New Michigan Bill Does Not Ban Anal or Oral Sex Between Humans

Everyone on the internet was going crazy in response to a new Michigan bill that allegedly made anal sex a felony. Everyone on the internet was wrong.

The bill in question largely deals with animal abuse, and was passed by the Michigan Senate last week. A blogger noticed some outdated language at the end of the bill, and promptly whipped the internet into an uproar, making claims that anal sex had been made a felony in Michigan. We began to research this story, but noticed there were a few unexplained jumps in logic, so we decided to hold off on our coverage until more details were available.

While we awaited a follow-up story -- the misinformation spread like wildfire. Before we knew it, there were memes saying both oral and anal sex were illegal in Michigan. Others were saying things like "Michigan Republicans can't help Flint because they're too busy making gay sex a felony." It was getting pretty ugly pretty fast.

According to the Detroit Free Press, the bill has nothing to do with sodomy, and is all about protecting animals. Democratic State Senator Steven Bieda even came to the defense of the republicans, saying, "I have no problem calling out my Republican colleagues when they do something skanky, but this is a very unfair attack on the whole state Senate and on my Republican colleagues in particular.”

Apparently, the misunderstanding stems from the following passage of the bill:

"A person who commits the abominable and detestable crime against nature either with mankind or with any animal is guilty of a felony, punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 15 years.”

That part of the bill is an outdated reference to sodomy amended from an old law still on Michigan's books. Despite all the internet anger and speculation, banning consensual sex between adults was already declared unconstitutional by a 2003 Supreme Court case, and no laws to the contrary can be enforced.

So, in short -- butt stuff is still legal.