Love ws! Age of nsent equalised for gay and bi men

Contents:

• LOVE WS! AGE OF NSENT EQUALISED FOR GAY AND BI MEN
• EQUAL AGE OF NSENT: A PREHENSIVE HISTORY OF THE BATTLE FOR GAY PARY
• UK AGE OF CONSENT FOR GAY MEN WAS EQUALIZED 20 YEARS AGO

LOVE WS! AGE OF NSENT EQUALISED FOR GAY AND BI MEN

Securg an equal age of nsent for gay and bi men was a long procs and provoked ugly bat ground harmful stereotyp. On 5 April 1993, Stonewall backed three young gay men - Hugo Greenhalgh, William Parry and Ralph Wil - at the European Court.

It was argued that the law banng ‘homosexual acts’ was a breach of their human rights and terfered wh their private liv. In the UK, the age of nsent is 16, and this is also the legal age for gay sex.

EQUAL AGE OF NSENT: A PREHENSIVE HISTORY OF THE BATTLE FOR GAY PARY

“Make sure your boyiend’s at least 21 / So only your iends and your brothers get done / Lie to your workmat, lie to your folks / Put down the queens and tell anti-queer jok / Gay Lib’s ridiculo, jo their lghter ‘The buggers are legal now, what more are they after? ’” – ‘Glad To Be Gay’, Tom Robson Band, 1979.

Technilly, we both uld have gone to jail bee the age of nsent for gay men England and Wal was 21, which had been set by the 1967 Sexual Offenc Act.

UK AGE OF CONSENT FOR GAY MEN WAS EQUALIZED 20 YEARS AGO

Gay men faced the ultimate sanctn right up until 1861, durg the reign of Queen Victoria.

It remend that ‘homosexual behavur between nsentg adults’ be crimalised, wh an age of nsent of 21.

Nothg changed until 1966, when Labour MP Leo Abse’s Private Members’ Bill ught the changg mood the untry: a poll the Daily Mail a year before had revealed that 63 per cent of rears who rpond did not believe homosexualy should be a crime, although a stunng 93 per cent still thought gay men “need medil or psychiatric treatment” (homosexualy was still classified as a mental illns the UK right up until 1973). Harold Wilson’s admistratn passed the 1967 Sexual Offenc Act, makg gay sex legal between two nsentg men private.