Sodomy is a legal term for oral sex, anal sex, and, in some jurisdictions, sexual contact with animals. It appears in criminal codes across the country, but what the word actually reaches has narrowed sharply since 2003, when the Supreme Court held that states cannot criminalize private, consensual sexual activity between adults. Today the term matters mainly in prosecutions involving force, minors, or people who cannot consent.
What the Term Covers
Criminal codes have long grouped several kinds of sexual contact under “sodomy” or the older phrase “crime against nature.” The common thread is conduct that falls outside the historical legal definition of sexual intercourse, which courts limited to vaginal penetration. Rather than naming one act, sodomy works as a catch-all.
The acts covered almost always include oral sex (mouth-to-penis or mouth-to-genital contact of any kind) and anal penetration. Many jurisdictions also fold in sexual contact with animals, though there is a growing trend toward separating bestiality into a standalone offense. Some modern statutes have dropped the word “sodomy” entirely and use phrases like “deviate sexual intercourse” or “criminal sexual act,” but the underlying conduct is the same.
The breadth is intentional. Prosecutors needed a way to charge sexual assaults that did not fit the narrow historical definition of rape. Categorizing oral and anal contact separately meant that serious sexual violence could still be charged even when it did not match the elements of a traditional rape statute.
Why Consensual Sodomy Is No Longer a Crime
The 2003 Supreme Court decision Lawrence v. Texas reshaped this area of law. In a 6–3 ruling, the Court struck down a Texas statute that criminalized sexual conduct between people of the same sex, holding that the law violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The majority declared that adults have a constitutionally protected right to private, consensual intimate conduct without government interference.1Justia. Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003)
Lawrence explicitly overturned Bowers v. Hardwick, a 1986 case that had upheld Georgia’s sodomy law. The Court stated that “Bowers was not correct when it was decided, and it is not correct today.”1Justia. Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003) The practical effect was sweeping. No state can prosecute an adult for engaging in private, consensual oral or anal sex, regardless of the genders involved.
Old Sodomy Laws Still on the Books
Roughly a dozen states have never formally repealed their consensual sodomy statutes. The text remains in the criminal code but carries no legal force against consenting adults. Any charge brought under one of these provisions for private consensual conduct would be dismissed on constitutional grounds.
These leftover statutes cause real confusion. Someone reading a state code may find what looks like a valid prohibition on oral or anal sex and reasonably assume it applies. It does not. The laws survive largely because repeal requires affirmative legislative action, and some lawmakers see no political upside in a floor vote to strike them. Repeal efforts have succeeded in a handful of states, but progress has been slow.
When Sodomy Charges Still Apply
Lawrence protects private, consensual activity between adults. Sodomy statutes remain fully enforceable in three categories: cases involving force, cases involving minors, and cases involving people who cannot consent.
Forcible and Aggravated Sodomy
When oral or anal contact is accomplished through violence, threats, or coercion, prosecutors charge it as forcible or aggravated sodomy, depending on the jurisdiction. These are among the most serious sexual offenses in any criminal code. They exist alongside traditional rape statutes because many states historically defined rape to require vaginal penetration. Without a separate sodomy charge, forced oral or anal assaults might have fallen through the gaps.
Penalties are severe. Aggravating factors such as use of a weapon, serious physical injury, or multiple perpetrators push sentences higher. Ranges vary, but convictions for aggravated sodomy routinely carry sentences from a decade in prison up to life imprisonment.
Minors and People Who Cannot Consent
Sodomy statutes also apply whenever the other person is a minor, is unconscious, is severely intoxicated, or has an intellectual or developmental disability that prevents meaningful consent. In these situations, consent is legally impossible and the act is a crime by definition. Some states use “statutory sodomy” for offenses involving minors, paralleling statutory rape. These charges carry significant prison time and almost always trigger mandatory sex offender registration.
Sodomy Under Military Law
The Uniform Code of Military Justice once treated consensual sodomy as a crime for all service members. The old Article 125 defined sodomy broadly as “unnatural carnal copulation” with another person or with an animal, and courts-martial could punish any violation.
Congress eventually repealed the standalone sodomy article. The section of the U.S. Code that once housed Article 125’s sodomy prohibition now covers a completely unrelated offense: kidnapping.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 10 USC 925 Art. 125 Kidnapping Nonconsensual sexual conduct in the military, including forced oral and anal acts, is now prosecuted under Article 120 (Rape and Sexual Assault Generally), which defines “sexual act” to include penetration of the mouth or anus by a penis, contact between the mouth and genitals or anus, and penetration of the anus by any body part or object.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 10 USC 920 Art. 120 Rape and Sexual Assault Generally Private, consensual sexual conduct between service members is no longer a military crime.
Consequences of a Sodomy Conviction
A conviction for forcible or aggravated sodomy triggers mandatory sex offender registration under the federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. SORNA defines a registerable “sex offense” as any criminal offense with an element involving a sexual act or sexual contact with another person.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 34 USC 20911 – Relevant Definitions Federal guidelines make clear this covers any offense involving genital, oral, or anal penetration, as well as any sexual touching.5Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking. Current Law
SORNA carves out one key exception: offenses involving consensual sexual conduct with an adult are not registerable, unless the adult was under the offender’s custodial authority at the time.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 34 USC 20911 – Relevant Definitions For minors, a narrow exception exists when the victim was at least 13 and the offender was no more than four years older. Otherwise, registration is mandatory. Durations depend on the tier assigned to the offense; forcible offenses and those involving young children generally fall into the highest tier and carry lifetime registration.
The criminal sentence is rarely where the fallout ends. Professional licensing boards in most states can deny or revoke licenses based on sexual offense convictions, with education, healthcare, law enforcement, and childcare being especially likely to disqualify applicants. For non-citizens, sodomy convictions have historically been classified as crimes involving moral turpitude for federal immigration purposes, which can trigger deportation. Housing restrictions, loss of voting rights during incarceration or parole, and difficulty finding work round out the picture, compounded by the fact that the sex offender registry is publicly searchable.