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Soccer Moms and Article 125

Not that I want to think about any of the leading presidential candidates engaging in sodomy… It’s at least an issue they should be talking about. Gay City News has reported that of the 8 Democratic presidential candidates who have all spoke out against “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” only four have spoken out against the sodomy ban, found in Article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). Why is the sodomy ban an important issue? The military currently defines sodomy as any type of sex other than the missionary position. Service members are still – to this day - prosecuted under Article 125. In fact, it appears that more straight service members are prosecuted than gay service members. The ban on sodomy is outdated and unnecessary. One unforeseen consequence of the ban is that because of the threat of consensual sodomy prosecutions hanging over service members’ heads, when two service members are alleged to have engaged in consensual sodomy, there is an incentive for at least one to cooperate with the prosecution and claim the activity was nonconsensual. As a result, it is easier to convict at least one of the parties, resulting in service members, guilty of nothing more than engaging in consensual sodomy, being sent to prison. In addition, prosecutors already have other tools at their disposal under the UCMJ when they need to hold people accountable for illicit activities – such as assault, rape, or taking advantage of a minor. On first blush, it might seem like too much to expect any candidate to go out on a limb for the right of consenting service members to engage sodomy. As far as I know, soccer moms haven’t placed service-member-sodomy at the top of their list of burning campaign issues. Even so, the Gay City News article reported that Senator Joe Biden's campaign has said that "the Supreme Court's clear and unmistakable view in Lawrence that the sex lives of consenting adults are a private matter... [and that should] apply to every American, both civilian and military." Likewise, the Dodd campaign wrote that the senator believes "every American has the right to privacy and that should be extended to members of the military." What consenting adults do in their own bedroom should be their own business. The Supreme Court recognized this right in Lawrence. When framed more globally, as a privacy issue, as a civil rights issue, and as an issued of fundamental fairness, even soccer moms should be supportive of efforts to lift the sodomy ban. - Aaron Tax

Labels: Article 125, in the news

04-13-07