I used to live in England and during that time I heard numerous references to the fact that anal sex was in fact illegal in Britain.
I took this with a grain of salt untill I actually saw an hour long documentary on why the law was still in place, what effects it had and etc. It even featured interviews with couples who said they enoyed it, mostly because it was forbidden!
Apparently the original law was against “buggery” the act of having anal sex, but was only meant to apply to gay men. Apparently Queen Victoria denied that it was even possible for two women to have sex, these were after all not very enlightened times.
Later on gay rights groups couldn’t get the law changed, but had it added that gay men could engage in the act when they had reached an age of 21! This is totally ridiculous since the age of consent for others is 18 in England, but hey, at least you didn’t have to go to jail any more! Imagine telling the other inmates what you were put away for, now that would make for a nice reception in the shower!
Anyway, to finally ask my question. Is this indeed a fact, as I’m pretty sure it is, and secondly: do you dopers know of any other strange sex laws from across the globe? It seems that if one country could have such a screwed up attitude towards sex and sexual preferance, why not others?
I just thought someone might have an even stranger and funnier sex-law fact.
Little addition for you - the age of gay consensual sex for men is now 18, it was changed 2 years ago I believe.
There is a lot of pressure to equalise thigs with straights, at 16, but the House of Lords has succesfully fought it off (a bunch of priveledged reactionary old bastards who were born into their positions and representing nobody but their own prejudicies)
This law to change things was part of a much wider and very important package which desperately needed to be approved but the House of Lords threatened to delay things so badly that to force it through would have caused a stack up of other legislation so it was dropped but there is an undertaking to push this through should the current government be re-elected for a second term.
In the great scheme of things it changes things for a relatively small number of people but it has highlighted the undemocratic nature of the House of Lords and has helped increase the effort to get rid of them - a process which is currently well under way, birthright Lords are no longer automatically entitled to sit in the House of Lords, soon the remainder will be out.
I’ve always HATED the house of lords. What right do those rich kids with a title have to make or brake anything on a national level, let alone legislation!
I’m glad to hear things are getting better in my old home
I take it you’re a Brit?
G. Raven Johnson
“Raven is my middle name”
p.s. I was hoping this thread could open up a discussion of weird contradictory laws in other countries, anyone out there know something? For an example, in Iceland you can get married when you’re 18 but you can’t drink the complementary champagne untill you’re 20!
Ding Dong !! – what’s a quiet country lad like me supposed to know about this kind of thing !
I studied law up to post-grad but didn’t really chance across this relatively quiet legal backwater very much. While I was studying, rape within marriage was finally recognised as legally actionable (presumably that encompassed buggery – not aware of any case law on that issue, though). Since then, I believe, Gay rights within the armed forces have also, reluctantly by the Forces, been accepted…
I’m not aware of any legal restrictions on sex between consenting adults (aged 18 and over) in the UK except on the question of consenting to actual, serious and other bodily harm (mutilation, etc) on oneself (that’s the sadomasochism area) and I agree with CasDave about the current pressure to reduce the legal age of consent for gay sex to age 16.
I believe parents still have some theoretical rights on their heterosexual children aged 16 and 17, gay sex is still restricted to 18’s and above (at the moment) otherwise do whatever you want in private. I hope.
Sex with sheep remains compulsory in Wales.
Perhaps because the separation of Church and State has been established for some time now, we live in a particularly secular society. Hence the only real oddities that come to mind are the usual suspects: You can drive at 17, die for your country at 17 (maybe 16 ?) but are still technically in the care of your parents and can’t buy alcohol until aged 18. I’m a bit rusty though.
When I got married, my Best Man told me about this law, whereby the Best Man has to try out the Bride to make sure she’s suitable for the Groom.
He told me she was the best I could ever wish for!!!
Yep CasDave, you’ve got it. Re-introduced Loopy Larigan (TwistofFate) to the catchphrase a few days ago and it seems to be sticking. Kind of prefer it to "You’re a complete shower !! - but I may be tempted to use both, occasionally
Sure Morrison, how kinky you want to get?:
In every state in the union: There is a law against having sex with a corpse. (presumably it is the perceived necessity for this
law that earned it a place on the list.)
In Ames, Iowa: There is a law against drinking more than three slugs of beer while lying in bed with a woman.
In Fairbanks, Alaska: There is a law against two moose having sex on the city sidewalks.
In Kingsville, Texas: There is a law against two pigs having sex on Kingsville airport property.
In Ventura County, California: There is a law against cats and dogs having sex without a permit.
In Washington, D.C.: There is a law against having sex in any position other than face-to-face.
When the husband of a Tasmanian woman dies, the law requires that she wear her dead husband’s penis around her neck. The
women of Gippsland,in Australia, do the same thing. (I wonder how these laws would apply to Lorena)
According to Iranian law, a man is required to perform his abutions if he ejaculates while having sex relations with an animal.
On a similar note, Citizens of most Middle Eastern countries are forbidden to eat lamb under certain circumstances covered by
Islamic law. The law reads, “After having sexual relations with a lamb, it is a mortal sin to eat its flesh.” (What I want to know is
“Why would this have to be made?”)
The law in Bhutan doesn’t allow a younger brother to lose his virginity before an older brother loses his. Nor may a younger
brother marry before an older brother marries.
handy, this reeks. Is there a chance in hell you could get a cite?
I was pretty sure that in the Commonwealth of Virginia, there are still anti-sodomy laws on the books (rendering their tourism slogan, Virginia is for lovers, rather laughable.) I couldn’t find the relevant law(s) at the VA web site: http://leg1.state.va.us/
I did find this, however, which I thought was interesting.
If you bang your wife after you told her you banged Betty, she can’t divorce you for it :D.
The way the current president of the US defines “sexual relations” would also deny the possibility of two women having sex. You can call Bill lots of things, but sexually unenlightened isn’t one of them.
I have a long standing bet on stuff like this that I would like to win…
I keep hearing about all of these laws that ban anything other than missionary sex…there are web sites, UL’s, friends, everything…but I have yet to find ANY solid evidence about this. I’ve searched through tons of state laws on the Net (a bunch of States have their laws posted with pretty neat search engines) but nothing is out there. I would Love to get this cleared up because I have an Indian meal riding on this.
If someone can find me a link to an ACTUAL law, not just another site that says this is so, I would be eternally grateful.
I was under the impression that the hereditary peers were no longer allowed to vote, or indeed sit, in the Lords. Didn’t they lose those rights last year?
As for representing nobody but their own prejudices, you may not like that idea, but surely it’s better to act on those rather than appear to have no opinion whatsoever, like the majority of Blairs parliamentary party!!
