In August 1954, the Home Secretary responded by appointing the Wolfenden committee "to consider (a) the law and practice relating to homosexual offences and the treatment of persons convicted of such offences by the courts; and (b) the law and practice relating to offences against the criminal law in connection with prostitution and solicitation for immoral purposes, and to report what changes, if any, are desirable."
The committee met for the first time on September 15, 1954. Over a period of three years, they interviewed religious leaders, policemen, judges, probation officers, psychiatrists, social workers, and homosexuals. When they issued their report in 1957, all but one of the thirteen members still sitting on the committee agreed that homosexual acts should be decriminalized if they took place in private, with consent, between persons at least 21 years of age and not members of the armed forces or the merchant navy.
The Report
The committee's report was an instant bestseller. The first printing of 5,000 copies sold out in a matter of hours, and the report quickly went through numerous reprintings.
The rationale for the committee's recommendation to decriminalize homosexuality was more philosophical than compassionate, though it did note the suffering that the current law brought upon homosexuals, and it included a number of heart-wrenching case histories culled from police reports and court cases. The committee condemned homosexuality as immoral and destructive to individuals, but concluded that outlawing homosexuality impinged on civil liberties and that private morality or immorality should not be "the law's business."
Without condoning homosexual acts, the committee found that, when committed in private among consenting adults, they did not fall within the law's purview. The function of the law, the committee wrote, "is to preserve public order and decency, to protect the citizen from what is offensive or injurious, and to provide sufficient safeguards against exploitation and corruption of others, particularly those who are specially vulnerable. . . . It is not, in our view, the function of the law to intervene in the private life of citizens, or to seek to enforce any particular pattern of behaviour, further than is necessary to carry out the purposes we have outlined."
The sole dissenter from the majority's recommendation, James Adair, disassociated himself from the report, declaring that relaxing the law on homosexuality would be regarded by many homosexuals as "licensing licentiousness."
Interestingly, despite the testimony of numerous psychiatrists and psychoanalysts, the committee refused to classify homosexuality as a mental illness requiring psychiatric intervention. It found that "homosexuality cannot legitimately be regarded as a disease, because in many cases it is the only symptom and is compatible with full mental health in other respects." It did, however, urge continued research into the causes and potential cures of homosexuality, such as hormone treatments and psychiatric therapy.
The committee also recommended increased penalties for soliciting by street prostitutes and it recommended making male prostitution illegal, proposals that were adopted into law in 1959.(glbtq.com)
Στην ελληνική νομοθεσία η ομοφυλοφιλία αποποινικοποιήθηκε με το νέο ποινικό κώδικα του 1950, δηλαδή πριν την Αγγλία. Πράγμα που αγνοεί ο κειμενογράφος της εφημερίδας της εποχής. Σύμφωνα με την ελληνική εισηγητική έκθεση, δεν χρειαζόταν να ποινικοποιηθεί πλέον μια συμπεριφορά η οποία επισύρει την κοινωνική κατακραυγή.
ω καιροί, ω ήθη!
ΑπάντησηΔιαγραφήIn August 1954, the Home Secretary responded by appointing the Wolfenden committee "to consider (a) the law and practice relating to homosexual offences and the treatment of persons convicted of such offences by the courts; and (b) the law and practice relating to offences against the criminal law in connection with prostitution and solicitation for immoral purposes, and to report what changes, if any, are desirable."
ΑπάντησηΔιαγραφήThe committee met for the first time on September 15, 1954. Over a period of three years, they interviewed religious leaders, policemen, judges, probation officers, psychiatrists, social workers, and homosexuals. When they issued their report in 1957, all but one of the thirteen members still sitting on the committee agreed that homosexual acts should be decriminalized if they took place in private, with consent, between persons at least 21 years of age and not members of the armed forces or the merchant navy.
The Report
The committee's report was an instant bestseller. The first printing of 5,000 copies sold out in a matter of hours, and the report quickly went through numerous reprintings.
The rationale for the committee's recommendation to decriminalize homosexuality was more philosophical than compassionate, though it did note the suffering that the current law brought upon homosexuals, and it included a number of heart-wrenching case histories culled from police reports and court cases. The committee condemned homosexuality as immoral and destructive to individuals, but concluded that outlawing homosexuality impinged on civil liberties and that private morality or immorality should not be "the law's business."
Without condoning homosexual acts, the committee found that, when committed in private among consenting adults, they did not fall within the law's purview. The function of the law, the committee wrote, "is to preserve public order and decency, to protect the citizen from what is offensive or injurious, and to provide sufficient safeguards against exploitation and corruption of others, particularly those who are specially vulnerable. . . . It is not, in our view, the function of the law to intervene in the private life of citizens, or to seek to enforce any particular pattern of behaviour, further than is necessary to carry out the purposes we have outlined."
The sole dissenter from the majority's recommendation, James Adair, disassociated himself from the report, declaring that relaxing the law on homosexuality would be regarded by many homosexuals as "licensing licentiousness."
Interestingly, despite the testimony of numerous psychiatrists and psychoanalysts, the committee refused to classify homosexuality as a mental illness requiring psychiatric intervention. It found that "homosexuality cannot legitimately be regarded as a disease, because in many cases it is the only symptom and is compatible with full mental health in other respects." It did, however, urge continued research into the causes and potential cures of homosexuality, such as hormone treatments and psychiatric therapy.
The committee also recommended increased penalties for soliciting by street prostitutes and it recommended making male prostitution illegal, proposals that were adopted into law in 1959.(glbtq.com)
Στην ελληνική νομοθεσία η ομοφυλοφιλία αποποινικοποιήθηκε με το νέο ποινικό κώδικα του 1950, δηλαδή πριν την Αγγλία. Πράγμα που αγνοεί ο κειμενογράφος της εφημερίδας της εποχής. Σύμφωνα με την ελληνική εισηγητική έκθεση, δεν χρειαζόταν να ποινικοποιηθεί πλέον μια συμπεριφορά η οποία επισύρει την κοινωνική κατακραυγή.
ΑπάντησηΔιαγραφή: )
ΑπάντησηΔιαγραφήΟλα τα λεφτα είναι στον υπέρτιτλο:
ΑπάντησηΔιαγραφήΚΑΤΑΝΤΗΜΑ ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑΤΟΡΙΑΣ
μ αρέσουν πολύ αυτά τα ντοκουμέντα..
ΑπάντησηΔιαγραφή