Virginia lawmakers have finally repealed a ban on gay sex. In unanimous votes, both the Virginia House and Senate removed language from state statutes that were targeting LGBT people. It was in 2003 when the US Supreme Court ruled such laws unconstitutional in the Lawrence vs. Texas decision.
The move is mostly symbolic for private consenting adults. But because of the way the code was written, the “crimes against nature” statute was still being used to prosecute other sex crimes. Former attorney general Ken Cuccinelli II attempted, unsuccessfully, to revive the law under such circumstances last year. The changes passed by the legislature Thursday will include sodomy in code used to prosecute rape, prostitution, sex acts involving children and other uncontested crimes, while limiting “crimes against nature” to bestiality and incest.