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

Contents:

• THE AGE OF NSENT FOR GAY AND BI MEN WAS FALLY EQUALISED 20 YEARS AGO TODAY, MARKG A MAMMOTH VICTORY FOR LOVE
• LOVE WS! AGE OF NSENT EQUALISED FOR GAY AND BI MEN
• KEY DAT FOR LBIAN, GAY, BI AND TRANS EQUALY

THE AGE OF NSENT FOR GAY AND BI MEN WAS FALLY EQUALISED 20 YEARS AGO TODAY, MARKG A MAMMOTH VICTORY FOR LOVE

To mark LGBT + History Month, this blog post draws on a recently released Prime Mister’s Office file which documents a signifint advance gay rights soon after the turn of the lennium. The Sexual Offenc Act of 1967 reprented a partial crimalisatn of male homosexualy: allowed two men to have sex private England and Wal provid they were over 21; much later, this provisn was extend to Stland and Northern Ireland.

In 1994 Conservative MP Edwa Currie troduced an amendment to lower the age of nsent for homosexual acts, om 21 to 16 le wh that for heterosexual acts. Movg the amendment on 21 Febary 1994, Mrs Currie clared: ‘It is the first time over a quarter of a century that the age of nsent for homosexuals has been discsed by the Hoe of Commons.

The next polician to take up the mantle and advote for change on the age of nsent for gay men was Jack Straw, who served the Cabet om 1997 to 2010 unr the Labour ernments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

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

Note the formaly of the phrase ‘Homosexual rights’ which is ed to scribe the document (and appears on the file ver) rather than ‘Gay rights’, for example, but this is to be expected when referrg to ernmental documents of this perd. In this letter to John Prtt, the Home Secretary’s stated aim is clear: ‘the purpose of this letter is to seek lleagu’ agreement to rcg the homosexual age of nsent to sixteen’. At the age of 17, 1994 Mr Sutherland had plaed to the Commissn that the higher age of nsent for homosexuals (18) as opposed to that for heterosexuals (16) was a breach of his right to privacy unr Article 8 of the European Conventn for the Protectn of Human Rights and his right not to be discrimated agast his private life unr Article 14.

On 8 January 2001, the Sexual Offenc (Amendment) Act fally me to force, rcg the age of nsent for gay and bisexual men to 16 England, Stland and Wal, and 17 Northern Ireland. The Sexual Offenc Act 1967 ma chang so that homosexual men over the age of 21 uld have sexual relatnships, 1994 a further change saw rced to those aged over Sexual Offenc (Amendment) Act 2000 ma the ag of legal nsent for heterosexuals and homosexuals equal and the legal age of nsent for homosexual people was changed to 16.

KEY DAT FOR LBIAN, GAY, BI AND TRANS EQUALY

On 8 January, 2001, the Sexual Offenc (Amendment) Act fally me to force after was passed by parliament on 30 November, 2000, lowerg the age of nsent for gay and bisexual men to 16 England, Stland and Wal, and 17 Northern Ireland – fally grantg queer people the tonomy over their bodi they so sperately craved. The bate surroundg the age of nsent for gay and bisexual men the UK began as early as 1957, when the Wolfenn Report first remend that the ban on homosexualy be overturned. Ccially, that same report also remend that the age of nsent for gay and bisexual men be set at 21, a full five years later than for straight people.

A on, the remendatns ma that report fally ma to law the form of the Sexual Offenc Act 1967, which partially crimalised homosexualy England and Wal.

As was remend the Wolfenn Report, gay and bisexual men would be allowed to have sex, but only certa circumstanc – and only when they were aged over 21. Acrdg to historian Florence Sutcliffe-Brahwae, this “discrimatory provisn” was add to the law to reflect “the longstandg associatn between homosexualy and rptn, particularly the rptn of the young by the olr, supposedly ‘harned’ homosexuals”.