Lecture Post 2
The UK's had things mostly right since the 1960s. In 1968, homosexual sex was legal--it took the United States until 2003 when the Supreme Court struck down sodomy laws in Lawrence v. Texas.
In the 1950s, one member of the House of Lords was arrested and put on trial for violating the law banning homosexual sex. Edward John Barrington, Douglas-Scott-Montagu was in his late-twenties. The public believed that the legal proceedings were not reasonable and along with the Wolfenden committee led directly to the legalization of consensual sex between adults regardless of gender (Standard). Granted the age of consent was 21 for homosexual sexual activity and only allowed in private, which excluded hotels. Oddly enough, more people were prosecuted after 1968 because the police did not like the law.
It has taken more steps in the UK to "legalize gay" as the catch phrase goes, but the steps started earlier. Now same-sex marriage is legal in the UK. The United States seems to be moving toward legalizing marriage as the latest polls show that a majority of Americans support same-sex marriage. The ABC news-Washington Post Poll, puts support at 58% in support of same-sex marriage (Same-Sex Marriage Poll). Americans are slow on the up take and are behind the UK, but although it has taken several decades the US is moving slightly faster now. Homosexual sex is legal and same-sex marriage is legal in a few states and is becoming more and more accepted.
One thought about why Europe is much more accepting of homosexuality and has been is because of continental philosophy, which is much more liberal than American philosophy. Continental philosophy includes Simone de Beauvoir and The Second Sex. The US is dominated in part by religious extremism and conservative thought.
How do we keep moving forward and broadening our American perspectives?
Bibliography
"Poll tracks Dramatic Rise in support for Gay Marriage" http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/03/poll-tracks-dramatic-rise-in-support-for-gay-marriage/
"Lord Montagu on the court case which ended the legal persecution of homosexuals"
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/lord-montagu-on-the-court-case-which-ended-the-legal-persecution-of-homosexuals-6597923.html
I do have to argue that the parallel between the British and American arcs toward "legalizing gay" is not so clear. The American legal system never had the struggle against the legalization of homosexual sex. This British phenomenon seemed to raise public sympathy for the cause of "legalizing gay" and against the injustices performed by the police. America has never seen an equivalent of this struggle, and therefore has not had a wholesale garnering of public sympathy in the same manner that Britain has.
ReplyDelete-Liana Glew
Actually the American legal system DID have the struggle against homosexual sex - that is why there was Lawrence v. Texas. There just wasn't a well known public figure put through a trial. A couple was arrested for breaking anti-sodomy laws and eventually their case reached the Supreme Court and the court struck down the anti-sodomy laws.
ReplyDeleteI do see your point that there wasn't a public figure put through a trial to gain public support. There are plenty of "out" famous people, which helps garner that support, but does not have the same results in the US that this one man's trial had on the British public.