Civil Rights Suit Tackles Law Dubbing Oral Sex a "Crime Against Nature"

Over a year ago, I wrote about a law in Louisiana that treats oral and anal sex as felony "crimes against nature." It's a vestige of extreme homophobia that has been mainly struck down by the Supreme Court, but the law remained on the books and serves a new purpose: putting sex workers behind bars as felony sex offenders. It's oh-so-tricky: it's not the actual act of oral or anal sex that's illegal now, it's the solicitation of that comes with significantly higher penalties than only offering to sell plain ol' vanilla sex, which does not qualify as a felony sex offense.

Jordan Flaherty at Colorlines, who first brought the story to national attention, has followed up with a heartening recent development: a coalition of civil rights advocates, including the Center for Constitutional Rights, have launched a lawsuit against the discriminatory law. Their plaintiffs include transgender individuals (who are disproportionately targeted, along with women of color and gay men), a mother of four, and a grandma.

Least you think this represents a small minority of those otherwise appropriately charged as sex offender, the New Orleans registry lists 292 people convicted of sex work, versus 85 forcible rape convicts and 78 for child molestation. It's a waste of taxpayer money and government attention to keep tabs on people who should never have been considered sex offenders.

The law against "crimes against nature" is arbitrary, with some sex workers charged with illegal prostitution as a misdemeanor, and others hit with these trumped up charges. The latter leads to increased hard time for those found guilty (Flaherty reports on tragic stories of sex workers being raped and contracting HIV while in prison), but it's also a sentence that impacts them for life. After serving their terms, individuals charged with "crimes against nature" are forced to join the sex offender registry alongside child molesters and rapists -- for the "crime" of selling oral or anal sex to someone who wants to buy, often as a way to make ends meet after life as a homeless teen or escaping domestic violence.

Listing on the sex offender registry requires paying regular fines and hurts job prospects, and in many cases a lack of viable employment options is what led these individuals to turn to sex work, despite it being illegal. They also face physical danger, forced to go to a special sex offender shelter during hurricane evacuations shared with rapists, and harassed when their names, photos, and addresses are posted publicly, and from being.

Five hundred Change.org members have already signed a petition telling Louisiana to change this archaic law. While the battle rages in the courts, you can support the cause by adding your name.

Photo credit: je@n