Sexuality and the law Flashcards
What is Buggery law?
The law which prohibits anal sex between two men. It was punishable by death until 1861.
Gross Indecency between men?
Behaving sexually in public (however was even applied to touching or holding hands!)
What was this offence introduced by?
The Labouchre Ammendment
When was it de-criminalised?
1967
What did the Woolfenden Report (1957) recommend?
That sex between two consenting adults is in the realm of the private and not the law’s business.
What did The Sexual Offences Act 1967 do?
- Partially de-criminalised homosexual acts (Consenting men over 21 and in private).
- However still remained criminalised in the navy and army.
What did the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act (1994) do?
Lowered the age of consent to 18.
It was decriminalised within the navy.
What did the Crime (sentences) Act 1997 introduce?
Mandatory minimum sentences and two strikes rule for sex offenders. However this was applied to gay men- lots ended up on register.
Sexual offences (ammendment) act 2000
Equalised the age of consent at 16.
Sexual Offences Act 2003
The law must not discriminate.
Abolished gross indecency laws.
Soliciting laws were made equal for men and women.
What happened in the case of R v Brown (1993)?
A group of gay males performed sadomasochistic acts on each other. Despite all consenting they were still found guilty of ABH. Goes against Wilson’s ruling- “Sexual activity between man and wife in the private of their own home is not a matter for criminal investigation, let alone prosecution”. (Disparity between gay and straight people).
List the crimes that are most associated with LGB people.
Gross Indecency between males Buggery Soliciting by a man Breach of peach Public nuisance Outraging public decency/ order
Describe Focault’s “History of Sexuality” analysis.
In the east sex is something beautiful, something to be celebrated- ‘arterotica’
However, in the West sex is seen as immoral and something to be repressed. That’s why we have such punitive laws and policing strategies towards crimes to do with sexuality.
How did the view of sexuality change after the 18th C Enlightenment?
Sexuality was viewed under a scientific lens. Homosexuality was medicalised- seen as a disease and therefore something that could be cured.
