Buggery law: Virginia, 1661
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Jump to navigationJump to searchJonathan Ned Katz, Gay/Lesbian Almanac (NY: Harper & Row, 1983) p.104
Since 1618 the laws of England had apparently been informally enforced in Virginia. In 1661 the laws of England were expressly adopted by the Virginia assembly (making the English "buggery" law official in the colony).[1] The death penalty for the crime was abolished (for free persons) in 1800.
References
- ↑ 1661: Virginia buggery law; Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, p. 126.
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