ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the material that is intended to help clarify significant questions policy makers often pose during debates of Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual (LGB)-related policy. Sodomy laws serve as a legal means to discriminate against LGBs. Proponents of sodomy laws view their repeal as government endorsement of same-sex sexual behavior and an indication of moral decline of society. The chapter shifts attention to even stickier questions concerning government regulation of consensual sexual behavior. Regulating sexual behavior is, for the most part, within purview of the state rather than the federal government. The idea that sexual behavior performed in so-called public venues is in itself harmful or more likely to include the risk of disease transmission has been popular even among some gay-identified social commentators. The development of an individual's sexual identity is a lifelong process that is influenced by a wide variety of biological, experiential, and cognitive factors and these factors may well influence different people in different ways.
