SODOMY

noncoital carnal copulation. The term is understood in history, literature, and law in several senses: (1) as denoting any homosexual practices between men, in allusion to the story of Sodom in Genesis 18:19; (2) as denoting anal intercourse; (3) as synonymous with bestiality or zoophilia, i.e., sexual relations between human beings and animals, and (4) as comprehending a number of other sexual activities, ranging from sexual contacts with minors to mouth-genital contacts and oral intercourse between adults. Anal intercourse has been observed in apes and is often accepted as normal between men and boys in some preliterate societies, notably during initiation rites. In modern societies it occurs between male homosexuals and also between men and women. It is believed that the (consenting) passive partner as well as the active one may experience pleasure, probably because the genital and anal areas share common nerves. Sodomy is a crime in some jurisdictions and is condemned as a mark of abnormality in most others. Some legal codes provide penalties as severe as life imprisonment for homosexual intercourse, even if the relations are voluntary and between legally consenting adults. So-called sodomy laws, actually proscribing a variety of sexual contacts, appear to apply even to married couples. No such regulations are found in the codes of Denmark, France, Italy, Sweden, or Switzerland, among others. The Wolfenden committee in England and the American Law Institute in the United States recommended abolition of criminal provisions in this area, except in cases involving violence, children, or public solicitation to commercial vice. This position was adopted in Illinois in 1961 (and later in several other U.S. states) and in England in 1967.