Date: Thu, 10 Feb 1994 23:24:00 EDT
From: Song Weaver <JULIE@DRYCAS.CLUB.CC.CMU.EDU>
Subject: Brit Gay A-o-C Change Omits Northern Ireland (The Guardian)

                                 The Guardian
                                February  7, 1994
                           GAY AGE CHANGE OMITS ULSTER
                                  by LOUISE JURY
     
     
Gay rights campaigners in Northern Ireland yesterday condemned the
province's exclusion from proposed changes in the age of consent
legislation, and announced plans to lobby Parliament.
     
Edwina Currie, MP for Derbyshire South, has tabled an amendment to the
Criminal Justice Bill to equalise the consent age for gay men and
heterosexuals at 16, but the change, backed by the London-based gay
rights group Stonewall, excludes  Northern Ireland.
     
When this emerged,  Northern Ireland  activists were furious as gay
sex was decriminalised in the province 17 years after the rest of the
UK, following a challenge in the European Court of Human Rights in
1981.
     
Activists fear that private assurances from the  Northern Ireland
Office that parity on the age of consent will follow could be easily
dropped.
     
Jeffrey Dudgeon, the member of the  Northern Ireland  Gay Rights
Association who challenged the Government in Europe, said yesterday:
"However many times Stonewall say don't worry, we would much rather
take our chances now and see if it's possible [to get  Northern
Ireland  included]. We hope to get an amendment lodged."
     
Angela Mason, executive director of Stonewall, said: "All the
campaigning groups have recognised the importance of ensuring that
whatever reforms we do manage to get in this country do extend to
Northern Ireland. "
     
But she said it was important to Stonewall to have the debate on the
age of 16 and not the compromise suggestion of 18, which is being
backed by MPs including Michael Howard, the Home Secretary.
     
One problem is the age of consent for heterosexuals is 17 in  Northern
Ireland.
     
If the province were included in an amendment, it would make the age
for gay men lower than for heterosexuals.
     
Campaigners fear that this aspect could jeopardise the change for the
mainland, and therefore reluctantly accept the exclusion. Ms Mason
said: "We don't call the tune on this."