State sodomy law could be reviewed

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South Carolina's law prohibiting "the abominable crime of buggery" carries a fine of no less than $500 and a prison term of five years.

Gay rights advocates hope the outcome in Texas will have the ripple effect of striking down the South Carolina law. Family rights groups want the court to uphold the Texas sodomy law, affirming state's rights to set moral standards.

The court is expected to rule today on the Texas law.

South Carolina is one of 14 states with sodomy laws and one of nine that bans all consensual sodomy.

Furman University law professor Don Aiesi said the buggery law could eventually fall if the court sees the Texas case as a right-to-privacy issue.

"If they base it on privacy rather than policy or state's rights, then South Carolina has no power to restrict sexual behavior between consenting adults," he said.

The Texas case began on Sept. 17, 1998 when police, who were investigating a false gun report, entered the home of John G. Lawrence and caught him having sex with Tyron Garner. They were charged under the Texas Homosexual Conduct law and fined $200 each.

South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster said a ruling against Texas could lead to challenges against a variety of sexual conduct laws. McMaster joined his Alabama and Utah counterparts in filing a brief supporting the state of Texas.

"It's a state's rights issue," McMaster said.

But to gay rights advocates, it's about privacy rights, said David Tseng, executive director of New York-based Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.

"We fear they will uphold the Texas sodomy law," he said. "That kind of outcome will vivisect the right to privacy in this country."

Andy Siegel, a University of South Carolina assistant law professor, said the state's buggery law could be vulnerable to a court challenge if the Supreme Court decides the Texas law unfairly targets gays.

"The South Carolina law on its face applies to both heterosexuals and homosexuals," he said. "But it might remain open to a challenge that, in actuality, it's applied only to gays and lesbians."

Whatever the outcome, gay rights advocates plan to gather at 6:30 p.m. today at the Federal Courthouse in downtown Greenville to discuss its significance to the state, said Ed Madden, a member of the South Carolina Gay and Lesbian Pride Movement's board.

Paul Alongi can be reached at 298-4746.