Massachusetts state legislators filed a bill in the name of rights for homosexuals and transgender people that would also result in lighter criminal penalties for bestiality.
State representatives Jack Lewis (D-Framingham) and Samantha Montaño (D-Jamaica Plain) filed “An Act Repealing Homophobic and Transphobic Laws” (H.1618).
The bill’s primary intent is to repeal laws criminalizing homosexual acts. However, one section the lawmakers want to repeal also contains a provision against bestiality.
The bill is short, calling for the repeal of Sections 34 and 35 of Chapter 272 of Massachusetts General Law.
Section 34, titled “Crimes Against Nature,” provided a criminal penalty for both sodomy and bestiality.
Here is what it says:
Section 34. Whoever commits the abominable and detestable crime against nature, either with mankind or with a beast, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than twenty years.
Massachusetts also has a separate law banning sexual contact with an animal (Section 77C, Chapter 272 of Massachusetts General Law). However, the penalties are less. That crime carries a maximum sentence of seven years in jail for a first-time offense, while subsequent offenses have a maximum sentence of 10 years.
Section 35, titled “Unnatural and lascivious acts,” deals only with sex acts between humans and lewd behavior.
Here is what it says:
Section 35. Whoever commits any unnatural and lascivious act with another person shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred nor more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than five years or in jail or the house of correction for not more than two and one half years.
Other lawmakers who co-sponsored the bill include state Representative Natalie Higgins (D-Leominster), state Representative Mindy Domb (D-Amherst), state Senator Rebecca Rausch (D-Needham), state Senator Julian Cyr (D-Truro), and state Representative David LeBoeuf (D-Worcester).
The bill won’t become law in this session. The Committee on The Judiciary sent the bill to study on June 5, 2024, killing it for this session.
Last year was the first time lawmakers filed a bill with this exact text. However, efforts to repeal the Crimes Against Nature provision of Massachusetts General Law date back at least 15 years, according to The Berkshire Eagle.
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