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The Daily Tar Heel

Column: Did you know anal sex is still illegal in North Carolina?

Kent McDonald

Last Thursday, India’s supreme court struck down a discriminatory ban on consensual gay sex. It was a monumental victory for LGBTQ+ rights and a testament to decades of courage and perseverance by India’s queer and activist communities.

Like many, I spent the day celebrating the tides of history changing. I opened a bottle of rosé, poured myself a hefty glass and sipped on the sweet taste of a victory that I contributed absolutely nothing to. I was vicariously reveling in a victory earned by my queer siblings abroad. And this victory felt, and tasted, so delicious. 

It took about three sips for me to remember an article I wrote for The Daily Tar Heel when I was a first year, way back in early 2016. The article highlighted a concerning contradiction in North Carolina law. Although a 2003 Supreme Court ruling determined laws criminalizing sodomy — anal and oral sex — were unconstitutional, several states, including North Carolina, still had such laws on the books. The Supreme Court ruling made these laws unenforceable but, at the time, state legislators had not removed them. Remembering my article, I feverishly did a quick Google search. Nothing has changed. Anal sex is still considered a “crime against nature” in North Carolina. 

The sweet taste of vicarious victory went sour. My stomach sank. Gay sex has effectively been legal in the United States for only 15 years, and even that wasn’t entirely legitimate due to these unenforceable “crime against nature” laws. 

Even more upsetting was the realization that, as a gay man living in North Carolina, I was technically breaking this state's law every time I had sex. Although acceptance and tolerance toward LGBTQ+ Americans has grown substantially throughout my lifetime, a majority of that change has been cultural, not legal.

Of course, gay marriage has been legalized, and that’s a terrific win — albeit a precarious one considering Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is not a fan. But beyond legalizing same-sex marriage, legal protections for LGBTQ+ people are scarce. 

In North Carolina, you can fire someone for being gay. In North Carolina, you can refuse to provide housing to someone for being gay. In North Carolina, you can deny credit and lending services to someone for being gay. 

It’s ridiculous. It’s maddening. It's incredibly hurtful. It's deeply disturbing to recognize that something so fundamental to your humanity — the ability to love who you love and express your love openly and proudly — may cost you your career, home and livelihood.

My life as an openly gay man in North Carolina is exponentially easier than any transgender person’s. House Bill 2 may have been replaced, but its replacement, House Bill 142, still blatantly discriminates against transgender people. It also blocked local governments from issuing protections for LGBTQ+ people until after the 2020 elections. 

It’s terribly disheartening. But I do have hope. We can start by immediately removing ridiculous and unenforceable legislation like anti-sodomy laws that intentionally target LGBTQ+ people. There is no reason an unenforceable law should exist. Its very presence perpetuates a hierarchy in which LGBTQ+ people are lesser in both law and status. Its existence implies LGBTQ+ people are not worth updating and revising state law. These laws were written in the 1960s and 70s to discriminate against gay men. It’s 2018 — our culture has moved way past this. Our laws need to catch up. Furthermore, these anti-sodomy laws contribute to harmful and misinformed stigmas surrounding gay sex. Until these laws are removed, queer people will continue to be socially and legally marginalized. 

I hope the historic progress achieved in India can remind us of the possibility of change. I hope it can propel us forward, energizing us to fight for equal protections for all LGBTQ+ Americans. I hope that one day I can finally enjoy a glass of rosé unhindered — maybe even with the person I choose to share my life with. And together my future partner and I can toast to a world where law and culture are aligned and equality is our reality.

But for now, it’s time to put a cork in the rosé, roll up our sleeves and get to work.

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