Military Attempting To Preserve Sodomy Law

The Washington Blade broke the story in its latest issue that the U.S. military is attempting to exempt its sodomy law found in the Uniform Code of Military Justice from the United States Supreme Court's 2003 landmark decision in Lawrence versus Texas invalidating laws criminalizing private consensual sex between adults. The article states that

In its proposed changes, the DOD calls for moving
the sodomy prohibition from Article 125 of the
UCMJ, which is considered a section of the
military’s criminal law, to the UCMJ’s Article 134.
Article 134, among other issues, addresses matters
pertaining to conduct considered “prejudicial to
good order and discipline” among service members.

Provisions under Article 134 are
enforced through the DOD’s Manual for
Courts-Martial. Changes to the manual are
considered to be regulatory in nature and are not
specifically part of the UCMJ. However, they must
be put in place by the president, with the approval
of Congress, the DOD told United Press
International on Monday.

President Bush must give final approval to the changes via the issuance of an executive order for the military to preserve its policy of criminalizing private consensual sexual relations between members of the same sex who would not be prosecuted if they were an opposite sex couple. Note, the main reason the military is attempting to maintain its sodomy law is to prop up its ban on openly gay or lesbian members of the military via the so-called "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Clintonian compromise of 1993.