Part of Alabama's gay sex ban, essentially an effort to criminalize homosexuality in the state, was overturned last week by an appeals court that ruled that consent is a viable defense to the law.
The statute in question outlawed all oral and anal sex regardless if the acts were consensual, and stemmed from the 2010 case of Williams vs. Alabama. In that instance, Dewayne Williams was convicted of sexual misconduct even though he claimed the
"homosexual conduct" was consensual, AL.com reported.
But, on Friday, his conviction was overturned and an appeals court reversed state code section 13A-6-65, which read that "consent is no defense to a prosecution."
Urgent: Do You Approve Or Disapprove of President Obama's Job Performance? Vote Now in Urgent Poll
Civil liberties activists cheered the ruling and said it should have come sooner after the 2003 Lawrence vs. Texas Supreme Court case, which found that criminalizing homosexual acts was a violation of the 14th Amendment's due process clause.
"Each and every person, no matter their sexual orientation or gender identity, is entitled to equal protection under the law," Ben Cooper, chairman for Equality Alabama, said in a statement. "The Alabama court's unanimous decision overturning the statute is a step in the right direction and makes us optimistic for future and ongoing equal rights through the continued elimination of unconstitutional provisions in our state's constitution that violate privacy and equal protections."
Susan Watson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama, agreed.
"Aiming to ban consensual sex is flat out wrong,"
Watson told the Montgomery Advertiser over the weekend. "A person's sexual orientation shouldn't matter. Consensual sex is consensual sex."
Urgent: Assess Your Heart Attack Risk in Minutes. Click Here.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.