Laws are passed for a number of reasons. Sometimes it’s a simple issue of protecting people as is the case with laws regarding abuse, assault and physical altercations. Other laws are a bit harder to understand but are typically the result of local norms like laws against jaywalking, regulating bar opening hours or controlling how late live music can be played. Still, there are some which absolutely defy logic and usually these laws have to do with issues of a truly personal nature – namely, sex. There are scores of weird sexual laws still on the books in many states and here we’ve gathered together five of the strangest. Turns out, many of us have been breaking the law for years but simply never knew it.
No Fun in Georgia
The Deep South isn’t exactly known as a sexual playground but Georgia takes the idea of no-fun sex to an extreme. First, they’ve outlawed “sadomasochistic abuse” which they then defined so broadly that it could mean even just using handcuffs. According to the official law, abuse is defined as “actual or simulated flagellation or torture by or upon a person who is nude, clad in undergarments, a mask or bizarre costume, or the condition of being fettered, bound, or otherwise physically restrained by one so clothed or nude.” So basically, if you want to spank your partner during sex, you’ll need to move. As an added bonus, one town has outlawed all sex toys – including pieces of art resembling them – and has decreed they can only be purchased or owned if a medical doctor prescribes them.
Trousers Up and Seduction Free in Michigan
Michigan has a law that prohibits any man from “seducing or corrupting an unmarried woman”. According to this particular law, the man who dares to try and seduce an available woman can actually end up facing felony prosecution. The existence of this law begs the question of whether men are meant to try and seduce married women instead. In Flint, Michigan, the town passed a law banning the droopy or saggy jeans favoured by some younger members of the local community. Sporting simply saggy bottoms could land you with a misdemeanor charge but if there’s any crack showing – known as bleavage (butt-cleavage) to some – that’ll get you a felony conviction making you the laughing stock of the prison you’ll be sent to.
Purity in Pennsylvania
For the most part, sex laws in the Keystone State are pretty straight-forward. You can’t live (and maintain an intimate relationship) with anyone directly related to you or, I their words, with any “ancestor or descendant”. But then things start to get weird. Buggery, for example, which is simply an old word for anal sex, is outlawed and carries the potential for a $5,000 fine and 10 years hard labour. Pennsylvania’s anti-sodomy laws have also been used to prosecute people for engaging in oral sex, making that effectively illegal in the state as well.
Crooked Letters But Straight Arrows in Mississippi
Mississippi might be well known for its ‘crooked letters’ but their anti-sex laws aim to keep people very much on the straight and narrow. Both adultery and premarital sex are banned in the state with violators risking fines of up to $500 and a 6 month jail sentence. It’s also against the law to even explain what polygamy is, which is more like an anti-education law than anything else.
No Place Like Home
Dorothy may have wanted to get back to Kansas but she might have changed her mind if she knew their anti-sex laws wanted to ensure everyone was having missionary sex only. In Kansas, anti-sodomy laws are still on the books despite a recent cull of laws deemed out of date. The anti-sodomy laws in the state extend also to oral sex, making Kansas a little less welcoming to many.
