'I Know What I Am - Gay Teenagers and the Law', Joint Council for Gay Teenagers, 1980

S/PTC/2/1/1

January 1980

18-page A4 booklet. This booklet contains the full text of the Joint Council for Gay Teenagers' response submitted in January 1980 to the Home Office Policy Advisory Committee's working paper on the age of consent in relation to sexual offences, published in June 1979. At this time the age of consent for sex between men was 21 years old: the Committee proposed that it be reduced to 18 years. The JCGT response supported an age of consent for all of 16 years, and called on the Home Office to issue a Circular making clear that the operation of services or groups offering help, advice or support to gay and bisexual people was in accordance with public policy and open to charitable status, including those catering for the needs of gay people below the present or proposed age of consent, for example gay youth groups. The submission was based on a survey that collected the views of 98 young gay and lesbian teenagers across the country, and quotes extensively from their own words. The Joint Council was set up in 1978 and included many of the organisations in the UK providing support to young LGBT people, including: Grapevine London, Campaign for Homosexual Equality, London Friend, London Gay Switchboard, London Gay Teenage Group (all based in Islington), Lesbian Line, Parents Enquiry, Release, Cara Friend Northern Ireland, and gay youth groups in Merseyside, Doncaster, and Newcastle. The planning and drafting of the submission was by Micky Burbidge, a member of Gay Icebreakers and an Islington resident.

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LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning+) Community, LGBTQ+ Campaigning and Politics, LGBTQ+ Publications, YOUTH SERVICES, CRIMINAL LAW

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