Lawyer slams ‘discriminatory’ Jersey gay consent law
A family law expert is calling on the Channel Island of Jersey to lower the gay age of consent after a decision to delay debate on the law.
Rose Colley is pushing the States to move the legal age for sexual activity from 18 to 16, which would be the same as the rights enjoyed by heterosexual people.
She wrote a letter to Home Affairs Minister, Senator Wendy Kinnard, which said there is no reason to keep the law, she said: “”I think it is just an excuse to delay things and prevaricate and perhaps keep away the evil day when someone will challenge the law in the island.”
“All the statistics show that young men and girls have formed their sexuality probably long before they are 16 and there is no evidence at all to show that they are going to be more vulnerable if the age of consent is lowered.”
Ms Colley called the law discriminatory, “It will potentially affect the individuals concerned all the way through their life because they will think they are being undermined and that will have an impact on their employment and relations later in their life.”
A decision on the law has been withheld until a review into whether European Convention of Human Rights laws apply to Jersey, the BBC reports.
