Dear Editor
Whenever a law is to be made, modified or repealed there are several issues that should be considered. Some of these are: its ability to be enforced, its ability to achieve its objectives, and its advantages and disadvantages. These considerations call for a high degree of level-headedness and as little emotions as possible.
One common misconception about this buggery law is that it targets gay men. In fact, the buggery law targets consenting adults of either sex who engage in anal sex, among other things.
So, can this law, in its current form, be enforced? I really don't think so. This law, unlike many others, is virtually impossible to enforce. To some extent we can enforce laws against fraud and corruption. However, unless we are willing to put cameras in every bedroom, I don't see how far we can get with this buggery law. As such, this aspect of the law is clearly unenforceable.
Has this law achieved its objectives? This law was, among other things, designed to prevent the "immoral" act of anal sex. There is no sure way of knowing if the incidence of this has been kept low. As consenting adults of both genders may do this in total secret, there is no way of knowing. It's not as if people report details their sexual encounters to the authorities.
Also, the incidence of HIV and other diseases associated with anal sex cannot be used as a good yardstick to measure whether this law is achieving anything. A reduced incidence of HIV and other STIs may actually mean more people may be using protection.
Is this law causing any problems? If the claim that is being made by some of our leading authorities about the relationship between the higher incidence of HIV/AIDS and the reluctance of gay men to seek treatment for their condition is true, then that is at least one disadvantage in keeping this law.
It is true that many of us would want to keep this law as it is. Many of us say that it is un-Christian to remove it. However, if the law is not serving any useful purpose, then I think the true Christian would say that it is un-Christian to keep it.
Some people are of the view that if the law is repealed we will have gay men having sex all over the place. We must understand that laws don't necessarily regulate social or cultural norms, and ours is a culture that will remain homophobic for a long time. So, apart from depriving the police of the power to arrest consenting adults of any gender for engaging in anal sex, a repeal of the buggery will not change anything substantially for a very long time to come.
The considerations that are currently being used to change the laws pertaining to marijuana are not very dissimilar to those for buggery. While many of us don't necessarily support the smoking of marijuana, and while many of us don't necessarily support anal sex, I think the time has come for us to fully respect the rights of consenting adults to make their personal choices. As such, I think the time has come to remove this cosmetic law.
Michael A Dingwall
michael_a_dingwall@hotmail.com
Time to repeal the buggery law
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Whenever a law is to be made, modified or repealed there are several issues that should be considered. Some of these are: its ability to be enforced, its ability to achieve its objectives, and its advantages and disadvantages. These considerations call for a high degree of level-headedness and as little emotions as possible.
One common misconception about this buggery law is that it targets gay men. In fact, the buggery law targets consenting adults of either sex who engage in anal sex, among other things.
So, can this law, in its current form, be enforced? I really don't think so. This law, unlike many others, is virtually impossible to enforce. To some extent we can enforce laws against fraud and corruption. However, unless we are willing to put cameras in every bedroom, I don't see how far we can get with this buggery law. As such, this aspect of the law is clearly unenforceable.
Has this law achieved its objectives? This law was, among other things, designed to prevent the "immoral" act of anal sex. There is no sure way of knowing if the incidence of this has been kept low. As consenting adults of both genders may do this in total secret, there is no way of knowing. It's not as if people report details their sexual encounters to the authorities.
Also, the incidence of HIV and other diseases associated with anal sex cannot be used as a good yardstick to measure whether this law is achieving anything. A reduced incidence of HIV and other STIs may actually mean more people may be using protection.
Is this law causing any problems? If the claim that is being made by some of our leading authorities about the relationship between the higher incidence of HIV/AIDS and the reluctance of gay men to seek treatment for their condition is true, then that is at least one disadvantage in keeping this law.
It is true that many of us would want to keep this law as it is. Many of us say that it is un-Christian to remove it. However, if the law is not serving any useful purpose, then I think the true Christian would say that it is un-Christian to keep it.
Some people are of the view that if the law is repealed we will have gay men having sex all over the place. We must understand that laws don't necessarily regulate social or cultural norms, and ours is a culture that will remain homophobic for a long time. So, apart from depriving the police of the power to arrest consenting adults of any gender for engaging in anal sex, a repeal of the buggery will not change anything substantially for a very long time to come.
The considerations that are currently being used to change the laws pertaining to marijuana are not very dissimilar to those for buggery. While many of us don't necessarily support the smoking of marijuana, and while many of us don't necessarily support anal sex, I think the time has come for us to fully respect the rights of consenting adults to make their personal choices. As such, I think the time has come to remove this cosmetic law.
Michael A Dingwall
michael_a_dingwall@hotmail.com
Time to repeal the buggery law
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