Massachusetts: the limits of gender equality

By ( articles ) | Aug 23, 2010

A Massachusetts man who showed an inordinate interest in a woman’s foot—if you really must know, the story is here—faces charges for “annoying a person of the opposite sex.”

Yes, there really is a law in Massachusetts that prohibits annoying a person of the opposite sex. This could be a shock to many grammar-school boys, although the statute is clearly not aimed at their antics.

To win a conviction, prosecutors must prove five elements beyond a reasonable doubt, the final of which is "that [the alleged victim] was a person of the opposite sex."

Two men or two women can be legally married in Massachusetts. But annoyance is still strictly a heterosexual affair. 

 

[H/T James Taranto, Opinion Journal.]