ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The state of Maryland has repealed the Unnatural or Perverted Sexual Practice Act, which criminalized any sexual act outside of vaginal penetration.
Anal and oral sex between consenting adults, among other practices, are scheduled to become legal in Maryland beginning Oct. 1.
The repeal was heralded by sexual freedom advocacy group the Woodhull Freedom Foundation as “a victory for the human right to sexual freedom.”
The repeal legislation, HB 131 and SB 54, became law last month after Democratic governor Wes Moore allowed it to go into effect without his signature.
Under the current law, those who engage in nonvaginal sex are subject to up to 10 years in prison or a $1,000 fine.
“It’s not known why Moore, who has celebrated other legislative victories for the queer community, such as a law he approved that will improve access to trans health care, didn’t sign the bill,” the Baltimore Sun pointed out. “A spokesman for the governor declined to comment on Moore’s decision to not sign the bill.”
In 2020, the Maryland General Assembly repealed a law that designated sodomy as a criminal offense.
The Unnatural or Perverted Sexual Practice Act has been used in the past to prosecute oral sex, but the vague language could also be interpreted to mean anal and other nonvaginal sexual practices. Its repeal was spearheaded by Democratic state Sen. Clarence Lam, who also sponsored the 2020 sodomy repeal legislation.
Lam says that legislators were provided assurances that prosecutors would not use the “perverted sexual practice” statute to prosecute LGBTQ+ people. According to the Baltimore Sun, however, a 2021 Washington Blade article reported that Harford County sheriff’s deputies charged four men with perverted sexual practice that year, even though the sodomy statute had been repealed a year earlier.
Lam told the Baltimore Sun that he was “really pleased” to have finally removed the law criminalizing nonvaginal sex from the books, thanks to the efforts of advocates and fellow legislators in the Maryland House.
“This is ultimately an overdue win for the LGBTQ community, and we’re happy to see this part of the chapter closed,” Lam said.
During the Assembly debate earlier this year, several Republican legislators took to the floor to attempt to stop the repeal, claiming that the law, which targets all Marylanders regardless of age, was needed to stop sex crimes against minors.
Woodhull Celebrates Repeal
The Woodhull Freedom Foundation submitted testimony in February 2023 in support of the repeal.
“We were frank and direct in what we had to say,” the organization explained through a statement. “The ordinance essentially criminalized any sexual act outside of vaginal penetration.”
The foundation called prohibition of consensual sexual activity between adults “a violation of our human rights and bodily autonomy.”
“We cannot allow antiquated and discriminatory laws to remain on the books and leave us vulnerable to prosecution,” the Woodhull statement continued. “This exact ordinance was used to arrest four gay men as recently as 2021. Furthermore, the Supreme Court’s ruling in Lawrence v. Texas enshrines our right to consensual sexual activity. Maryland’s ordinance stood in direct opposition to that ruling.
“In a year that has seen massive attacks on LGBTQ+ people and their rights, we are glad to see Maryland do the right thing,” the statement concluded, also thanking the senators who voted “to repeal this archaic law.”
