LGBTQ Archives

CA: Gay California legislator gets 2nd bomb threat this year

December 8, 2022 R H

Source: nbcnews.com 12/7/22 A gay California lawmaker revealed Tuesday that he received a bomb threat laced with homophobic tropes and rhetoric, amid a simmering culture war that has sparked widespread anti-LGBTQ threats and attacks nationwide. California state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, said an unnamed individual threatened to bomb his home and shoot up his office. He said he was informed of the threat by police and a local newspaper that the individual had emailed. “The email said, we will f—ing kill you’ and called me a pedophile and…

ID: Idaho settles lawsuit over antiquated anti-sodomy law

November 11, 2022 R H

Source: whec.com 11/10/22 BOISE, Idaho (AP) — People who were convicted of having oral or anal sex under an antiquated Idaho law will be allowed to be removed from the state’s sex offender list, according to a settlement Idaho has reached to resolve a two-year-old lawsuit. The Idaho State Police will also pay the legal fees of the men who sued over the law, according to the settlement filed in Idaho’s U.S. District Court on Thursday. “There’s no reason in 2022 that anybody should be on the sex offender list…

LGBTQ People on Sex Offender Registries in the US (Paper)

July 11, 2022 R H

Source: UCLA in escholarship.org 5/2022 The United States has the world’s largest prison population. Overall, mass incarceration disproportionately impacts people of color, people with disabilities, and the LGBTQ community. LGBTQ people are at increased risk for being targeted for sex crimes, as historical prejudice and stigma have depicted LGBTQ people—especially gay/bisexual men—as sexual predators. Despite this, little is known about LGBTQ people on sex offender registries in the United States. In this project, we surveyed people who are required to register on sex offender registries (SOR). Read and download the…

SC: No sex-offender status for men convicted under anti-sodomy law in South Carolina

April 22, 2022 R H

Source: postandcourier.com 4/22/22 COLUMBIA — Men convicted under South Carolina’s anti-sodomy law will no longer be required to register as a sex offender, according to a settlement agreement. The settlement was reached April 22 between Attorney General Alan Wilson, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel and the state’s ACLU chapter. ACLU attorneys filed the federal suit four months prior in the U.S. District Court of South Carolina on behalf of “John Doe.” The South Carolina man said he was convicted in 2001 under the state’s “buggery” law for…

LGBT People on Sex Offender Registries: Results from a National Survey [5/10/22 Webinar]

April 9, 2022 R H

Source: williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu May 10, 2022 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM Pacific Time, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM Eastern Time Sex offense registries have operated in the United States since 1947 but have been challenged since their inception on legal, efficacy, and ethical grounds. Sex offense registries ought to be subject to close examination. LGBT people are more likely than cisgender straight people to be incarcerated due to sex offenses. In this webinar, researchers will describe results from a large national survey of people required to register on sex offender registries…

U.K. expands ‘Turing’s Law’ to pardon past same-sex convictions

January 5, 2022 R H

Source: nbcnews.com 1/5/22 In a long-awaited triumph for the U.K.’s LGBTQ community, the government on Tuesday announced that anyone convicted of consensual same-sex activity under now-defunct laws will soon be eligible to be pardoned and have their records wiped clean. This week’s announcement follows a less-expansive 2017 measure that was limited to nine former offenses that targeted gay and bisexual men. The new amendment will widen the criteria to anyone officially warned or convicted for an abolished civil or military offense that was imposed due to consensual gay sex. British…

SC: It’s 2022 and these gay men are still on the sex offender registry for consensual sex

January 4, 2022January 5, 2022 R H

Source: queerty.com 1/3/22 A lawsuit filed last month revealed that at least 19 people are still required to register as sex offenders due to past convictions under South Carolina’s “buggery” law for having consensual gay sex. The SC law, along with other states’ anti-sodomy laws, were made invalid in 2003, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Texas’ anti-sodomy law was unconstitutional. While pardons were granted for those targeted by the laws, the convictions still require them to remain on the sex offenders list in South Carolina and two other…

SC: Lawsuit: SC man says he still has to register as sex offender for having sex with another man

December 23, 2021 R H

Source: live5news.com 12/22/21 CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) – A South Carolina man is suing Attorney General Alan Wilson and SLED Chief Mark Keel, claiming that he still has to register as a sex offender for a buggery charge in which he says he was convicted, and later pardoned, for having consensual sex with another man. The man, identified as “John Doe” in the lawsuit, says he was convicted for the charge in 2001, two years before the Supreme Court ruled that laws that criminalized homosexual sex violated due process and are…

ID: Judge Says Idaho Can’t Force 2 Men To Register As Sex Offenders For ‘Crimes Against Nature’

September 10, 2021 R H

Source: boisestatepublicradio.org 9/9/21 A federal judge said the state of Idaho has “no legitimate interest” in forcing two men to register as sex offenders for life due to the state’s “crime against nature” law and will bar officials from doing so. Idaho District Court Judge Lynn Winmill issued a preliminary injunction against the state Wednesday to prevent Randall Menges and an unnamed man identified only as John Doe from having to register. “Doe and Menges are harmed daily by being required to register as sex offenders and the violation of…

WI: State Supreme Court to hear transgender sex offender registry case

May 10, 2021May 10, 2021 R H

[wsaw.com – 2/10/21] MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case of a Shawano County transgender woman who has been prohibited from changing her male name due to her listing on the state sex offender registry. … She argues that requiring her to register as a sex offender violates her First Amendment rights and forces her to identify herself as a male anytime she is required to present her legal name. Read the full article

MT: Sodomy laws that labeled gay people sex offenders challenged in court

April 7, 2021 R H

[nbcnews.com – 4/7/21] Nearly 20 years after the Supreme Court struck down laws criminalizing consensual same-sex activity, the legacy of sodomy bans is still felt across the United States. In 1993, then-18-year-old Randall Menges was charged under Idaho’s “crimes against nature” law for having sex with two 16-year-old males. All three worked and lived at Pratt Ranch, a cattle ranch in Gem County that doubled as a live-in foster program for troubled teenagers. Menges was convicted despite police reports indicating the activity was consensual, and the age of consent in…

MT: Federal judge to rule on sex offender registration for ‘gay sex’ convictions

March 30, 2021 R H

[kpvi.com – 3/30/21] The Montana Attorney General’s Office opposed removing a former Missoula man from the state’s sexual offender registry despite evidence he was designated a sex offender because he had consensual “gay sex” when he was 18 years old. At a trial held Tuesday before U.S. District Court Judge Dana L. Christensen, Assistant Attorney General Hannah Tokerud argued the case did not hinge on whether the man, Randall _____, was convicted for having consensual sex. “It hinges on whether he is required to register in Idaho,” Tokerud said. If…

Action Alert for CA: Oppose Senate Bill 615 by Writing

March 18, 2021April 27, 2021 R H

UPDATED NEWS: CA Senate Bill 615 Temporarily Suspended Please write to oppose California Senate Bill 615, which would harm the LGBTQ community! Senator Melissa Melendez (Republican, Riverside) has introduced a bill, that if enacted into law, would significantly reduce the benefits of former Senate Bill 145, authored by Senator Scott Wiener (Democrat, San Francisco). Specifically, the Senate Bill 615 would require anyone convicted of committing certain sexual acts with a minor more than three years younger to register as a sex offender. The existing law, established in former Senate Bill…

Sex Offense Civil Commitment: An LGBTQ and Racial Justice Issue [Feb 9 UCLA Free Webinar]

January 21, 2021 R H

[williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu] Join the UCLA Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law and Public Policy for a webinar discussion of civil commitment programs in the U.S. and their implications for Black and sexual minority men. Sex Offense Civil Commitment: An LGBTQ and Racial Justice Issue February 9 1:00 PM Pacific Time Cost: Free Register here

ID: Idaho man sues over state’s anti-sodomy law

September 25, 2020 R H

[ap.org – 9/24/20] BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho man represented by a coalition of civil rights attorneys is suing the state’s attorney general over Idaho’s so-called “infamous crime against nature” law, which makes it illegal to have oral or anal sex. The man, who uses the pseudonym “John Doe,” filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court on Wednesday, saying his constitutional rights were violated when he was forced to register as a sex offender earlier this year because he was convicted in another state more than two decades ago…

CA: Committee Passes SB 145 Despite Chair’s Objection

August 20, 2020 R H

The Assembly’s Appropriations Committee today passed Senate Bill 145 despite objections to that bill expressed by Committee Chair Lorena Gonzales Fletcher and despite death threats made to its author, Senator Scott Wiener. “We commend Senator Wiener for his courage in the efforts required to obtain passage of Senate Bill 145,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Belulcci. “The Senator faced down not only death threats but also the opposition of the chair of a powerful legislative committee.” Because SB 145 was passed today, it will soon be voted upon by the…

CA: Sex offender registration reform effort prompts death threats to Sen. Scott Wiener

August 14, 2020 R H

[sfexaminer.com – 8/13/20] An effort by state Sen. Scott Wiener to reform sex offender registration laws and ensure equality for the LGBTQ community has drawn harassment from conspiracy theorists. Wiener, who represents San Francisco, said at a news conference Thursday that the QAnon community has claimed the bill, Senate Bill 145, would protect pedophiles, and even accused him of being a pedophile himself. The bill was introduced by Wiener last year to end what he and other advocates said was a blatant discrimination against LGBTQ youth regarding California’s sex offender…

CA: Democrats incur LGBTQ wrath over sex offender registry bill SB 145

September 7, 2019 R H

[losangelesblade.com – 9/6/19] During a week of flurry before Labor Day, the California Assembly and Senate Appropriations Committees determined which final legislation to pass to the floor for votes and which to suspend for this session. At the end of the day on Friday, Aug. 30, one bill superseded the usual drama to create a pall over California Democratic unity as LGBTQ legislators and advocates expressed outrage that purported supporters used anti-LGBTQ messaging to woo electoral votes in 2020. … However, in a move that infuriated LGBTQ advocates and law…