Anal sex — ILLEGAL

Mutual Masturbation — ILLEGAL

Oral sex — ILLEGAL

Missionary vaginal sex– LEGAL

Anal, oral and mutual masturbation are illegal in North Carolina. Performing any of these sexual acts is a crime against nature — a class I felony, according to a North Carolina State statute.

Cohabitation, which is two unmarried members of the opposite sex living together and having sexual relations for more than two weeks, is another violation of the crime-against-nature law.

Dozens of laws in North Carolina deal with sexual relations, including old common laws that have not been overturned.

In 2005, the courts overruled an old common law because of an incident between an employee and her boss.

In 2005, a sheriff had fired his dispatcher because she was participating in cohabitation. She took him to court, and the Appellate Court ruled the sheriff’s action unconstitutional and sent it to the legislature, according to Lieutenant Rick Potts, Campus Police Chief Investigator. The legislator dealt with the law — Crime Against Nature — and a new law will be in effect Dec. 1, he said.

Kyle Benton, a senior in mechanical engineering and president of the NCSU chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said certain laws will not get overturned or changed until someone addresses the issues.

Laws dealing with subjects like cohabitation, sexual activity and sexual privacy are often never changed.

Senators have to weigh the risk of suggesting to change these laws against the outcome if it were passed, according to N.C. Senator Janet Cowell.

“If a bill is not being enforced, the risk of putting it out there is not worth bringing it up,” she said.

The police force uses the same sort of tactic when deciding which laws to strictly enforce.

“A lot of the archaic laws on the book are there primarily because they are difficult to change,” Jon Barnwell, crime prevention officer, said.

He said officers have to use their own judgment when enforcing the law.

These rarely enforced, archaic laws are a “small portion” of the laws, according to Potts.

A revision to one of the old laws — Crime Against Nature — was brought to the Congress in the 2001 session, according to Cowell. The revision was the Sexual Privacy Act, which added the idea that the law shall not apply to two consenting adults in privacy, Benton said.

However, Benton said this act was deferred to the judiciary and is now “dead in the water.”

Benton criticized the title of this law — Crime Against Nature — because he considered it vague.

“What is a crime against nature?” he said.

According to Potts, sex between two unmarried people is a crime against nature. But, he said the Supreme Court ruled sex between two consenting adults in the privacy of their residency is just that, not against the law.

Benton agrees. He said any sexual experience between two consenting adults should be allowed.

“Ultimately, the government shouldn’t be allowed to invade people’s privacy in their own homes,” Benton said. “That’s basically the definition of the Fourth Amendment.”

Public opinion helps make changes in the laws, even if they are unwritten ones, according to Barnwell.

When looking at laws, people need to remember when they were put on the book and where the frame of reference came from, according to Potts.

“Most of the common laws are from England,” he said.

Common laws are more than 200 years old, so not all of them are still enforced, according to Potts.

These laws are only a “small portion” of the laws, according to Barnwell.

“Laws are constantly changing,” he said.

Cowell said not all constituencies agree with the changes the courts are making. She said they view them as “a moral breakdown of our society.” The North Carolina Family Policy Council is a significant part of those constituencies, according to Cowell.

However, for these laws to be enforced, people either have to turn themselves in or be caught in the action.

“Some of the archaic laws are the most difficult to prove,” Barnwell said. “You have to catch them in the action of that activity.”

According to GS 14-186, people of the opposite sex cannot occupy a hotel room for “immoral purposes.”

Benton said this law doesn’t make sense because the people at the hotel would have to turn the people in.

“It doesn’t make sense for a hotel owner to kill his own business,” Benton said.

This law is still in effect, though, along with GS 14-177 — Crime Against Nature — and GS 14-184 — Fornication and Adultery.

According to Cowell, when a senator introduces the general subject of sexuality, they risk opening a box full of issues. They can also lose control of the bill because once it is on the floor, it is open for revision.

A strong constituency exists for both sides of all the sensitive laws, having clear views on both sides, Cowell said.

“Folks are willing to fight to keep them on the books,” she said.

Another law Benton said he found interesting is GS 14-178 — Incest. The law outlaws incest, which is sex with grandparents, grandchildren, parents or children — including adopted or stepchildren — brothers or sisters — half- or whole-blooded — aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews.

This list does not include cousins. According to the incest law, it is legal to have sex with one’s first cousin in North Carolina.

According to Barnwell, this is one of those cases when public opinion can make changes. He said this is a common law that goes back to the time of arranged marriages. They allowed marriage within families to “keep the bloodline pure,” Barnwell said.

Even though all these laws are in the books, Barnwell and Potts said they are rarely encountered.

“There are so many laws,” Potts said. “May not come across some but once in your career.”