Gay folk finally achieve full equality in Florida. 18 year old girl/woman charged with statutory rape for consensual relationship with 16 year old girl/woman.
Note that if the age of consent is 17, then this would have been legal 18 months ago, before older woman turned 17. And now gay people can be classified as sex offenders under this dumb law, exposing them to death, beatings, and harassment.
A surprising number of people on sex offender lists either (1) urinated in public, perhaps after a concert or frat party, or (2) had sex with a minor when the "offender" was only a year or two older, but technically above the age of consent. Now, #1 is dumb, but not a sex offense. (And let's just say that it's possible I may have committed this act, at some point). And #2? I'm not going to say anything more, but it's been more than 7 years ago anyway, thank goodness.
Many states (though not enlightened Florida) have "minimum age difference" add-on before statutory rape charges can be brought. (Also called "Romeo and Juliet" laws.) A Penna judge actually decided this on his own, in a common-law way.
So, perhaps gay folks do still have a ways to go for equality: if we have "Romeo and Juliet" laws, we should have "Juliet and Rosaline" laws, right?
1 comment:
Boy am I lucky I'm not on the list then.
(At age 18, while camping illegally the morning after a Grateful Dead concert I actually told a New York State Trooper to hold on for a minute while I relieved myself. Thank god he was feeling benevolent, and merely told me I'd better be gone when he came back in 20 minutes).
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