[JURIST] US military spokespersons issued statements Thursday clarifying proposed changes to the military’s policy on consensual sodomy, refuting earlier interpretations [JURIST report] by rights groups that the amendments would decriminalize consensual sodomy among members of the armed forces. Pentagon officials did ask Congress to approve a change to the military justice code’s treatment of consensual sodomy, but claim that the proposed change is merely a technical one in order to more clearly state that acts of sodomy are to be considered violations of “good order and discipline” under military law. The officials stated that any act of sodomy (defined in the military justice code as oral or anal sex) would remain a criminal offense, punishable by up to five years in prison. Reuters has more.