CARNAL NATION

Do you think your name and face will never end up in the headlines? Wrong. Any person is susceptible to the far-reaching arms of sexual ignorance, and the inhuman politics it creates. It is easy for many Americans to take their sexual freedoms for granted. Many people who live in this country probably feel that they don’t have to worry about being arrested if they talk about—or have—sex in “appropriate” ways. Of course, what is considered acceptable and normal appears to be more restrictive than many people might realize. Today, Alternet.org published an article by Ellen Friedrichs that draws attention to very specific ways that moral opinion has dictated laws about basic human rights regarding sexuality.

Friedrichs states that “We often don't realize that sex regulations extend beyond archaic blue laws banning things like having sex in a toll booth, or forbidding sororities on the basis that women living together constitute a brothel. Such prohibitions may remain on the books, but people seldom, if ever, face charges for breaking them.  The sex laws that do get enforced every day tend to be a lot less laughable.” Friedrichs’ article exposes the sad reality that, “In the land of the free, the freedom to express your sexuality can land you in prison.”

Friedrichs looks at fifteen cases of sex laws that are either unjust on their face or applied poorly, including:

• The case of Genarlow Wilson, who spent almost three years in prison for a consensual blowjob given to him by a 15-year-old girl when he was 17. Because he was above the age of consent, Wilson was charged with aggravated child molestation and sentenced to ten years in prison.
• In Pennsylvania, in early 2009, thirteen girls and three boys were charged with manufacturing and possessing child pornography because the girls had sent sexy pictures of themselves to the boys over their cell phones.
• After living with her partner and her children for over ten years, a lesbian was forced to move out of her home because of a clause in Tennessee law that prohibits unmarried cohabitation in a home with minor children. The biological mother's children were 13 and 15, and even though the father didn't object to the relationship, a custody judge invoked the clause.

There are twelve more instances showing how surprisingly thin the line can be between legal and illegal when it comes to sex. Read them all, and you'll learn some disturbing things about our country.

Parts of this article were contributed by Chris Hall.