High court ruling on gay sex likely to have local ramifications
Kansas, one of the few remaining states with laws on the books that criminalize homosexual sex, will likely be affected by Thursday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling on a Texas sodomy law.
In a 6-3 ruling, the Supreme Court struck down state bans on gay sex, ruling that such laws are an unconstitutional violation of privacy.
The ruling reverses the high court’s stand 17 years ago that states could punish homosexuals for what such laws considered deviant sex.
Kansas is among four states, including Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri, that prohibit oral and anal sex between same-sex couples. Nine other states ban consensual sodomy for everyone: Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah and Virginia.
In Friday’s Journal-World, find out what state officials think about the Supreme Court ruling and what others think the impact could be in Lawrence, where organizations have been formed to fight gay discrimination.
City Government
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