AYR: Scottish Liberals, meeting in Ayr, have voted against a proposed age of consent of 16 for homosexuals. The motion was lost by only a single vote.
However, the conference did accept that homosexual acts between consenting adult males in private should be made legal in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The Liberals also called for a careful look at the use of laws on public nuisance and indecent behaviour, to ensure that they are not being used to persecute homosexuals.
The debate listed in the agenda as Fair Treatment For Homosexuals, was introduced by Angus Robbie, -former Parliamentary candidate for -South Aberdeen.
Angus was supported by Elaine Murray, Gay Rights Organiser for-the Scottish League of Young Liberals, and publisher John Calder, the Liberal candidate for Dunfermline.
           Prison
Opening the debate, Angus Robbie told the conference: “We do not send people to prison for adultery, for being promiscuous or for being an unmarried parent.
“But we do send people to prison for committing homosexual acts—although nobody but the participants is affected.”
He estimated that one in twenty people in Scotland were homosexual, “yet we
• forbid them to express what, to them, is their natural sex life. We force them to suppress their inclinations. We force them to meet in dubious and unpleasant ways, in gay bars, unsavoury clubs or public-lavatories.
“Then we condemn them for meeting in this way.”

           Corruption
Angus challenged society’s double standards. “Our society admires an older man who finds a young attractive wife. Our society condemns as a corrupter Of youth an older man who establishes a relationship with a young attractive man. ‘Pansies’ and ‘poofs’ are the object of scorn and derision from every second-rate comedian.
“In thousands of ways we humiliate and oppress people who have no choice in the way they feel.”
Finally, he called on Liberals to resist oppression. “Our laws must be fair and we must understand the subtle difference between morality and legality. We must demand for homosexuals the same rights and responsibilities as heterosexuals enjoy.
“Anything less is oppression.”