About a dozen states still have sodomy laws on their books, even though none can be enforced against consenting adults after the Supreme Court’s 2003 decision in Lawrence v. Texas. A ruling of unconstitutionality blocks enforcement; it does not delete statute text. Until a state legislature votes to repeal or rewrite the provision, the words sit in the criminal code exactly as they were written, which creates real problems for people with old convictions and for anyone trying to understand what the law actually prohibits.
Why Unenforceable Laws Stay in the Code
Courts can refuse to enforce a statute and bar the executive branch from enforcing it, but they cannot erase the text. This principle is sometimes called the writ-of-erasure fallacy.1Supreme Court of the United States. The Writ-of-Erasure Fallacy2Justia. Lawrence v. Texas3Cornell Law Institute. Lawrence v. Texas No prosecutor can bring charges under these statutes for consensual acts between adults, regardless of what the code says.
Many of the surviving statutes also do legitimate work. The same section that criminalizes sodomy between adults often defines aggravated versions involving force, minors, or animals. Repeal is rarely a one-line deletion; it usually requires a rewrite that preserves the enforceable parts, which is one reason political will has lagged behind the constitutional reality.
States That Still Target Same-Sex Conduct by Name
Four states keep statutes that explicitly single out same-sex conduct.
Texas Penal Code Section 21.06, the very law struck down in Lawrence, remains on the books. It classifies “deviate sexual intercourse with another individual of the same sex” as a Class C misdemeanor, with the original text unchanged.4State of Texas. Texas Penal Code Section 21.06 – Homosexual Conduct
Kansas reorganized its criminal code in 2011 and carried the old language forward. Section 21-5504 defines criminal sodomy to include sexual acts between people 16 or older who are the same sex, graded as a Class B nonperson misdemeanor. The same section covers non-consensual acts and offenses against minors, which complicates clean repeal.5Kansas State Legislature. Kansas Code 21-5504 – Criminal Sodomy; Aggravated Criminal Sodomy
Kentucky Revised Statute 510.100, “Sodomy in the fourth degree,” makes “deviate sexual intercourse with another person of the same sex” a Class A misdemeanor and states that consent is not a defense. That consent provision is flatly unconstitutional under Lawrence but still appears in the printed code.6Justia. Kentucky Code 510.100 – Sodomy in the Fourth Degree
Oklahoma Section 21-886 labels the “detestable and abominable crime against nature, committed with mankind or with a beast” a Class B4 felony punishable by up to ten years in prison. Though the text references “mankind” generally, its historical application has been closely tied to anti-gay enforcement.7Justia. Oklahoma Code 21-886 – Crime Against Nature
States With Broad “Crime Against Nature” Statutes
A larger group of states uses sweeping moral language inherited from old common law. These provisions typically prohibit “the crime against nature” or “unnatural acts” without defining the term precisely, and courts historically read them to cover oral and anal sex regardless of the participants’ genders.
Michigan carries one of the harshest written penalties. Compiled Law 750.158 makes the “abominable and detestable crime against nature” a felony punishable by up to 15 years, and anyone classified as a “sexually delinquent person” faces an indeterminate sentence up to life.8Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 750.158 – Crime Against Nature or Sodomy
Mississippi Code Section 97-29-59 punishes the “detestable and abominable crime against nature committed with mankind or with a beast” by up to ten years in the state penitentiary.9Justia. Mississippi Code 97-29-59 – Unnatural Intercourse North Carolina General Statute 14-177 uses nearly identical phrasing and grades the offense as a Class I felony.10North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 14-177 – Crime Against Nature
Louisiana Revised Statute 14:89 defines crime against nature as “unnatural carnal copulation by a human being with another of the same sex or opposite sex,” carrying up to five years in prison and a $2,000 fine. Enhanced penalties apply when the victim is under 18 or under 14, reaching up to 50 years.11Louisiana State Legislature. Crime Against Nature
Florida Statute 800.02 prohibits any “unnatural and lascivious act with another person” as a second-degree misdemeanor.12The Florida Senate. Chapter 800 – Florida Statutes South Carolina Code Section 16-15-120 uses the archaic term “buggery” and classifies it as a felony with up to five years in prison or a fine of at least $500.13South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code of Laws Title 16 Chapter 15
Georgia Code Section 16-6-2 defines sodomy broadly as any sexual act involving the sex organs of one person and the mouth or anus of another, with a penalty of one to 20 years. The same section separately defines aggravated sodomy (acts by force or against a child under ten) with a mandatory minimum of 25 years to life.14Justia. Georgia Code 16-6-2 – Sodomy; Aggravated Sodomy
States That Have Narrowed Their Statutes
A few states have quietly rewritten their sodomy provisions to remove the constitutional problem without a full repeal. Utah renamed its statute “forcible sodomy” and now requires proof the act was committed without the other person’s consent. The offense is a first-degree felony with a minimum of five years.15Utah Legislature. Utah Code Section 76-5-403 Virginia went further, rewriting Code Section 18.2-361 so that “crimes against nature” now covers only bestiality (a Class 6 felony) and sexual acts between family members in specified relationships (a Class 5 felony, or Class 3 when a minor is involved). The old consensual-conduct language is gone.16Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code Title 18.2 Crimes and Offenses Generally 18.2-361
States That Have Repealed
Full repeal is the cleanest fix because it removes the statute text entirely. Maryland passed House Bill 0081 in 2020, repealing the crime of sodomy effective October 1, 2020. The same bill clarified that pre-October 2020 sodomy convictions could not be expunged under the repeal provision alone.17Maryland General Assembly. Legislation – HB0081
Montana repealed its “deviate sexual relations” statute through Senate Bill 107 in 2013; before repeal, the law had classified same-sex sexual contact as a felony carrying up to ten years and a $50,000 fine. Minnesota followed in 2023, repealing its sodomy, adultery, and fornication statutes in a single bill after a state working group described them as archaic and unconstitutional.18Minnesota House of Representatives. Bill Calls for Repeal of MN’s Discriminatory and Outdated Fornication, Sodomy and Adultery Statutes These recent repeals join a longer trend that began with Illinois in 1961 and continued through roughly 20 more states during the 1970s. By the time Lawrence was decided, only 13 states still enforced their statutes.
Why an Unenforceable Law Can Still Hurt You
Even without new prosecutions, these statutes cause ongoing harm.
Pre-2003 convictions still exist. A record showing “crime against nature” or “sodomy in the fourth degree” surfaces on background checks without context. Employers and landlords see the charge and often assume sexual violence rather than a consensual encounter that would be legal today.
Immigration consequences can be severe. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services directs officers to review criminal records when assessing good moral character, and a conviction classified as a crime involving moral turpitude creates a conditional bar.19U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Conditional Bars for Acts in Statutory Period Whether an old sodomy conviction qualifies depends on the specifics of the statute and the officer handling the file, which introduces real uncertainty into naturalization decisions.
Sex offender registration is another layer. Convictions for forcible sodomy can trigger federal registration under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, and some states continue to require registration even after a conviction has been vacated or expunged.
Expungement pathways vary widely. Maryland’s 2020 repeal bill specifically excluded pre-repeal convictions from automatic expungement.17Maryland General Assembly. Legislation – HB0081 In most states, a person must petition the court and pay filing fees (commonly $50 to $150 per case), often with an attorney. Some states offer no clear pathway at all for clearing a conviction under a statute later declared unconstitutional.
The Risk If Lawrence Were Narrowed
When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022), Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a concurrence calling on the Court to “reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell,” which he described as “demonstrably erroneous.”20Supreme Court of the United States. Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization No other justice joined that portion, and the majority opinion in Dobbs stated that its reasoning did not extend to Lawrence or Obergefell. Still, the concurrence is why unrepealed sodomy statutes matter beyond their symbolic weight. If Lawrence were overturned or narrowed, every statute discussed above would be enforceable again without any new legislation. Dormant is not the same as dead, and repeal through the legislature is the only way to make sure these provisions cannot be revived.