Labouchere Amendment
E593675
The Labouchere Amendment was a late 19th-century British law criminalizing male homosexual acts, notorious for its broad wording and use in high-profile prosecutions such as those of Oscar Wilde.
Statements (45)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
amendment to criminal law
ⓘ
provision of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 ⓘ |
| alsoKnownAs |
Section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885
ⓘ
gross indecency clause ⓘ |
| appliesToJurisdiction |
England and Wales
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Ireland (under British rule) NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| citationStyle | 48 & 49 Vict. c. 69, s. 11 ⓘ |
| controversialFor |
persecution of homosexual men
ⓘ
use of vague moral standards in criminal law ⓘ |
| country | United Kingdom ⓘ |
| criminalized |
gross indecency between males
ⓘ
male homosexual acts ⓘ male homosexual acts in public and private ⓘ |
| dateEnacted | 1885-08-14 ⓘ |
| excludedFromScope | female homosexual acts ⓘ |
| historicalEra | Victorian era NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| historicalImpact | contributed to the stigmatization and criminalization of male homosexuality in Britain ⓘ |
| inForceUntil | 1967 in England and Wales for consensual acts between adults in private ⓘ |
| inspiredLaterLaw | similar gross indecency provisions in other jurisdictions of the British Empire ⓘ |
| introducedBy | Henry Labouchere NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| language | English ⓘ |
| legalConcept | gross indecency ⓘ |
| legalEffect | expanded criminalization beyond sodomy to broader homosexual conduct ⓘ |
| legalStatusInUK | repealed ⓘ |
| legislativeBody | Parliament of the United Kingdom NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| namedAfter | Henry Labouchere NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| notableFor | use in high-profile prosecutions of homosexual men ⓘ |
| partOf | Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| penaltyMaximum | two years imprisonment with or without hard labour ⓘ |
| relatedTo |
Buggery Act 1533
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Sexual Offences Act 1956 NERFINISHED ⓘ Sexual Offences Act 1967 NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| repealedBy | Sexual Offences Act 1967 NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| repealYear | 1967 ⓘ |
| sectionNumber | Section 11 ⓘ |
| subjectMatter |
morality legislation
ⓘ
sexual offences ⓘ |
| targetedGroup | men who have sex with men ⓘ |
| typeOfOffence | misdemeanour (at the time of enactment) ⓘ |
| usedInProsecutionOf |
Lord Alfred Douglas (indirectly implicated through Wilde trials)
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Oscar Wilde NERFINISHED ⓘ many lesser-known homosexual men in late 19th and early 20th centuries ⓘ |
| wordingCharacterization |
broadly worded
ⓘ
vaguely defined offence ⓘ |
| yearEnacted | 1885 ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.