# Sexual Ethics **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 28, 2013, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sexual-ethics/656873 "2013-04-28T00:54:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MsBatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@MsBatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsBatt)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sexual-ethics/656873/1 "2013-04-28T00:54:58Z")
Which is worse? Consensual intercourse with minor humans, or sexual intercourse with mature animals? It’s assumed neither are able to give informed consent. I ask this because recently a guy around here went to prison for a number of years for **consensual** intercourse with his girlfriend—he was 19, she was 16—but in the SAME court session another guy was find $500 for fucking his goat (who I assume did NOT care for it. Had the goat come forward and said “Hey, I led him on!” I’d have different thoughts.) Thoughts, Dopers? ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sexual-ethics/656873/2 "2013-04-28T01:04:04Z")
I…don’t think you can really compare the two. But 16 and 19 shouldn’t be illegal to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sexual-ethics/656873/3 "2013-04-28T01:13:08Z")
My first reaction is that any abuse of a human is worse than an abuse of an animal. But on the other hand, I don’t think a 19-year-old having consensual sex with a 16-year-old is abuse. So in this situation, I would say the goat fucker is the more rotten of the two. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sexual-ethics/656873/4 "2013-04-28T01:20:50Z")
It’s not beastiality month for a few more days. BTW what state are we talking about? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sexual-ethics/656873/5 "2013-04-28T01:26:43Z")
> [@MsBatt](#): > > Had the goat come forward and said “Hey, I led him on!” I’d have different thoughts.) The goat was heard to say “It wasn’t baaaaaad.” ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sexual-ethics/656873/6 "2013-04-28T03:00:03Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > My first reaction is that any abuse of a human is worse than an abuse of an animal. But on the other hand, I don’t think a 19-year-old having consensual sex with a 16-year-old is abuse. > > So in this situation, I would say the goat fucker is the more rotten of the two. Yeah. And it’s not speciesism. It’s that animals, having lower intelligence, are less likely to have psychological ramifications. A guy fucks Rover and Rover may limp, but he’s probably going to completely forget about it within a couple of days. It’s one of the drawbacks of increased intelligence–an increased potential for unhappiness. ---
**Author:** ![ReticulatingSplines](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@ReticulatingSplines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReticulatingSplines)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sexual-ethics/656873/7 "2013-04-28T05:02:12Z")
How…did the goatfucker get caught? ---
**Author:** ![colander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@colander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colander)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sexual-ethics/656873/8 "2013-04-28T05:16:39Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Yeah. And it’s not speciesism. It’s that animals, having lower intelligence, are less likely to have psychological ramifications. A guy fucks Rover and Rover may limp, but he’s probably going to completely forget about it within a couple of days. > > It’s one of the drawbacks of increased intelligence–an increased potential for unhappiness. I sure as hell hope your mom doesn’t let you have pets. ---
**Author:** ![Askthepizzaguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askthepizzaguy/32/9405_2.png) [@Askthepizzaguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askthepizzaguy)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sexual-ethics/656873/9 "2013-04-28T09:16:19Z")
> [@ReticulatingSplines](#): > > How…did the goatfucker get caught? Those fences can be mighty tricky. First you think you’re clever, because you managed to get the goat stuck in the fence, and before you know it, you’ve pushed the goat all the way out, and now, you’re stuck in the fence. Then the cops arrive, and they don’t even believe your story about how you were rescuing the goat from being stuck, using only a tub of Vaseline to help the animal slip out, and your penis, which was the only tool within reach. Then they tell you that if it happens for a fourth time, they’ll put my picture in the paper. But I’m innocent I tells ya. ---
**Author:** ![Askthepizzaguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askthepizzaguy/32/9405_2.png) [@Askthepizzaguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askthepizzaguy)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sexual-ethics/656873/10 "2013-04-28T09:21:02Z")
Uh… I meant your. \*Your \*picture in the paper. Not mine. Silly me. This is purely hypothetical, right? Are you guys cops? ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sexual-ethics/656873/11 "2013-04-28T11:57:52Z")
> [@MsBatt](#): > > It’s assumed neither are able to give informed consent. It’s erroneous to say that a minor human is not capable of giving informed consent to sex. There’s nothing magical that happens to a person on their 17th birthday that suddenly allows them to understand sex. It’s just a law we have because we need laws. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sexual-ethics/656873/12 "2013-04-28T14:06:43Z")
geez, I had assumed “goat fucker” was just an insult, not something people actually do. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sexual-ethics/656873/13 "2013-04-28T14:20:19Z")
> [@JackieLikesVariety](#): > > geez, I had assumed “goat fucker” was just an insult, not something people actually do. ☹ There is nothing that someone, somewhere wont try. I would have thought that the Romeo and Juliet Law would have covered the 19/16 year old lovers? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sexual-ethics/656873/14 "2013-04-28T15:22:08Z")
> [@Small\_Hen](#): > > There is nothing that someone, somewhere wont try. > > I would have thought that the Romeo and Juliet Law would have covered the 19/16 year old lovers? That’s why I asked which state in post 4. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sexual-ethics/656873/15 "2013-04-28T18:07:34Z")
I looked it up in [Michigan](http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(bie1ey3woxg04o45yr14skra))/mileg.aspx?page=getObject&objectName=mcl-750-520e) (where I live), and 16 is old enough for consent in general. 13 to 15, the allowable spread is 5 years, so even if the acts occurred a year or two earlier, it would have been legal. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sexual-ethics/656873/16 "2013-04-28T18:32:55Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > BTW what state are we talking about? The state of desperation. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sexual-ethics/656873/17 "2013-04-28T19:11:42Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > The goat was heard to say “It wasn’t baaaaaad.” If only you had spelled it “herd”… ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sexual-ethics/656873/18 "2013-04-28T22:08:01Z")
Although an animal cannot give “informed consent,” clearly there is a difference, from an ethical standpoint, between different acts of bestiality. Restraining and raping a chihuahua is obviously far worse than convincing a German Shepherd to penetrate a human. If the animal enjoys the activity, who am I to judge? Although obviously yes, I will judge the human as a creepy sicko in either case, because if you keep your mind too open, anything could get in! ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sexual-ethics/656873/19 "2013-04-28T22:42:51Z")
I’m not in favor of bestiality, but why should consent enter into the reasoning? Animals don’t have to consent to any of the other things we use them for, either. Nah, it should be a crime because it’s fucking sick, that’s why. ---
**Author:** ![panaccione](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@panaccione](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panaccione)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sexual-ethics/656873/20 "2013-04-28T23:11:13Z")
Sex with animals is wrong. 19/16 year old sex is okay in my book. My only question is, how did they catch the guy having sex with his goat? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sexual-ethics/656873.md?page=2)