th centuries) and before the advent of the word homosexual in 1868. "The earliest surviving use of the word "sodomite" used in a sexual sense may be an exchange of letters in 395 C. E. between Saint Jerome and a priest named Amandus, who asks for advice on how to deal with a woman who has left her husband because he was "an adulterer and a sodomite." [16]
Sodomy laws
While sodomy laws may be enforced against anyone deemed to be immoral, they are primary intended/enacted to promote the persecution and to punish homosexuals, boylovers, and other sexual and gender minorities.
Sodomy laws in the Middle Ages (from the collapse of Roman civilization in the 5th century CE to the period of the Renaissance)
In medieval Europe, attitudes toward homosexuality was determined by religious culture; the Catholic Church, which dominated the religious landscape, considered, and still considers, sodomy as a mortal sin and a "crime against nature". By the 11th century Sodomy was increasingly viewed as a serious moral crime and punishable by mutilation or death.
In early Medieval years, homosexuality was given no particular penance; it was viewed like all the other sins. For example, during the eighth century, Pope Gregory III gave penances of 160 days for unnatural female acts and usually one year for males who committed acts of sodomy, the passive partner being treated more severely.[17] During the Inquisition itself, individuals were rarely investigated for sodomy alone; it was usually associated with the expression of heretical beliefs and attacks on the Church. Those who did not recant their heresy would be severely punished.[18]
The Papal restoratio of the 11th century led to increasingly harsher attitudes towards Sodomites.
The Council of Nablus in 1120, in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, enacted severe penalties for Sodomy in the aftermath of the defeat of the Antiochene army at the Field of Blood the year before. Canons 8-11 establish punishments for sodomy, the first appearance of such punishments in medieval law. According to canon 8, an adult sodomite, "tam faciens quam paciens" (both the active and the passive parties), should be burned at the stake. If, however, the passive party is a child or an elderly person, canon 9 says that only the active party should be burned, and it will suffice that the passive party repent, as he is presumed to have sinned against his will. If the sodomy is against his will but he keeps it hidden for whatever reason, canon 10 says that he too will be judged as a sodomite. Canon 11 allows for a sodomite to repent and avoid punishment, but if he is found to have participated in sodomy a second time, he will be allowed to repent again but will be exiled from the kingdom.
Sodomy laws in the Renaissance (the 13th, 14th, or 15th century)
In thirteenth century France Sodomy resulted in castration on the first offense, dismemberment on the second, and burning on the third. Lesbian ( a term never used in the Middle Ages) behavior was punished with specific mutilations for the first two offenses and burning on the third as well.
By the mid-fourteenth century in many cities of Italy, civil laws against Sodomy were common. If a person was found to have committed sodomy, the city's government was entitled to confiscate the offender's property.[19]
By 1533, King Henry VIII had enacted the death penalty for sodomy, which became the basis for many anti-sodomy laws to establish the death penalty The Buggery Act 1533. This also led to the fact that although the Renaissance traced its origins to ancient Greece, none of the literary masters dared to publicly proclaim "males' love".[20] Sex between men was punishable by death until 1861 in the UK.
Sodomy laws in the Modern Era
Early modern era (16th, 17th and 18th centuries)
An examination of trials for rape and sodomy during the 18th century at the Old Bailey in London shows that the treatment of rape was often lenient, while the treatment of sodomy was often severe. However, the difficulty of proving that penetration and ejaculation had occurred meant that men were often convicted of the lesser charge of 'assault with sodomitical intent', which was not a capital offence.[21]
In France in the 18th century, sodomy was still theoretically a capital crime, and there are a handful of cases where sodomites were executed. However, in several of these, other crimes were involved as well. Records from the Bastille and the police lieutenant d'Argenson, as well as other sources, show that many who were arrested were exiled, sent to a regiment, or imprisoned in places (generally the Hospital) associated with moral crimes such as prostitution. Of these, a number were involved in prostitution or had approached children, or otherwise gone beyond merely having homosexual relations. Ravaisson (a 19th-century writer who edited the Bastille records) suggested that the authorities preferred to handle these cases discreetly, lest public punishments in effect publicize "this vice".
Periodicals of the time sometimes casually named known sodomites, and at one point even suggested that sodomy was increasingly popular. This does not imply that sodomites necessarily lived in security - specific police agents, for instance, watched the Tuileries, even then a known cruising area. But, as with much sexual behaviour under the Old Regime, discretion was a key concern on all sides (especially since members of prominent families were sometimes implicated) - the law seemed most concerned with those who were the least discreet.
In 1730, there was a wave of sodomy trials in the Netherlands; some 250 men were summoned before the authorities; 91 faced decrees of exile for not appearing. At least 60 men were sentenced to death.[22]
November 27, 1835 - Pratt & Smith hanged for the crime of buggery
Modern Era (19th century to present)
United Kingdom
The last two Englishmen that were hanged for sodomy were executed in 1835. James Pratt and John Smith died in front of Newgate Prison in London on 27 November of that year.[23][24] They had been prosecuted under the Offences against the Person Act 1828[25], which had replaced the 1533 Buggery Act.
United States
In the 1950s, all states had some form of law criminalizing sodomy, and in 1986 the United States Supreme Court ruled that nothing in the United States Constitution bars a state from prohibiting sodomy. However, state legislators and state courts had started to repeal or overturn their sodomy laws, beginning with Illinois in 1961, and thus in 2003, only 10 states had laws prohibiting all sodomy, with penalties ranging from 1 to 15 years imprisonment. Additionally, four other states had laws that specifically prohibited same-sex sodomy.
On June 26, 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court in a 6–3 decision in Lawrence v. Texas struck down the Texas same-sex sodomy law, ruling that this private sexual conduct is protected by the liberty rights implicit in the due process clause of the United States Constitution, with Sandra Day O'Connor's concurring opinion arguing that they violated equal protection. This decision invalidated all state sodomy laws insofar as they applied to noncommercial conduct in private between consenting civilians and overruled its 1986 ruling in Bowers v. Hardwick which upheld Georgia's sodomy law.
In the U.S. military, the United States Army Court of Criminal Appeals has ruled that the Lawrence v. Texas decision applies to Article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the statute banning sodomy. In United States v. Stirewalt:
CRAWFORD, Chief Judge (concurring in part and in the result): I agree with the result in this case but I "would reserve for another day the questions of whether and how Lawrence [v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003)] applies to the military. "1 Like United States v. Marcum, "the factual differences between Lawrence and Appellant's case are striking" for the reasons mentioned by the majority as well as the circumstances surrounding the charges themselves.[26]
Stirewalt's conviction of sodomy stood due to the circumstances surrounding the crime. 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."[27] Examples of such factors could be fraternization, public sexual behavior, or any other factors that would adversely affect good order and discipline. 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.[28]
Other
In the following nation states, same-sex acts are illegal and in the bolded countries below, sodomy remains punishable by death.[29]
Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Antigua & Barbuda, Bangladesh, Barbados, Bhutan, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Burundi, Cameroon, Comoros, Cook Islands, Dominica, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Egypt, Gambia, Gaza, Ghana, Grenada, Guinea, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Iran,Iraq, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Myanmar, Namibia, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Samoa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, United Arab Emirates, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
↑Andrew Sullivan (March 24, 2003). Unnatural Law. The New Republic. Retrieved on November 27, 2009. “Since the laws had rarely been enforced against heterosexuals, there was no sense of urgency about their repeal.”
(Or Sullivan, Andrew (2003-03-24). "Unnatural Law". The New Republic228 (11).)
