Is your sex life against the law? Better make sure. We've painstakingly compiled a map of all the most biarre and unnecessary laws regulating what you do, with whom, and where. Check out our complete map of all the weirdest laws regulating sex in America below.


You've probably seen lists of freaky sex laws before — they're all over the place. And guess what? Most of those are urban legends.

When you see laws like "It's illegal for one partner to reach climax before the other," or "It's illegal to have a sheep in the cab of your truck without a chaperone," or "Only sex in the missionary position is legal," or "No sex in an ambulance responding to an emergency call," or "No dancing with a hat on," or "No sex in a meat freezer," or "Legistators may not make laws wearing a penis costume," they're probably just made up or grossly distorted. Sorry to burst your bubble.


And yes, that one about "a man may not shoot a pistol when his female partner has an orgasm" is also made up, as far as we could tell.

So here's our complete map. Click to enlarge!



And this is just the tip of the iceberg. To see our complete list of verified and bizarre sex laws click here.


Also remember, several states still have laws against oral and anal sex on their books, despite the Supreme Court shooting down sodomy laws in 2003. Also, a surprising number of states allow necrophilia, along with underage marriage in some circumstances.

Sources: We stuck to laws that we could verify the existence of, or derive from reliable sources. Findlaw.com has listings of sex-related laws for every state in the U.S., along with links to the actual state codes. HG.org has some verified listings. Also, The Book of Strange and Curious Legal Oddities by Nathan Belofsky, an attorney, is a goldmine of verified sex laws. Finally, DumbLaws.com provides statutory info for some (but not all) of its laws.


Map design by Reuben Fischer-Baum. Additional research/reporting by Emily Stamm and Jason Krell.

