In California, the sodomy law was repealed in 1975, in dramatic fashion (see below), says the ACLU. Note that the ACLU says that "[m]ost [states] did it as part of a general reform of criminal laws."
That should give another idea to those who seek to expand personal rights and freedoms, including those that concern sexual happiness, in Iran and other Third-World nations, in addition to searching for ways to revise laws and customs by reinterpreting indigenous cultural resources: sometimes, reform of X (e.g., treatment of same-sex sex) is more likely to be accepted if it comes as a part of a general reform, rather than singled out for single-issue mobilization.
<http://www.aclu.org/getequal/gettingrid.html> Getting Rid of Sodomy Laws: History and Strategy that Led to the Lawrence Decision
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Connecticut followed Illinois's lead in 1971 and 19 more states (Connecticut, Colorado, California, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming) repealed their sodomy laws in the 1970's. Most did it as part of a general reform of criminal laws. California, which had a six year fight over repeal of the sodomy law, was an exception. California's repeal finally passed in 1975 after a dramatic tie vote in the state Senate, where majority leader George Moscone kept the vote open and the Senate in session while a private plane could be dispatched to bring back the Lt. Governor. He cast the tie breaking vote. Moscone, later elected mayor of San Francisco, was assassinated in 1978 with Harvey Milk. -- Yoshie