LGBTQ rights

• For many centuries same sex activity was condemned as immoral and sinful and severely punished by the law.
• The 1533 buggery act made sodomy between men punishable by death and men were executed until 1835.
• The death penalty was abolished in 1861 but an act passed in 1885 which made any kind of sexual activity between men illegal.
• In the mid 50s there were over 1000 men in prison in the UK. Tragic events such as suicide opened discussion for a change in the law.
• A committee was established under Sir John Wolfenden to review the law. The Wolfenden report of 1957 concluded that the laws were an infringement of civil liberty and the laws should not intrude into matters of personal morality. It recommended decriminalisation of sexual activity in private between ages 21 and over.
• The sexual offences act 1967 set the age of consent for homosexual males at 21 years, though sexual activity had to be private.
• campaigns like the campaign for homosexual equality (CHE) played an important role in lobbying for change.
• today, about 2/3 of the population see nothing wrong with same-sex activity, compared with a 1/5 or less in the 1980s. more people now feel that consenting adults should have the right to do as they wish in private and that this is no business of the police or courts.
• • Individualism- the belief that individuals should have the right to choose how they live their lives.
• • Equal rights- equal treatment regardless of sex ,gender, sexual orientation, race or religion.
• • secularisation- the declining influence of religion on peoples lives, attitudes and values. Religious condemnation of homosexuality carries much less weight and some churches have softened their attitudes, even permitting gay priests.
• 1994- equal age of consent lowered from 21 to 18. Then in 2000 The sexual offences (amendment) act equalised it with heterosexual sex at 16.
• 2005-civil partnership for same sex couples were introduced, giving legal recognition and protection to same-sex couples.
• 2013- the marriage (same sex couples) act was introduced in england and wales.
• the equality act 2010 made it a criminal offence to discriminate against someone on the grounds of their sexual orientation.