Over time, the word sodomy has acquired different meanings. Generally, sodomy refers to anal intercourse between males, and many laws considered it as ?crime against nature?. In the United States, sodomy also included oral sex. Copulation with animal is also considered as sodomy. But in the story of the Palestinian town of Sodom, sodomy refers to the homosexual activities of men?

The Encyclopedia Britannica states that sodomy is a crime in some jurisdictions and that some laws provide severe penalties for homosexual intercourse. The English term ? buggery ? is often used interchangeably with the term sodomy in law and in common speech. However, in the 1960?s, many states in the United States did witness the abrogation of laws against sodomy. Nevertheless, upholding the Georgia statute in the case of Bowers v. Hardwick, (...) to the argument that homosexual activity should be protected when it occurs in the privacy of a home, Justice Byron R. White said that ?otherwise illegal conduct is not always immunized whenever it occurs in the home.? The Holy Bible states ?You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.? The Qur?an makes a more explicit scriptural connection between homosexual aggression and Sodom, and the Islamic equivalent of sodomy became ?liwat? (loutishness).

Because laws against sodomy are difficult to enforce does not mean that the laws should be repealed and acts of sodomy legalised. Enlarging the meaning of sodomy does not make it more appealing even though, in the privacy of their homes, many consenting adults do enjoy such sex. Consent to perform an unlawful act does not make it lawful.

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