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Louisiana Keeps Sodomy Ban

Only symbolic, but what a symbol.

On Tuesday, the Louisiana House of Representatives rejected legislation that would officially remove a ban on certain types of sodomy from the state’s law. In 2003, the Supreme Court ruled that Louisiana’s anti-sodomy law was unconstitutional, but the ban has remained on the state law books symbolically, even though it cannot be used as cause for arrest. The bill to remove the law altogether was overwhelmingly rejected, 27 to 67. The conservative Christian Louisiana Family Forum lobbied strongly against it, sending letters to representatives stating “Louisiana’s anti-sodomy statute is consistent with the values of Louisiana residents who consider this behavior to be dangerous, unhealthy, and immoral.”