News
2006-10-17
Hong Kong lowers
age of consent for gay sex
Monday, Hong
Kong’s government gave in to a challenge to its gay
sex laws, lowering the age of consent from 21 to 16.
Monday, Hong
Kong’s government gave in to a challenge to its gay
sex laws, lowering the age of consent from 21 to 16.
The decision followed a humiliating government defeat
in court system after an appeal against a judicial
review’s decision that the law governing the age of
homosexual consent was unconstitutional.
Hong
Kong’s Security Bureau said in a statement that it
would not seek to challenge the court's decision.
"After considering all the relevant factors, the
government decided not to appeal the judicial review."
Since Hong Kong
only decriminalized homosexuality in 1991, gay and
lesbian youths had faced life imprisonment if they were
caught having sex before the age of 21. Their
heterosexual counterparts, however, faced a five-year
sentence. In a decision made by the courts in September, the
law was rendered unenforceable.
"I fail to see on
any basis the justification of this age limit," chief
high court judge Geoffrey Ma wrote in his judgment last
month. "No evidence has been placed before us to
explain why the minimum age requirement for buggery is
21 whereas as far as sexual intercourse between a man
and a woman is concerned, the age of consent is only
16."
The case was
originally brought to the courts by William Leung, a
21-year-old gay man.
His lawyer,
Michael Vidler, hailed the government decision in a
statement. "Now they are not appealing it, which means they
accept the fact and the court's judgment. It's about
time the government initiates steps to remove the law
without further delay. Failure to do so will be a slap
in the face for the constitution." (The Advocate)
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