'Unnatural' gay sex at 16 move attacked

I'm not sure what's going on in this article. I can't say that it's terribly well written, but I think I get the gist. Someone, Deputy Ron Le Moignan I presume, is objecting to lowering the age of consent for gay sex to 16. One presumes that the age of consent for heterosexuals in this jurisdiction is 16, otherwise, the whole subject would be moot. The debate, then, is really whether everyone should be treated equally.

Here are some interesting quotes from the article. Unfortunately, it's difficult to determine the attribution from the context, but it's presumed this is Deputy Ron Le Moignan speaking:

'Aids [sic] started from San Francisco, the first big outbreak, and that's well recognised as being a mainly gay town.'

Hey, Ron, get your head out of your ass. The first known case of HIV in a human was found in a person who died in the Congo in 1959. By 1981, when the first cases started to appear in LA, SF and NY, HIV was already ravaging the African continent.

'I dislike the idea of men hanging around school exits trying to pick up boys, because that's where it will lead.'

That's fucking asinine. It's bigoted and homophobic too. He's trying to cloud the issue by equating homosexuals with pedophiles. What's the matter Ron? Are you afraid that they'll get in the way of all of those dirty old men hanging around trying to pick up 16-year-old girls?

'I was concerned about young boys being predated upon by older men. At 16 they haven't matured sufficiently. It's an unnatural act and unnatural behaviour.'

The real issue here is the stigmatization and criminalization of homosexuality, the prejudicial attitudes of legislators and the inequities that result. If legislators believe that a 16-year-old is mature enough to consent to a heterosexual relationship, then he or she is mature enought to make that same decision about a homosexual relationship too.


see also:

• Age of consent
• Timeline of AIDS
• Bush Administration Equates Gay Rights Groups with Pedophilia
  

tags: homosexuality, homosexual, gay, Guernsey