Gay Travelers Magazine: We Must Never Forget that Being Gay was a Crime

This article is reprinted with permission from Gay Travelers Magazine.

By Steven Skelley
Gay Travelers Magazine

We must never forget that, until very recently, just being gay was a serious crime that was punishable in horrific ways. It has only been eighteen years since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that being homosexual was not a crime. It has only been six years since the U.S. Supreme Court barely decided by one vote that homosexuals must be allowed the same marriage laws as heterosexuals. How easily people forget.

Here are some things to remember:

* In early Virginia, homosexuality was punishable by execution. Thomas Jefferson attempted to change the punishment to castration but his idea was rejected by the legislature.

* By 1962, sodomy / homosexuality was a felony in every state. Punishments included imprisonment and hard labor.

* Idaho’s sodomy / homosexuality convictions earned a life sentence.

* Michigan’s sodomy / homosexuality convictions earned 15 years imprisonment. A second conviction earned a life sentence.

* As late as the 1960’s and 1970’s, New York and California laws made it illegal for bars to serve alcohol to a gay person.

* In 1986, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5 to 4 decision that a consensual sex between same-sex adults was still illegal and punishable by imprisonment.