Victorian Laws Used to Prosecute Playwright Oscar Wilde Under Reform
British Laws that were Used to Prosecute Gay Playwright Oscar Wilde Are
in the Process of Being Scrapped.
The Washington
Blade, February 15, 2002
LONDON—According to The Independent, the Victorian
indecency laws that were used to prosecute famously gay playwright Oscar Wilde
are in the process of being revamped. The British government is currently
reforming legislation against sexual offenses, and among the laws that will be
repealed are those that outlaw men kissing in public as well as laws against
homosexual behavior in private homes. The government will also repeal the
"offence of buggery" as well as the crime of "soliciting for an
immoral purpose," which only applied to men. Among the goals of the
reform are to scrap any form of legal discrimination against gay men as well
as to equalize the way in which the legal system deals with homosexuals and
heterosexuals. Martin Bowley, the president of the Bar Lesbian & Gay
Group, said the present laws are "anomalous and discriminatory,
especially against gay men." The revamp of the laws follows a change in
the age of consent to 16 as well as a failed attempt by the Labour Party to
repeal Section 28, a law that forbids the promotion of homosexuality.
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