Virginia's Ken Cuccinelli Defends Law Against Sodomy

Ken Cuccinelli

Virginia's antigay attorney general, Ken Cuccinelli, wants Virginia's judiciary to reconsider whether sodomy can be outlawed.

Cuccinelli, who is ramping up a campaign for governor, argues that sodomy should continue to be outlawed whenever a minor is involved, The Washington Post reports. And he's using the case of a 47-year-old man and teenage girl to make his point.

Ever since the Supreme Court ruled in 2003 in the landmark gay rights case Lawrence v. Texas that antisodomy laws aimed at consenting adults are an unconstitutional invasion or privacy, state laws became antiquated — though many still let them linger on the books.

The Washington Blade reports that Cuccinelli is responding to the ruling on March 12 of a three-judge panel that deemed unconstitutional a section of Virginia’s “Crimes Against Nature” law, which had outlawed sodomy between all consenting adults.

He is now appealing that ruling to Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals and asking for a hearing before a larger set of judges, which is called an en banc hearing.

BuzzFeed has more on the case at the center of the appeal.