The Wolfenden Report Recommends Decriminalizing Homosexual Acts
At a glance:
- Series: Great Events from History II: Human Rights Series
- Categories: Literature, Publishing, Social Issues, Reform, and Protest, Law, Legal History, Courts
- Subcategories: Homosexuality, Homosexuals, Gay Men, Lesbians, Sexuality, Laws, Acts, Legislation, Human Rights
- Curriculum: 20th & 21st Century European History, British History
- Geographical Location: London
- Date: September 4, 1957
Article abstract: The growing public belief after World War II that the state should not legislate morality led the British parliament to decriminalize consensual sexual activity in private between adults.
Summary of Event
The Wolfenden Report of 1957, which recommended that homosexual activities between adults in private should be decriminalized, was the result of a gradual change in public attitudes about whether the state should legislate private morality and about whether homosexuality was a sin, a sickness, or a regular facet of human behavior. The...
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