Date: 21 Feb 94 18:57:48 EST
Subject: British Age of Consent lowered to 18 NOT 16!
From: anon@queernet.org (Anonymous Sender)

AP 02/21 18:25 EST V0920
   LONDON (AP) -- The House of Commons voted Monday to lower the age of
consent for sex between men to 18.
   The 427-to-162 vote followed the narrow defeat of an amendment to
lower the age to 16, the age of consent for heterosexuals and lesbians.
   Prime Minister John Major, seeking compromise on a divisive issue,
backed the proposal to lower the age of consent for sex between men
from 21 to 18.
   But gay rights activists criticized the vote.
   "Eighteen is not a compromise. It's discrimination," said Peter
Tatchell, a spokesman for the gay rights group OutRage.
   The proposal to lower the age to 16 was sponsored by Conservative
lawmaker Edwina Currie, and backed by the opposition Labor Party and
the British Medical Association.
   "I am not for gay rights. I am for equal rights for all," Currie
told a crowded Commons chamber before the first vote, in which her
measure failed 307 to 280.
   "At 16, a young man is already able to marry," Currie told the BBC
earlier Monday. "At 10, he is able to be convicted of rape. The idea
that they do not know the difference between right and wrong and what
they want to do and what they don't want to do because they're gay is
preposterous."
   Sex between men was outlawed in Britain until 1967. Lesbianism was
considered unimaginable and so was not legislated against.
   Men today convicted of violating the age of homosexual consent can
receive a prison sentence of up to five years' imprisonment, but the
law is not strictly enforced.
   But many lawmakers felt that 16 was simply too young.
   "It's neither natural or normal to carry out homosexual activity.
That's why there has to be protection for young boys," said
Conservative lawmaker Bill Walker.
   Monday night's debate was the first Commons debate on homosexuality
in more than 25 years. Lawmakers were given a free vote, meaning
members were not bound by party rules but could vote as they wished.
   An estimated 4,000 supporters of Currie's amendment gathered for a
candlelight vigil outside the Houses of Parliament.
   Supporters of the amendment argued that the law did not stop younger
men from having homosexual sex, and discouraged underage victims of
anti-homosexual violence from reporting attacks to the police.
   Opponents argued that 16-year-old boys are too impressionable to
know their sexual orientation and could easily be influenced by older
men.
   A recent survey revealed a divided public: 48 percent wanted the age
lowered from 21, while 44 percent thought it should stay the same.
Among those who supported change, three times as many opted to lower
the age to 18.
   At 21, Britain had the highest age of consent for gay sex in the
European Union. The age of consent for both heterosexual and homosexual
activity is 15 in France, 12 in Spain, and 17 in Ireland.

AP 02/21 16:35 EST V0880
   LONDON (AP) -- Facing pressure from gay men, the House of Commons on
Monday considered lowering the age of consent for sex between men.
   Prime Minister John Major backed a proposal to lower the age of
consent from 21 to 18. But a member of his governing Conservative party
was rallying support to lower the age to 16, the same as for
heterosexuals and lesbians.
   Conservative lawmaker Edwina Currie sponsored a proposal to lower
the age to 16, and the motion was backed by the Labor Party and the
British Medical Association.
   "At 16, a young man is already able to marry," Currie told the BBC
earlier Monday. "At 10, he is able to be convicted of rape. The idea
that they do not know the difference between right and wrong and what
they want to do and what they don't want to do because they're gay is
preposterous."
   The proposed legislation is the catalyst for the first Commons
debate on homosexuality in 27 years. Lawmakers were given a free vote,
meaning that members were not bound by party rules but could vote as
they wished.
   Sex between men was illegal in Britain until 1967. Those convicted
of breaking the law of consent today can receive a minimum of five
years and a maximum of life in prison, according to the Home Office.
   Supporters of Currie's amendment gathered for a candlelight vigil
outside the Houses of Parliament.
   They argued that the higher age of consent for gay men made them
second-class citizens and that Britain's law was more restrictive than
in most other Western countries.
   At 21, Britain has the highest age of consent for gay sex in the
European Union. The age of consent for both heterosexual and homosexual
sex is 15 in France, 12 in Spain and 17 in Ireland.
   In the United States, laws differ from state to state. In New York
the age of consent is 17, in Washington, D.C., it's 15.
   Gay activists such as the renowned Shakespearean actor Sir Ian
McKellan argued that the law didn't stop younger men from having
homosexual sex, but just meant that they couldn't legally ask for
information on how to protect themselves from AIDS.
   Opponents of the amendment argued that 16-year-old boys are too
impressionable to know their sexual orientation and could easily be
influenced by older men.
   A recent National Opinion Polls survey showed that the public was
almost evenly divided on the issue: 48 percent wanted the age lowered
from 21 and 44 percent thought it should stay the same.
   The survey of 751 people throughout Britain had a margin of error
was 3.5 percent.

02/21 1802  BRITAIN REDUCES AGE OF GAY CONSENT FROM 21 TO 18

    LONDON, Feb 21 (Reuter) - British members of parliament on Monday voted
overwhelmingly to reduce the age of consent for gay men from 21 to 18.
     The lawmakers voted by 427 to 162 to reduce the age by three years after
earlier narrowly rejecting a move to cut the age to 16.