Should the age of consent apply equally to gays and straights?

[cboy4]

HONG KONG LOWERS AGE OF GAY CONSENT

Hong Kong's government on Monday caved in to a challenge against its gay sex laws, effectively lowering the homosexual age of consent from 21 to 16.

The decision followed a shaming government defeat in the courts when it vainly appealed against a judicial review's findings that the law governing the age of gay consent was unconstitutional.

In a city that only decriminalised homosexuality in 1991, gays and lesbians had faced life imprisonment if they had performed sodomy before the age of 21. However, heterosexuals who had sex before 16 faced just a five-year sentence.:wtf:

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3&art_id=qw1160994961897B252

Now, I realize we're talking about China, however...

I read something somewhere recently about a person (an American) who argued "people like Mark Foley" are a clear danger to young adults, and therefore the age of consent (which is 16 in D.C.) should be different for gay people like Foley, compared to straights. :eyes:

I don't even know where to begin with that....for one thing, how do you even prove beyond a reasonable doubt that someone is gay for legal purposes?

But I guess even in America, there are people who really think that consent laws should not apply equally for gay and straight people.

If you ask me, if there must be any argument/debate about this subject, it should be what is the appropriate age of consent.

And how about a ban on all Republican sex? I'm for that.

[MrSlayer]

1. Of course.

Everything under the law should be equal.

[MadMaddie]

2. Umm....it doesn't matter if the person is gay or straight

the law should not be divided by sexual orientation just as law shouldn't be divided by race....

Age of Consent should be 17-18...you can't drink until you are 18, you can't really get your drivers license until you are 18, you can't go into the military until you are 18...will this stop underage sex between teenagers probably not...but adults know that if they fuck around with teens they are going to jail....

If there is a consistant law across the nation there will be no mistake about the law ....

[Jamastiene]

3. It should be the same age of consent all the way around, IMHO.

Whether it's gay, straight, bisexual, or whatever, it should be the same age. I think it should be the same age at the federal level instead of 16 in one state and 18 in the neighboring state. Seems wrong to have a double standard, to me.

I'm with you. Republican sex is at best weird and at worst horrible. That should be banned altogether. }(

[AngryAmish]

21. I think sexual more laws should never be a federal law

States only, please.

[Nye Bevan]

4. Should the voting age apply equally to gays and straights?

Yes.

And yes to your question, too.

[cboy4]

5. "voting age?"

:spray:

[madmusic]

6. Interesting debate:

Finding a group of brave souls willing to discuss issues of child sexuality openly and honestly is not an easy task. These words, "child" and "sexuality," when uttered in the same breath, invariably frighten upstanding citizens who naturally want to protect children from abuse and exploitation. If the result isn't silence, it's the same-old uninspired, paranoid rhetoric that begets more of the same. It's no wonder we can't speak pointedly about kids, culture and sex -- we don't know how.

Novelist A. M. Homes, historian James Kincaid, author Judith Levine, radio host Michael Medved, screenwriter Stephen Schiff and high-school student Celine Texier-Rose have agreed -- after a gentle nudge or two from us -- to try to forge a new and useful dialogue in this, the second installation of the Nerve VoiceBox, our virtual roundtable. Along the way, social critic Naomi Wolf joins us briefly, author Noelle Oxenhandler examines the photographs of Sally Mann in a related essay, and Mann herself drops by to comment -- against her better judgement, she jokes -- on her own work. The conversations that result are vibrant, contentious and full of fresh perspectives on a historically stale topic.

http://www.nerve.com/dispatches/voicebox/puberty/

Naomi Wolf couldn't hang. Why? Not sure. Though I've only read a little of it, it's just words and opinions. On the whole though I do agree that more open communication and less Puritanical repression would resolve maybe over 90% of illegal sexuality.

[nemo137]

7. Having known some 16 and 17 year old girls pregnant by 20-odd year old men

I'd say that "people like Mark Foley" are less of a clear danger to young adults than your average red-blooded American shitbag. Let's raise the age of consent to 21, just like drinkin'.

[texasleo]

8. anything over 16 for any gender/orientation is ridiculous

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

9. I Have Never Heard Anyone In This Country Ever Declare Otherwise.

Until you posted that article, though it isn't even from our country, I've never heard of any legitimate push from anyone here to have such discrimination in consent laws. Does this threat actually exist on a legitimate level or is this purely an unsubstantiated hypothetical?

[cboy4]

10. Not yet you haven't. However, I know we haven't seen the complete

fall-out of the Mark Foley scandal because:

(A) He's in seclusion at rehab (yes, whatever) and cannot be questioned. He's not in the media.
(B) The investigation into possible criminal wrong-doing has not been completed.
(C) The Congressional Page Program has not been eliminated yet

and perhaps most importantly

(D) The Republicans have not lost control of congress YET, but when they do next month, Foley the Fag from Florida will be heavily accused of costing them the election.

THOSE GAYS!

So while I don't anticipate anyone arguing that the consent laws should be changed, it would be a delicious wedge issue for the Repukes.

I wouldn't put anything past them.

But for now, I'm simply posting a story from another country, and wondering aloud if such a thing could ever happen in this country.

[readmoreoften]

12. Until the late 1990s, the age of consent was different for gays in most...

states. When I first came out in 1990, many states had different ages of consent for gay sex than straight sex. Of course, in some states (Georgia/Texas) sex was illegal for gays and lesbians no matter what the age.

This is not some strange thing that happens in a communist country. This was state law in the US until recently. Remember, just a few years back in Kansas, a 18 yo male was sentenced to 17 years in prison for having consensual oral sex with a 16 year old. The punishment for a straight 18 yo male having sex with a 16 yo female (in Kansas) at the time was a year and a half in jail.

(animated firework logo-- "the more you know!")

[madmusic]

13. Justices Extend Decision On Gay Rights and Equality

Supreme Court Roundup; Justices Extend Decision On Gay Rights and Equality

By LINDA GREENHOUSE
Published: June 28, 2003

In an immediate application of its new protective approach to gay rights, the Supreme Court today vacated the sodomy conviction of a Kansas teenager who received a 17-year sentence for having oral sex with a younger boy.

In a one-sentence order, the justices told the Kansas Court of Appeals to reconsider the conviction and sentence in light of the Supreme Court ruling on Thursday that overturned a Texas sodomy law.

Unlike the Texas law, which applied only to sexual relations between same-sex partners, the Kansas law at issue is a variety of a statutory rape law, making sodomy with any child under the age of 16 a crime. Kansas, like other states with similar laws, treats the offense much more leniently, under a so-called Romeo and Juliet exception, if it involves a teenage couple, but only if the two teenagers are of opposite sex.

Matthew R. Limon had just turned 18 when he had consensual sex with a 14-year-old boy at the residential school for developmentally disabled youths where both were living. Had the younger child been a girl, the sentence would have been no longer than 15 months, instead of the 17 years for Mr. Limon.

more: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9504E5D61F3BF93BA15755C0A9659C8B63&fta=y

[cboy4]

15. D'oh!! I should have cited this case. Thanks for posting it!

[madmusic]

16. No problem, and glad to help. n/t

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

18. You haven't?

Because fairly recently there was legislation put forth calling for harsher punishment of people who molest boys, compared to people who molest girls.

Yeah, it's not exactly about age of consent, but the "principle"'s the same.

[HardRocker05]

22. different ages of consent have already been a matter of state law for year

years, so obviously somebody was pushing for it. i think that some have been changed and equalized, but i'll bet money that there are still states where different ages of consent apply.

[Warren DeMontague]

11. Yes. No question. nt

[Infinite Hope]

14. Gay sex should be completely banned...

Oh, just kidding of course.

Definitely, it should be equal. I believe it should be 18. Consent is too subjective of a determination and it's easier to protect minors who really did not consent, but are claimed to have consented.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

17. Age Of Consent Should Be Eighteen For Everybody...

If you're over eighteen and can't find anybody your own age or older to have sex with pound it or rent an escort...

[mongo]

19. And re-education camps for 17yo's that are sexually active

To teach them how dirty and shameful they are.

:sarcasm:

[kiahzero]

20. It only should be different if there's a relevant difference

Seeing as there is no relevant difference that we know of with regards to consenting to sexual behavior when the partner is of the same sex or the opposite sex, there is no valid reason for there to be a different age of consent.