Colonial America: The Age of Sodomitical Sin, 1607-1783, by Jonathan Ned Katz

The years from 1607 to 1783 constitute the founding era of what became the United States. In the early years of this era, in these American colonies, the penalty for sodomy was death, and a number of executions are documented. Sodomy was usually conceived of then as anal intercourse between men. But why was sodomy thought of as treason against the state and punished so harshly? And what do we know of sexual and intimate relationships between women in these years, and the laws and responses to such intimacies? This feature presents or references the original documents that Jonathan Ned Katz collected in his books Gay American History (1976) and Gay/Lesbian Almanac (1983), along with evidence that others subsequently discovered. Published originally on OutHistory in 2012.

Buggery Law: New York, 1691

Death for "buggery"

After the Glorious Revolution in England, in 1691, New York became a royal province. From that year the English "buggery" law (providing death for the crime) was apparently regarded as in effect.(1)

On February 14, 1787, New York passed a new law explicitly mandating death for "buggery."(2)

The death penalty for the crime was abolished in New York in 1796.

References

Jonathan Ned Katz, Gay/Lesbian Almanac (NY: Harper & Row, 1983), p. 121, citing Crompton, "Homosexuals," p. 282.
Laws of the State of New-York, Comprising The Constitution and The Acts of the Legislature Since the Revolution from the First to the Twelfth Session, Inclusive (Hanover: Hugh Gaine, 1789), vol. 2, p. 45.