Good News For Fornicators: Utah has joined the 21st century and repealed a law making sex outside of marriage a crime.

WGN TV reports:

The Utah State Legislature is making sex outside of marriage legal. In a bill cleaning up Utah’s criminal code, lawmakers repealed the misdemeanor crime of fornication. The House passed Senate Bill 43 on a 41-32 vote. It previously passed the Utah State Senate and now goes to Gov. Gary Herbert for his signature or veto.

Currently sex outside of marriage is not legal in the state. In fact, it is a crime. Section 76-7-104 of the Utah Criminal Code reads:

1) Any unmarried person who shall voluntarily engage in sexual intercourse with another is guilty of fornication. 2) Fornication is a class B misdemeanor.

Currently, the penalty on the books for fornication is a six-month prison sentence and a $1,000 fine.

Even more bizarre, the law making fornication a crime was passed in 1973 – not 1873, but 1973. Newsweek reports:

Under a law passed in 1973, the Utah law currently states that “any unmarried person who shall voluntarily engage in sexual intercourse with another is guilty of fornication.” The offense is a Class B misdemeanor.

While the repeal of the law prohibiting fornication seems like a good idea, not every lawmaker supported the change. In fact, some conservative members of the House opposed the change. Fox 13 reports:

The bill wasn’t popular with some of the more conservative members of the Utah House of Representatives. Rep. Merrill Nelson, R-Grantsville, said he objected. So did Rep. Keven Stratton, R-Orem.

Rep. Stratton said:

What is legally is often far below what is morally right. And I recognize our laws are not strong enough to rule a immoral people.

However, those opposed to the changes were in the minority. Commenting on the effort to end the prohibition on fornication, Troy Williams, Director of LGBTQ rights group Equality Utah, said:

It’s long past time that Utah code reflected the legal precedent established 15 years ago by the U.S. Supreme Court. Love between consenting same-sex adults should never be stigmatized or criminalized.

Bottom line: Good news for fornicators in the state of Utah.