Virginia Ban on Sex Between the Unmarried Is Struck Down

State high court’s ruling puts in doubt an antisodomy law some say is used to target gays.

RICHMOND, Va. - The Virginia Supreme Court on Friday struck down an archaic and rarely enforced state law prohibiting sex between unmarried people.

The unanimous ruling strongly suggests that a separate antisodomy law in Virginia also is unconstitutional, although that statute is not directly affected. The justices based their ruling on a U.S. Supreme Court decision voiding an antisodomy law in Texas.

“This case directly affects only the fornication law but makes it absolutely clear how the court would rule were the sodomy law before it,” said Kent Willis, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Virginia.

Virginia’s antisodomy law prohibits oral and anal sex even for married couples, but gay rights advocates say the statute is only used to target homosexuals. Legislators for years have rejected efforts to repeal the law. They left it on the books again last year even after the decision in the Texas case held that such laws were unconstitutional. (source)