The Homosexual Law Reform Act 1986 is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

law that broadly legalised consensual sex between men as well as

anal sex Anal sex or anal intercourse is generally the insertion and thrusting of the erect penis into a person's anus, or anus and rectum, for sexual pleasure.Sepages 270–271for anal sex information, anpage 118for information about the clitoris. ...

between any parties including opposite-sex partners. It removed the provisions of the

Crimes Act 1961 The Crimes Act 1961 is an act of New Zealand Parliament that forms a leading part of the criminal law in New Zealand. It repeals the Crimes Act 1908, itself a successor of the Criminal Code Act 1893. Most crimes in New Zealand are created by ...

that criminalised this behaviour. The law set an

age of consent The age of consent is the age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. Consequently, an adult who engages in sexual activity with a person younger than the age of consent is unable to legally cla ...

of 16 for sex between men, the same age as for opposite-sex partners.

Background

Buggery or sodomy became illegal in New Zealand when the country became part of the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

in 1840 and adopted

English law English law is the common law legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly criminal law and civil law, each branch having its own courts and procedures. Principal elements of English law Although the common law has, historically, b ...

making male homosexual acts punishable by death. The Offences Against The Person Act of 1867 changed the penalty for buggery from execution to life imprisonment. In 1893 the law was broadened so that all sex between men constituted

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...

even if it was consensual. Penalties included life imprisonment, hard labour and flogging. Sex between women has never been legally prohibited in New Zealand, but all anal intercourse, including heterosexual, continued to be prior to the 1986 Act. In 1961 the penalties for male homosexual activity were reduced, reflecting changing attitudes towards homosexuality. Shortly afterward the

Dorian Society __NOTOC__ The Dorian Society (1962–1988) was the first New Zealand organisation for gay men. It was founded on 27 May 1962 by a group of men including Cees Kooge, John McKay, Brett Rawnsley, and Claude Tanner, the latter of whom would be elected ...

and later the Wolfenden Association were formed to campaign for legalisation of male homosexual sex. In 1968 a petition signed by 75 prominent citizens and calling for legislative change was presented to (and rejected by)

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

.Setting the scene: Homosexual Law Reform in New Zealand
/ref> The first parliamentary attempt at decriminalisation was made in 1974, with National MP

Venn Young Venn Spearman Young (16 February 1929 – 14 January 1993) was a New Zealand politician. He was a member of the National Party, and served as a Cabinet Minister in the government of Robert Muldoon. He is known for his failed attempt to legalis ...

's Crimes Amendment Bill. This would have legalised sexual activity between men over the age of 21, but was defeated 34 to 29, with 23 abstentions. Warren Freer proposed similar legislation in 1979 and 1980 but this did not receive support from gay activist groups, who felt that a different

for gay and straight sex would perpetuate discrimination and

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy, ...

Bill

The Act was introduced by Labour MP

Fran Wilde Dame Frances Helen Wilde (née Kitching, born 11 November 1948) is a New Zealand politician, and former Wellington Labour member of parliament, Minister of Tourism and Mayor of Wellington. She was the first woman to serve as Mayor of Welling ...

in 1985. The bill originally had two parts. One decriminalised consensual sexual activity between men and consensual heterosexual anal intercourse, while protecting minors of both sexes. The other provided anti-discrimination law protections for lesbians and gay men. The first part passed narrowly (49 Ayes to 44 Noes) on 9 July 1986, after an attempt by opponents to invoke closure and end debate was defeated by one vote the previous week; the bill might have failed if a vote was taken then as several supporters were kept away from Wellington by bad weather. Three National MPs voted for the bill, and other National MPs (including

Doug Graham Sir Douglas Arthur Montrose Graham (born 12 January 1942) is a former New Zealand politician. He was an MP from 1984 to 1999, representing the National Party. Early life and family Graham was born in Auckland, and attended Southwell School a ...

) would have supported the bill if it had been in danger of defeat. The second part failed, but was incorporated into a supplementary order paper added to the New Zealand Human Rights Act 1993.

Debate

The Act was subject to substantial debate, and faced fierce opposition from

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political activists such as

Keith Hay Keith Wilson Hay (13 December 1917 – 2 January 1997) was a New Zealand homebuilder, entrepreneur, local body politician and conservative Christian. Early life and family Born in Hastings, Hay was the only son of Scottish immigrant William Hay ...

, Peter Tait and politicians such as Norman Jones (National MP for Invercargill), as well as the

Coalition of Concerned Citizens The Coalition of Concerned Citizens was a New Zealand Christian conservative pressure group, and one of several attempts to form pro-censorship, anti-abortion, anti-gay and sex education opponents into a comprehensive social conservative politica ...

which they created to distribute a petition against the Act. The Coalition of Concerned Citizens presented a petition opposing reform that garnered more than 800,000 signatures, the largest petition in proportion to New Zealand's population up to this point. While the Coalition of Concerned Citizens threatened electoral reprisals, the Fourth Labour Government was returned for a second term of office, losing only one constituency seat to the National Party Opposition in 1987. When National MP Lockwood Smith gave his valedictory speech in February 2013 after 30 years in Parliament, he listed voting against the Homosexual Law Reform Bill in 1986 as his biggest regret:

I faced the classic dilemma of voting according to my own judgement or the opinion of those I was elected to represent. As a new member, I opted for the latter and I've always regretted it.

References

Bibliography

*Laurie Guy: ''Worlds in Collision: The Gay Law Reform Debate in New Zealand: 1960–1986'' Wellington: Victoria University Press: 2002: *Laurie Guy: "Evangelicals and the Homosexual Law Reform Debate: 1984-5" Stimulus 13:4 (November 2005): 69–7

*History Group, ''Out and About: Homosexual Law Reform in New Zealand'', http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/node/2198.

External links

*{{cite web , title = Homosexual Law Reform Act 1986 , publisher = New Zealand Parliament , url = http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0033/latest/whole.html , access-date = 1 October 2015
A history of homosexual law reform in New Zealand (NZHistory.net.nz)"20 Years Out"
radio documentary, Radio New Zealand

from homosexual law reform, PrideNZ.com 1986 in New Zealand law LGBT-related legislation LGBT history in New Zealand Statutes of New Zealand LGBT rights in New Zealand 1986 in LGBT history Law reform in New Zealand

Background

Bill

Debate

See also

References

Bibliography

External links