Press Conference - Sir John Wolfenden

As chairman of a government sponsored committee on homosexual offences and prostitution, Wolfenden discusses the body's recently published report. This recommends that the law should safeguard public order, not regulate people's private lives. The implication is that homosexuality and prostitution are not criminal, unless those involved are exploited or harmed.

Thanks mainly to the efforts of MP Leo Abse, the law was eventually changed in 1967 - in England and Wales - to decriminalise homosexual acts between consenting males over the age of 21.

↗ Originally broadcast 6 September 1957.

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