ABSTRACT
Homosexuality per se has never been subject to criminalisation in English law. Instead, the criminal law has concentrated its efforts upon the regulation and punishment of certain physical activities relating to the phenomenon of (male) homosexuality. Thus, whilst the fact of being homosexual was not proscribed, many (if not all) manifestations of such sexuality were (and still are) controlled vigorously by the law. It is interesting to note, however, that in respect of the two major offences (buggery and gross indecency), regarded traditionally as being used ‘against homosexuals’, the male perpetrator is not necessarily homosexual and would not identify himself as such. Similarly, where, today, an offence of non-consensual anal intercourse (that is, anal rape) is committed, it does not follow that the defendant is ‘homosexual’. Nevertheless, in terms of consensual sexual acts between two men, the overwhelming majority of offences are committed by men who would identify themselves as homosexual.
