Age of consent reform in the United Kingdom

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LGBT rights in the United Kingdom
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United Kingdom Scotland Northern Ireland
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Same-sex marriage by territory United Kingdom Scotland Northern Ireland Guernsey Jersey Isle of Man Akrotiri and Dhekelia Bermuda British Antarctic Territory British Indian Ocean Territory Cayman Islands Falkland Islands Gibraltar Pitcairn Islands Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
Policy aspects
Sexual orientation Adoption Age of consent Blood donation Christian nation Civil partnership History of violence HIV/AIDS Military policy Same-sex marriage
Gender identity, sex and intersex Transgender rights Intersex rights NHS Gender Identity Development Service Gender Recognition Panel
Legislation
Criminality Buggery Act 1533 Offences Against the Person Act 1828 Offences Against the Person Act 1861 Labouchere Amendment Wolfenden report Sexual Offences Act 1967 Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980 Homosexual Offences Order 1982 Section 28 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000 Sexual Offences Act 2003 Policing and Crime Act 2017 Alan Turing law Merchant Shipping (Homosexual Conduct) Act 2017 Historical Sexual Offences (Pardons and Disregards) (Scotland) Act 2018
Protection and recognition Public Order Act 1986 Sex Discrimination (Gender Reassignment) Regulations 1999 Adoption and Children Act 2002 Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 Civil Partnership Act 2004 Gender Recognition Act 2004 Equality Act 2006 Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 Equality Act 2010 Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc) Act 2019 Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019
Litigation Corbett v Corbett (1969) X v United Kingdom (1978) Dudgeon v United Kingdom (1981) R v Brown (1993) Sutherland v United Kingdom (1994) Smith and Grady v United Kingdom (1999) Goodwin & I v United Kingdom (2002) HJ and HT v Home Secretary (2010) National AIDS Trust v NHS Service Commissioning Board (2016)
Culture
By city Brighton Cardiff London Liverpool Leeds Manchester
Gay villages Birmingham Gay Village The Calls Canal Street (Manchester) Old Compton Street Pride Quarter, Liverpool Vauxhall
Gay male Polari Saunas Cruising
Organisations
LGBT advocacy & support Stonewall Hall–Carpenter Archives Black Gay Men's Advisory Group Akt Naz and Matt Foundation FFLAG LGBT Foundation LGBT Network Outright Scotland Switchboard (UK) NUS LGBT LGBT+ Liberal Democrats LGBT+ Conservatives LGBT+ Labour Labour Campaign for Trans Rights Mermaids Press for Change The Gender Trust
Pride events BiCon (UK) Big Gay Out Birmingham Pride Bourne Free Brighton Pride Bristol Pride Doncaster Pride GFest – gayWise LGBT Arts Festival Glasgay! Festival Homotopia (Liverpool) Leeds Pride Leicester Pride LGBT History Month BFI Flare: London LGBT Film Festival Manchester Pride Mr Gay UK Mr Gay Wales Northern Pride Nottinghamshire Pride Pride Cymru Pride Glasgow Pride in Hull Pride in Liverpool Pride in London Pride Scotia Reading Pride Swansea Pride Worthing Pride
Former groups OutRage! Campaign for Homosexual Equality Homosexual Law Reform Society Gay Liberation Front Gay Rights Working Party Order of Chaeronea
History
Topics Timeline List of politicians First LGBT officeholders Violence against LGBT people HIV/AIDS crisis Death penalty
Timeline 342 MSM activity made illegal 1533 Death penalty introduced for MSM activity 1543 Buggery Act extended to Wales 1828 Offences Against the Person Act 1828 1835 James Pratt and John Smith executed 1861 Death penalty for buggery abolished 1885 Labouchere Amendment introduced 1889 Cleveland Street scandal 1895 Oscar Wilde found guilty of gross indecency 1912 The Cave of the Golden Calf opens 1921 Plans to make lesbian activity illegal defeated 1936 Mark Weston transitions 1952 John Nott-Bower begins crackdown 1954 Pitt-Rivers, Montagu, Wildeblood imprisoned 1954 Alan Turing commits suicide 1957 Wolfenden report released 1967 MSM activity made legal (England & Wales) 1972 First British Gay Pride Rally 1976 Jeremy Thorpe resigns as Liberal leader 1981 MSM activity made legal (Scotland) 1981 First case of AIDS reported in the UK 1982 MSM activity made legal (NI) 1983 Gay men barred from donating blood 1984 Chris Smith elected as first openly gay MP 1987 Operation Spanner begins 1988 Section 28 comes into force 1989 Stonewall UK forms 1994 Age of consent for MSM becomes 18 1997 Angela Eagle becomes first openly lesbian MP 1998 Bolton 7 found guilty 1998 Lord Alli becomes first openly gay Lord 1999 Admiral Duncan bombing 2000 Gay men allowed in HM Armed Forces 2001 Age of consent equalised to 16 2001 MSM activity involving multiple men legal 2002 Same sex couples granted equal rights to adopt 2003 Section 28 repealed 2004 Civil partnerships introduced 2004 Gender Recognition Act 2004 2006 Discrimination made illegal 2008 Equalised access to IVF for lesbian couples 2008 Incitement to homophobic hatred made a crime 2009 Public apology to Alan Turing 2010 Equality Act 2010 2011 Gay men allowed to donate blood (1 yr deferral) 2013 Nikki Sinclaire becomes first openly trans MEP 2013 Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 2014 First same-sex marriages take place 2016 MSM activity not grounds for military discharge 2017 Turing law implemented 2017 Blood donation deferral 3 months (excl. NI) 2019 MPs legislate for gay marriage in NI 2020 Gay marriage legal across UK, incl. NI 2020 Blood donation deferral 3 months (incl. NI) 2021 Blood donation deferral equalised
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Restrictions on sexual activity involving minors in the United Kingdom and its predecessors have existed since medieval times. During the 1970s, there was some political advocacy in favour of significantly reducing the age of consent, supported by various 'youth liberation' organizations and mostly by members of the Paedophile Information Exchange. Meanwhile, over a similar time period, the unequal age of consent for straight and gay young people was campaigned against by the LGBT rights movement. More recently arguments have occasionally been made in favour of reducing the age of consent, generally to an earlier point in adolescence.