Lawsuit
ACLU challenges Nevada law criminalizing same-sex intercourse for teens
The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada (ACLU-NV) on Thursday filed a lawsuit challenging a state law criminalizing consensual sex between same-sex teenagers. The state law characterizes same-sex intercourse as a "crime against nature," and violation of the law carries a possible five-year prison sentence. The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the District of Nevada on behalf of an anonymous plaintiff who was arrested last year on juvenile felony allegations under the controversial law. The complaint asks the court to find the law unconstitutional and issue a permanent injunction barring enforcement of the law.
Issues surrounding same-sex marriage remain controversial throughout the US. Last month the ACLU filed a lawsuit in New Mexico seeking same-sex marriage recognition. In March Vermont's House of Representatives approved a bill that would require out-of-state employers to provide the same health care coverage to same-sex couples as employees with an opposite-sex spouse. Also in March the Colorado House of Representative voted 39-26 in favor of a bill to legalize civil unions which explicitly provides same-sex couples with benefits already enjoyed by opposite-sex couples, including dependent insurance coverage and the ability to adopt a partner's child. Same-sex marriage is currently legal in nine US states and the District of Columbia.
(Published by Jurist - April 4, 2013)