Associated Press

July 2, 1997

HELENA, Mont. - The Montana Supreme Court threw out a 24-year-old ban on homosexual sex Wednesday, concluding government has no business meddling in the sexual activity of consenting adults.

Although no one has been prosecuted under the law, a 1993 lawsuit by six homosexuals claimed that gays and lesbians live in fear of being charged with a crime and that takes a emotional and psychological toll.

District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock of Helena agreed in February 1996, and the the Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected all of the state's arguments on appeal.

Five other states -- Arkansas, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri and Oklahoma -- still outlaw gay sex, said Linda Mangel, an attorney for the Northwest Women's Law Center in Seattle.

The Montana law violates the right to privacy guaranteed in the state's Constitution, the court said.

While society may not approve of gay sex, ``there are certain rights so fundamental that will not be denied to a minority no matter how despised by society,'' Justice James Nelson wrote for the court.

Critics said the decision will undermine traditional families and promote the spread of AIDS.

The court rejected any connection between the law and AIDS. The law was enacted almost 10 years before the first AIDS case was reported in Montana, and the presence of the ban has not stopped the disease from becoming the sixth-leading cause of death among middle-aged Montanans, the court said.