 Silly laws
can be a serious matter, writes Jenna Gray.
In Alabama, it is illegal to wear a fake moustache that
causes laughter in church.
In Tennessee, interracial marriages are illegal. In Texas it is illegal to
sell one’s eyes. In South
Korea, traffic police have to report all
bribes they receive from motorists.
In Australia, laws stating that anyone who challenges
another to a duel could face three years in prison, and any person who ‘turns
pirate’ may be liable to life imprisonment have only just been abolished.
Why can everyone laugh at laws like this, and dismiss them
as ridiculous without recognising that laws governing homosexuality are just as
ridiculous and should be laughed at too?
Homosexuality has been decriminalised in all states and
territories of Australia, though in Queensland, sodomy involving anyone
under 18 (regardless of participants or sexual orientation) is a criminal
offence punishable with up to 14 years imprisonment.
Consent is not accepted as a defense.
But even though we’ve still got so far to go, it’s good to
think about where we’ve come from, too.
Though lesbianism was never illegal in Australia, sodomy was
outlawed from 1788 to 1997, when Tasmania became the last state to
decriminalise.
In 1984, the
Australian Medical Association removed homosexuality from its list of illnesses
and disorders. That’s only 24 years ago.
In August 2004,
the Marriage Act and Family Law Act was amended to define marriage as a ‘union
of a man and a woman’ officially prohibiting same-sex civil unions. All states
and territories now recognise same-sex couples, though federal governments have
been resistant to do the same
But how does Australia stack up to the rest of the world?
In Saudi Arabia, you can be sentenced to death for being gay. In Barbados
any homosexual behaviors carry a life sentence (so you’re screwed if you’re
caught watching Sex in the City in
Barbados, boys).
Malaysia has laws against homosexuality with punishments including a fine
and up to 20 years imprisonment, no laws against discrimination on the basis of
sexuality and no same-sex adoption.
In Singapore, it carries up to a 10 year jail sentence.
In Jamaica lesbians are ok, but male-male homosexuality is illegal and
carries a sentence of up to ten years hard labor.
In Texas homosexual behaviour is a misdemeanour offence.
Japan has no laws criminalizing homosexuality, but it does have a higher
age of consent.
Belgium allows same-sex marriage. In the Netherlands
same-sex marriage, registered partnerships and same-sex adoption are legal,
same as Spain.
Denmark
was the first country to legally recognize same-sex partnerships of any kind in
1989.
And in Sweden, registered partnerships have the same rights as
heterosexual marriage, including adoption, but are legally distinct from
marriage.In fact, in all Scandinavian countries homosexual civil-union
type relationships have existed for the last ten years
Interestingly enough, homosexuality is completely illegal in about 70
countries, but no country has exclusively banned female-female sex.
So they either ban all homosexual behaviors or male-male only. It just
goes to show that the ‘Nah I don’t mind youse lezzos, it’s just the bloody pooftas
I hate’ mentality is pretty wide-spread.
But it’s kind of funny to cast your mind back just 50 or so years ago, it
was unthinkable to see an interracial couple, in fact it was actually illegal,
though now people wouldn’t even look twice.
We’re slowly gaining acceptance, but will it be another 50 years before
society and our governments look back at now and laugh at these stupid and
absolutely ridiculous laws?
In large part, the answer to that question is in your hands.
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