The so-called ‘gay age of consent’ was the most high-profile issue in UK lesbian, gay and bisexual politics during the 1990s. Campaigning for an equal age of consent provoked a series of extended public and parliamentary debates, concluding with the passage of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act (2000).This article analyses these debates to reveal emerging social relationships between heterosexuality and homosexuality. It is argued that age of consent debates witnessed the ascendance of a new ‘hegemony’ supporting ‘equality at 16’, constituted through the interweaving of knowledge-claims generated within the mainstream epistemologies of biomedicine, law, criminology and child welfare.The analysis integrates critical sociological perspectives on these various forms of knowledge, with reference to epistemological transformations occurring in late modernity. Particular attention focuses on claims concerning the age at which the fixity of sexual identities is established. It is argued that the debate’s structure enabled ‘equality at 16’ to be endorsed alongside the persistent operation of rationales of containment in the political mainstream, and hence that legal equality does not imply recognition of the equal value of homosexuality and heterosexuality. The implications are examined for ongoing struggles over sex offences, Section 28, and the social status of same-sex sexualities.
References
1.
Barrett, M. (1991) The Politics of Truth: From Marx to Foucault. Cambridge: Polity Press .
2.
Bech, H. (1997) When Men Meet: Homosexuality and Modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press .
3.
British Medical Association (1994).Age of Consent for Homosexual Men: AScientific and Medical Perspective. London: Board of Science and Education, British Medical Association .
4.
Brownlee, I. (1998) ‘New Labour – New Penology? Punitive Rhetoric and the Limits of Managerialism in Criminal Justice Policy’ , Journal of Law and Society25(3): 313–335 .
5.
Christian Institute (1999) Age of Consent: The Case Against Change. Newcastle upon Tyne: Christian Institute .
6.
Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution (1957) Report of the Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution, Cmnd. 247. London: HMSO .
Epstein, D., R. Johnson and D.L. Steinberg (2000) ‘Twice Told Tales:Transformation, Recuperation and Emergence in the Age of Consent Debates 1998’ , Sexualities3(1): 5–30 .
9.
European Commission of Human Rights (1997) Application no. 25186/94, Euan Sutherland against the United Kingdom: Report of the Commission, adopted 1 July 1997.
10.
Foucault, M. (1980) ‘The Politics of Health in the Eighteenth Century’, in M.Foucault Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings 1972–1977, ed. C. Gordon, pp. 166–182. London: Harvester Wheatsheaf .
11.
Foucault, M. (1981) The History of Sexuality, Volume One: An Introduction. London: Penguin .
12.
Giddens, A. (1991) Modernity and Self-Identity. Cambridge: PolityPress .
13.
Gillies, V., with J. Ribbens McCarthy and J. Holland (1999) Young People and Family Life: Analysing and Comparing Disciplinary Discourses. Oxford: Centre for Family and Household Research, Oxford Brookes University .
14.
Gramsci, A. (1971) Selections from the Prison Notebooks 1929–1935. London:Lawrence and Wishart .
15.
Hall, S. (1980) ‘Reformism and the Legislation of Consent’, in National Deviancy Conference (ed.) Permissiveness and Control: The Fate of the Sixties Legislation, pp. 1–43. London: Macmillan .
16.
Herman, D. (1994) Rights of Passage: Struggles for Lesbian and Gay Equality. Toronto: University of Toronto Press .
17.
Hodgkin, R. (1998) ‘Crime and Disorder Bill’ , Children and Society12: 66–68 .
18.
Home Office (2000) Setting the Boundaries: Reforming the Law on Sex Offences –Summary Report and Conclusions. London: Home Office Communications Directorate .
19.
Jackson, S. (1998) ‘Sexual Politics: Feminist Politics, Gay Politics, and the Problem of Heterosexuality’, in T. Carver and V. Mottier (eds) Politics of Sexuality: Identity, Gender, Citizenship, pp. 68–78. London: Routledge .
20.
James, A., C. Jenks and A. Prout (eds) (1998) Theorizing Childhood. Cambridge: Polity Press .
21.
Labour Party (2001) Ambitions for Britain: Labour’s Manifesto 2001. London:Labour Party .
22.
Laclau, E. and C. Mouffe (1985)Hegemony and Socialist Strategy. London: Verso .
23.
Law Commission (1995) Consent in the Criminal Law, consultation paper no. 139. London: HMSO .
24.
McGhee, D. (2000) ‘Wolfenden and the Fear of “Homosexual Spread”: Permeable Boundaries and Legal Defences’ , Studies in Law, Politics and Society21: 65–97 .
25.
McIntosh, M. (1968) ‘The Homosexual Role’ , Social Problems16(2): 182–192 ; reprinted in K. Plummer (ed.) (1981) The Making of the Modern Homosexual, pp. 30–44. London: Hutchinson.
26.
McIntosh, M. (1997) ‘Seeing the World from a Lesbian and Gay Standpoint’, in L.Segal (ed.) New Sexual Agendas, pp. 205–213. London: Macmillan .
27.
Monk, D. (1998) ‘Sex Education and the Problematization of Teenage Pregnancy:A Genealogy of Law and Governance’ , Social and Legal Studies7(2): 239–259 .
28.
Moran, J. (2001) ‘Childhood Sexuality and Education: The Case of Section 28’ ,Sexualities4(1): 73–89 .
29.
New Law Journal (1994) ‘Tarnished Legislation’, editorial , New Law Journal144(6637): 257-257 .
30.
NOP Solutions (1999) Age of Consent: Research Carried Out for Stonewall on Age of Consent, February 1999, NOP/420022. London: NOP Research Group Limited .
31.
Plummer, K. (1975) Sexual Stigma: An Interactionist Account. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul .
32.
Policy Advisory Committee on Sexual Offences (1981) Report on the Age of Consent in Relation to Sexual Offences, Cmnd. 8216. London: HMSO .
33.
Rahman, M. (2000) Sexuality and Democracy. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press .
34.
Rayside, D. (1998) On the Fringe: Gays and Lesbians in Politics. London: Cornell University Press .
35.
Read, M., D. Marsh and D. Richards (1994) ‘Why Did They Do It? Voting on Homosexuality and Capital Punishment in the House of Commons’ ,Parliamentary Affairs47(3): 374–386 .
36.
Richardson, D. (2000a) ‘Claiming Citizenship? Sexuality, Citizenship and Lesbian/Feminist Theory’ , Sexualities3(2): 255–272 .
37.
Richardson, D. (2000b) Rethinking Sexuality. London: Sage .
38.
Royal College of Psychiatrists (1976) Submission to Criminal Law Revision Committee. London: Royal College of Psychiatrists .
39.
Squires, J. (1999) Gender in Political Theory. Cambridge: Polity Press .
40.
Stein, E. (ed.) (1992) Forms of Desire: Sexual Orientation and the Social Constructionist Controversy. London: Routledge .
41.
Stonewall (1993) The Case for Change. London: Stonewall .
Stonewall (1998) The Case for Equality. London: Stonewall .
44.
Tatchell, P. (1996) ‘Is Fourteen Too Young For Sex?’ , Gay Times June 1996: 36–38 .
45.
Turner, B.S. (1995) Medical Power and Social Knowledge. London: Sage .
46.
Turner, G. (1996) British Cultural Studies: An Introduction, 2nd edn. London: Routledge .
47.
Waites, M. (1995) The Age of Consent Debate: A Critical Analysis. MA Culture and Society dissertation, Department of Sociology, University of Essex.
48.
Waites, M. (1999a) ‘The Age of Consent and Sexual Citizenship in the United Kingdom: a History’, in J. Seymour and P. Bagguley (eds) Relating Intimacies: Power and Resistance, pp. 91–117. London: Macmillan .
49.
Waites, M. (1999b) The Age of Consent, Homosexuality and Citizenship in the United Kingdom (1885–1999). PhD thesis, South Bank University, London.
50.
Waites, M. (2000) ‘Homosexuality and the New Right: The Legacy of the 1980s for New Delineations of Homophobia’ , Sociological Research Online5(1), URL (consulted May 2000): http://www.socresonline.org.uk/5/1/waites.html
51.
Waites, M. (2001) ‘Regulation of Sexuality: Age of Consent, Section 28 and Sex Education’ , Parliamentary Affairs54(3): 495–508 .
52.
Waites, M. (2002) ‘Inventing a “Lesbian Age of Consent”? The History of the Minimum Age for Sex between Women in the UK’ , Social and Legal Studies11(3): 323–342 .
53.
Weeks, J. (1977) Coming Out: Homosexual Politics in Britain from the Nineteenth Century to the Present. London: Quartet Books .
54.
Weeks, J. (1995) Invented Moralities. Cambridge: Polity Press .
55.
Weeks, J. (2000) Making Sexual History. Cambridge: Polity Press .
56.
Weeks, J., B. Heaphy and C. Donovan (2001)Same-Sex Intimacies: Families of Choice and Other Life Experiments. London: Routledge .
57.
White, S. (1998) ‘Interdiscursivity and Child Welfare: The Ascent and Durability of Psycho-legalism’ , Sociological Review46(2): 264–292 .
58.
Wilson, A.R. (1993) ‘Which Equality? Toleration, Difference or Respect’, in J.Bristow and A.R. Wilson (eds) Activating Theory: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Politics, pp. 171–189. London: Lawrence and Wishart .
59.
Wise, S. (2000) ‘“New Right” or “Backlash”? Section 28, Moral Panic and “Promoting Homosexuality”’ , Sociological Research Online5(1), URL (consulted May 2000): http://www.socresonline.org.uk/5/1/wise.html
