ABSTRACT
Not so long ago, sexual topics were avoided in polite conversation and young persons were carefully shielded from too early awareness of what was considered the more unpleasant side of life. Ideas have changed, and works on hitherto taboo subjects, such as marital adjustment and birth control, now circulate freely. But although lip service is paid to the ideal of an open attitude to sex, prudery and obscurantism linger on, especially in relation to homosexuality. On this topic attitudes of ignorance still abound, varying from an almost superstitious dread, through abhorrence and contempt, to an amused and prurient fascination. Since 1954, when the British Government set up a Departmental (Wolfenden) Committee to look into English Law on homosexuality and prostitution, the legal issue has been repeatedly aired in the Press, on Television and in both Houses of Parliament. The judgements expressed have often been warped by the heat of controversy, and by the superficiality of the information discussed, but at least the public debates have broken the long conspiracy of silence and brought some serious social and psychological questions out of the atmosphere of the schoolroom smut and into the arena of rational scrutiny. More and more people want to know the facts of the matter, and this book sets out to give the general reader a sober account of the information available, as well as to consider the implications calmly in the light of common sense and modern knowledge.
