Guess which state finally got around to decriminalizing homosexuality in the year 2022
Which U.S. state finally removed archaic anti-homosexuality laws from its crime code just this week? Place your bets now!If you had your money on good ole’ Penn state, you’re today’s big winner!
It turns out that even as gay marriage was being legalized and anti-sodomy laws were being struck down across the country, Pennsylvania still had a law on the books criminalizing any and all depictions of homosexuality.Specifically, the cited entry in the crime code forbade the “sale, rental, distribution, exhibition, publication, lending, giving away or showing of obscene and other sexual material,” including homosexual material (which was deemed “patently offensive”).
The charge was punished with a $300 fine or 90 days in prison.The law was first discovered in February as Ordinance 2963 in Upper Darby’s crime code by a local Upper Darby Pride board member.
Community members came together to bring it to their local council’s attention, and by March, it was unanimously repealed.Related: Senator who proposed making the word “homosexuality” illegal says she’s being misinterpretedHowever, during their investigation into the ordinance, council members found that it was actually copied directly from an entry in the crime code of the state at large.Council President Laura Wentz, Upper Darby Pride President Damien Warsavage, and others worked tirelessly to get the attention of state officials to have this egregious wrong corrected, and soon, a bill drafted by Democratic State Rep.
