The Florida Supreme Court focused on sexual intercourse—its plain meaning, the term's application over time, how the Legislature criminalized it—during arguments Wednesday in a Monroe County case.

A lawyer for Gary Debaun used a strict-construction argument in seeking to overturn an Oct. 30 ruling by the Third District Court of Appeal. The decision subjects Debaun to prosecution for a third-degree felony after he used a false lab report showing he was HIV negative to convince a man to have sex with him.

The law Debaun allegedly violated is Florida Statutes Section 384.24(2), which punishes HIV carriers who don't reveal their status to their bed partners. It has been reviled by gay rights advocates who say it stigmatizes people infected with the virus.