Abstract
Following Kendall Thomas, Professor Kogan argues in his essay that sodomy laws legitimize homophobic violence and that political institutions, political actors, and private citizens are implicated together in this violence. While Thomas focuses primarily on the violence legitimized by the legal discourse produced in the courts, particularly the United States Supreme Court, Professor Kogan shifts our attention to the state legislative arena. In his examination of the representations constructed of gay men and lesbians during the Utah legislature's 1992 debates on the Hate Crimes Statistics Act ("Statistics Act") and Hate Crimes Penalties Act ("Penalties Act"), Professor Kogan illuminates the connections between the popular construction of the homosexual as sodomite and the part played by the state in encouraging, condoning, and inspiring homophobic violence.
Recommended Citation
Burrington, Debra D.
(1994)
"Constructing the Outlaw,
Outing the Law, and Throwing
Out the Law,"
Utah Law Review: Vol. 1994:
No.
1, Article 11.
Available at:
https://dc.law.utah.edu/ulr/vol1994/iss1/11