Defining Sodomy
Regarded as "infamous" and "unmentionable", sodomy was regarded as a crime against the very nature of human beings. Originating in a religious context, the crime was described as "the detestable and abominable vice of buggery committed with mankind or beast". English courts interpretted this by targetting anal intercourse between two men, a man and a woman, and any sexual act between a man or woman and an animal. Although during this time the law was often ignored and wasn't recognized as sexual violence.
This type of legislation was carried over to the United States with new laws on the state level. Due to this, there is no consistent definition of sodomy since every state had their own legislation. American legislators further specified which acts were considered sodomy and included the act of oral sex. This caused debate over what constituted oral sex. Did it include cunnilingus, where a woman performs oral sex on a man? Or did it only apply to fellatio, where it was a man performing oral sex on another man?
The vagueness of sodomy laws led to many different interpretations and also opened the door for people to target certain groups.