sodomy

—sodomitical /sod'euh mit"i keuhl/, sodomitic, adj. —sodomitically, adv.

/sod"euh mee/, n.

1. anal or oral copulation with a member of the opposite sex.

2. copulation with a member of the same sex.

3. bestiality (def. 4).

[1250-1300; ME sodomie < OF. See SODOM, -Y³]

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Noncoital carnal copulation.

Sodomy is a crime in some jurisdictions. Some sodomy laws, particularly in Middle Eastern countries and those jurisdictions observing Sharīah law, provide penalties as severe as life imprisonment for homosexual intercourse, even if the relations are between legally consenting adults. Other sodomy laws proscribe a variety of other forms of sexual contact and apply even to married couples. No such regulations are found in the law codes of Denmark, France, Italy, Sweden, The Netherlands, or Switzerland, among other countries.The Wolfenden committee in Britain and the American Law Institute recommended abolition of criminal penalties for sodomy, except in cases involving violence, children, or public solicitation. This position was adopted in England in 1967 and has been adopted in many U.S. states as well.

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▪ sexual behaviour

      noncoital carnal copulation. The term is understood in history, literature, and law in several senses: (1) as denoting any homosexual practices between men, in allusion to the biblical story of Sodom (Genesis 18:19), (2) as denoting anal intercourse, (3) as synonymous with bestiality or zoophilia (i.e., sexual relations between human beings and animals), and (4) as comprehending a number of other sexual activities, ranging from sexual contacts with minors to oral-genital contacts and oral intercourse between adults.

      Sodomy is a crime in some jurisdictions and is condemned as a mark of abnormality in many others. Some legal codes provide penalties as severe as life imprisonment for homosexual intercourse, even if the relations are voluntary and between legally consenting adults. So-called sodomy laws, actually proscribing a variety of sexual contacts, appear to apply even to married couples. No such regulations are found in the codes of Denmark, France, Italy, Sweden, or Switzerland, among others. The Wolfenden committee in England and the American Law Institute in the United States recommended abolition of criminal provisions in this area, except in cases involving violence, children, or public solicitation to commercial vice. This position was adopted in Illinois in 1961 (and later in numerous other U.S. states) and in England in 1967. In 1986 the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a Georgia antisodomy law in Bowers v. Hardwick, but the decision was reversed in 2003, when the court struck down a Texas law that criminalized consensual sex between adults of the same gender. With the court's ruling in Texas, antisodomy statues in 12 other U.S. states were effectively overturned.

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