The Homosexual Law Reform Act 1986 is a New Zealand Act of Parliament that broadly legalised consensual sex between men as well as anal sex regardless of partners' gender. It removed the provisions of the Crimes Act 1961 that criminalised this behaviour. The legislation established a uniform age of consent, setting it at 16 for both same-sex and opposite-sex partners.
Before Homosexual Law Reform, male homosexual acts had faced severe legal penalties in New Zealand, evolving from capital punishment to life imprisonment and hard labour. Despite initial attempts at decriminalisation in the 1970s, it was not until the landmark 1986 Act that consensual same-sex activities were decriminalised, marking a significant progressive shift in the country's approach to LGBT rights.
Background
Buggery or sodomy became illegal in New Zealand when the country became part of the British Empire in 1840 and adopted English law making male homosexual acts punishable by death. The Offences Against The Person Act of 1867 changed the penalty for buggery from execution to life imprisonment. In 1893 the law was broadened so that all sex between men constituted sexual assault even if it was consensual. Penalties included life imprisonment, hard labour and flogging. Sex between women has never been legally prohibited in New Zealand, but all anal intercourse, including heterosexual, continued to be prior to the 1986 Act.
In 1961 the penalties for male homosexual activity were reduced, reflecting changing attitudes towards homosexuality. Shortly afterward the Dorian Society and later the Wolfenden Association were formed to campaign for legalisation of male homosexual sex. In 1968 a petition signed by 75 prominent citizens and calling for legislative change was presented to (and rejected by) parliament.
The first parliamentary attempt at decriminalisation was made in 1974, with National MP Venn Young's Crimes Amendment Bill. This would have legalised sexual activity between men over the age of 21, but was defeated 34 to 29, with 23 abstentions. Warren Freer proposed similar legislation in 1979 and 1980 but this did not receive support from gay activist groups, who felt that a different age of consent for gay and straight sex would perpetuate discrimination and homophobia.
Legislative history
The Bill which would have become this Act was introduced by Labour MP Fran Wilde in 1985. The bill originally was composed of two parts: Part I, which removed criminal penalties for those engaging in consensual homosexual acts and anal intercourse with people over the age of 16 (which was the age of consent for vaginal sex in New Zealand), and Part II, which provided anti-discrimination protections for lesbians and gay men.
Committee stage
During consideration of the Bill by the Committee of the Whole, two amendments concerning the age of consent for homosexual activities (one setting set such an age at 20, and another setting it at 18) were rejected. Ironically, the staunchest opponents of the Bill (who wanted homosexuality to remain illegal for people of all ages) voted against a higher age of consent, as they believed that "nobody in their right mind would vote for a third reading for the Bill with the age of consent at 16".
The Committee also decided, by a majority of 18 (31 Ayes to 49 Noes), to remove Part II from the Bill.
Passage
The Bill, as amended, passed narrowly (49 Ayes to 44 Noes) on 9 July 1986, after an attempt by opponents to invoke closure and end debate had been defeated on 2 July by one vote (41 Ayes to 42 Noes); the bill might have failed if a vote had been taken then as several supporters were kept away from Wellington by bad weather. Three National MPs voted for the bill, and other National MPs (including Doug Graham) would have supported the bill if it had been in danger of defeat.
Aftermath
Although Part II did not make it into the final version of the Bill, its provisions were eventually enacted into law seven years later by the New Zealand Human Rights Act 1993. Full equality to LGBT+ New Zealanders was finally granted on 17 April 2013, when by 77 votes to 44 same-sex marriage in New Zealand was legalised, receiving royal assent on 19 April. It entered into force on 19 August the same year.
On 10 April 2018 , the Criminal Records (Expungement of Convictions for Historical Homosexual Offences) Act 2018 came into effect, joining a range of similar statutes in other Commonwealth countries that pardoned or quashed convictions for homosexuality prior to decriminalisation.