California lawmakers have approved a bill that seeks to apply the state’s sexual offense laws for straight people equally to LGBTQ individuals.
Under current law, it is a crime for a person over the age of 18 to have sex with a person under the age of 18. But if an 18-year-old high schooler, for example, has “penile-vaginal” sex with their 17-year-old girlfriend or boyfriend, judges are allowed to exercise discretion in terms of punishment, and the older teenager is not automatically required to register as a sex offender.
However, if a teenager engages in oral or anal intercourse with a significant other of the same sex who is not yet 18, they are automatically placed on the sex offender registry. The law is based on the state’s since-repealed anti-sodomy laws of 40 years ago, where oral or anal sex between two consenting adults of any gender — including male-female relations — was illegal.
Frustrated with the disparity in the law, California State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) introduced a bill, SB 145, to make the punishment for LGBTQ individuals equivalent to their straight counterparts. If the bill is enacted, it will still remain a crime to engage in sex with someone below the age of consent, but judges will be asked to take into account the facts of the case before automatically placing an individual — of any gender or orientation — on the sex offender registry.
I read this comment from Weiner…
Wiener continued: “Going on the sex-offender registry can ruin a young person’s life, making it harder for them to find a job and housing. We need to put an end to this terrible discrimination.”
In a round about kind of way, he’s admitting that the registry is PUNISHMENT. Perhaps his statement can be used in arguments against the registry…???
They are having a filed day with this in the media. Its been call a law to legalize pedophilia..I countered with stating that fact that it’s really just leveleing the playing field for gay people to be treated the same as straight people in these cases. No one bothers to research the why. They just take news people are face value and run with the click bait. It’s amazing to me what people will beleive when they see it on TV. This is Fear mongering and click bait as its finest.
This has no significant effect on any of our draconian punishment issues. Nice to know they are equally applying SO laws equally to everyone, but useless to our fight one way or another.