Sexual Offences Bill poll 2

[lovingboth]

Although they're no longer going to call it bestiality, the law on 'intercourse with an animal' is going to be confirmed.

What is covered includes penis in animal's vagina or anus and animal's penis in human's vagina or anus. Oral sex with an animal will remain as legal as it is now (ie covered, where appropriate, by the cruelty against animals legislation).

[Poll #119968]

Trivia note - in the 1980s, someone called unsuccessfully for one of the better sex education books to be banned because it pointed out in its section on the law that oral sex with an animal wasn't covered by the bestiality legislation. The comment was withdrawn from later editions of the book though.

Comments

[thekumquat.livejournal.com]

And just to make sure, the Animal Health and Welfare strategy being currently drafted has a mention of the subject. Trying to come up with language that says animal-human sex is bad but artificially inseminating an animal is OK proved quite tricky I understand.

Somehow this came up in conversation during the course I last went on, and I gave up explaining and suggested they ask someone from the Home Office about it. So a poor guy wandered in with a well-earned pint and was asked "What's the Home Office's opinion of bestiality" before he could even sit down. All he could say was "I'm pretty sure we're against it"! The conversation then managed to stay at a similar level for hours, and that was before the x-rated MTV came on...

[lovingboth]

It doesn't apply to this clause, but in general, this bill says something is 'sexual' if a reasonable person would consider it might be sexual and then consider that it is sexual because of its nature, its circumstances or the purpose of any person in relation to it.

The example they give - I can't remember offhand if it's in the notes or a minister's speech - is a doctor doing an intimate examination. If a purpose of the doctor is to get off on doing it, it's sexual, not medical.

They're going to start arguing on just how anyone could prove that though.