Press Release – 10/22/2009
Military Panel Recommends Repeal of Sodomy Statute
Article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice Reaffirmed as “Unnecessary”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
10/22/2009
Contact:
Alex Nicholson, Servicemembers United
(202) 349-1126 | anicholson@servicemembersunited.org
Steve Vossler, Servicemembers United
(202) 349-1125 | svossler@servicemembersunited.org
WASHINGTON, DC – Servicemembers United, the nation’s largest organization of gay and lesbian troops and veterans and their allies, today applauded the release of a new report by a distinguished panel of military law experts recommending that Article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), also known as the military sodomy statute, be repealed. The recommendation came as part of a broader report for the National Institute of Military Justice and the American Bar Association’s Military Law Committee that also identified six other steps that are needed to update and refine the military justice system, and two additional “areas of concern” for future review.
“This new recommendation reaffirms what servicemember advocates have maintained for years – that Article 125 is outdated and that it is detrimental to the reputation of the military justice system,” said Alexander Nicholson, a former U.S. Army interrogator and the executive director of Servicemembers United. “Anyone who knows the modern military knows that the sodomy statute is seen as both an anachronism and a joke by the troops. Prohibitions on private sexual behavior between consenting adults have been eliminated for civilian Americans, and there is no reason that the men and women defending our freedom should be denied that liberty for themselves.”
In 2007, sweeping changes to the UCMJ consolidated most forms of sexual misconduct under Article 120, including forcible sodomy, nonconsensual sodomy, and sodomy with an underage person. “Because of these statutory changes, and in light of the changes in sexual behavior that have occurred since the creation of the UCMJ, there is no need for a separate provision making sodomy a military crime,” the Commission concluded. “The new Article 120… provides an adequate basis to prosecute any criminal sexual misconduct.”
This marks the second time a commission has recommended the elimination of Article 125. In 2001, several current commissioners staffed a panel that similarly concluded that the military’s sodomy statute needed to be repealed.
The UCMJ was passed by Congress in 1950 to consolidate the legal regulation of members of the various branches of the armed services. After being signed by President Harry Truman, the UCMJ went into effect in 1951.
To read the Commission’s full report and to access bios of the commissioners, visit www.servicemembersunited.org.
###
Servicemembers United, a non-profit and non-partisan organization, is the nation’s largest organization of gay and lesbian troops and veterans and their allies. Based in Washington, DC, Servicemembers United actively engages in education, advocacy, and lobbying on issues affecting the gay military, veteran, and defense community.
