Well, the courts weren't respectable, and tended to see it as an abominable perversion, and a crime against nature and public decency.

At the end of the day, you are convicted by a jury of your peers, and if your peers are God-fearing 19th century Puritans, some of whom, among other things, keep human beings as chattel slaves, you are not going to have a good time.

It wasn't some rogue politicians passing unpopular laws. The law reflected the opinions of the times.