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Sodomy was a criminal offense at common law and was forbidden by the laws of the original 13 States when they ratified the Bill of Rights. In 1868, when the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified, all but 5 of the 37 States in the Union had criminal sodomy laws. Until 1961, all 50 States outlawed sodomy, with about half in 2003 continuing to provide criminal penalties for sodomy performed in private and between consenting adults.<ref>JOHN GEDDES LAWRENCE and TYRON GARNER, PETITIONERS v. TEXAS</ref>

Sodomy was a criminal offense at common law and was forbidden by the laws of the original 13 States when they ratified the Bill of Rights. In 1868, when the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified, all but 5 of the 37 States in the Union had criminal sodomy laws. Until 1961, all 50 States outlawed sodomy, with about half in 2003 continuing to provide criminal penalties for sodomy performed in private and between consenting adults.<ref>JOHN GEDDES LAWRENCE and TYRON GARNER, PETITIONERS v. TEXAS</ref>

Miller<ref>[http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/3769Dave Miller, Ph.D, ''The Founders on Homosexuality'', Apologetics Press]</ref> reports that the penalty for homosexuality in several states was death — including New York, Vermont, Connecticut, and South Carolina.<ref>Barton, 2000, pp. 306,482</ref>  Thomas Jefferson advocated “dismemberment” as the penalty for homosexuality in his home state of Virginia, and even authored a bill to that effect.<ref>[http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/jevifram.htm.Jefferson, Thomas (1781), ''Notes on the State of Virginia''], The Avalon Project at Yale Law School</ref><ref>1781, Query 14; cf. 1903, 1:226-227</ref>

Miller<ref>[http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/3769Dave Miller, Ph.D, ''The Founders on Homosexuality'', Apologetics Press]</ref> reports that the penalty for homosexuality in several states was death — including New York, Vermont, Connecticut, and South Carolina.<ref>Barton, 2000, pp. 306,482</ref>  Thomas Jefferson advocated “dismemberment” (castration) as the penalty for homosexuality in his home state of Virginia, and even authored a bill to that effect, reducing the penalty from death.<ref>[http://etext.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/JefVirg.html Jefferson, Thomas (1781), ''Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library''], The Avalon Project at Yale Law School</ref><ref>1781, Query 14; cf. 1903, 1:226-227</ref>

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