LGBT History
Scotland
Legal Timeline
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LGBT History
Scotland
Legal Timeline |
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| 1553 | Buggery Act | Reenacted in 1663 became the model for the law in all English speaking countries. |
| 1885 | Criminal Law Amendment Act (Labouchere Amendment) | Criminalised homosexual acts between males throughout the UK |
| 1945 | Lord Advocate instruction to Procurators Fiscal | No action should be taken when homosexual acts between two consenting adults take place in private. |
| 1954-57 | Wolfenden Committee | Last surviving member died last end of Jan 2006 |
| 1967 | Sexual Offences Act (Leo Abse) | Decriminalised homosexual acts between two consenting adults in private, over the age of 21 in England and Wales. |
| 1969 | Stonewall Riots in New York | |
| 1969 | Scottish Minorities Group established in Glasgow | Ian Dunn, Ian Christie, John Briggs, John Breslin Supported by: |
| 1970 | Lay Liberation Front established in London | |
| 1970s | SMG draft legislation | On a number of occasions the draft was submitted to the House of Commons but it never reached the floor of the House. |
| 1980 | Criminal Justice Act (?) (George Younger) | Amongst other things decriminalised homosexual acts between consenting
adults over the age of 21 in Scotland. Robin Cook, MP, was principal architect with drafting possibly done by Solicitor General, Nicholas Fairbairn. |
| 1988 | Clause 28 introduced | |
| 1995 | Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act | Consolidates existing
legislation making it a criminal offence to have sexual intercourse
with a girl below 16 even if she gives her consent. It is a defence
if the man is under 24, had not been previously charged with
such an offence and had reasonable cause to believe that the
girl was aged 16 or over. Act also decriminalises male homosexual
sex for young men who are both aged 18 or over, provided the
act takes place in private and both parties consent (will be
reduced to age 16 on passing of Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill). |
| 2000 | Repeal of Clause 28 (actually 2a) in Scotland | NAS file GD467/8/7 1987-89 SHRG: campaign against Clause
28, Local Govt. Act 1988. |
| 2000 | Sex Offences (Amendment) Act | The Act makes two changes to the law on sexual offences, amending 1956 and 1967 Sexual Offences Acts, the Criminal Law (Consolidation)(Scotland) Act 1995, the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 and the Homosexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 1982. First, it reduces the age at which a person may lawfully consent to buggery and certain homosexual acts from 18 to 16 in England, Scotland and Wales, and from 18 to 17 in Northern Ireland. This will equalise the age of consent for sexual activity for homosexuals and heterosexuals living in England, Wales and Scotland (at age 16) and Northern Ireland (age 17). Second, the Bill introduces a new offence where a person aged 18 or over ‘position of trust’ in relation to a person under 18 has sexual intercourse or engages in any other kind of sexual activity with that person. The key issue here is that certain 16/17 year-olds are deemed vulnerable and afforded state protection for the purposes of sexual activity. ScotsGay http://www.scotsgay.co.uk/text/sg33.txt Age of Consent |
| Prepared with much help from Frank Rice and The Knitting Circle |