Labouchere Amendment

E593675

The Labouchere Amendment was a late 19th-century British law criminalizing male homosexual acts, notorious for its broad wording and use in high-profile prosecutions such as those of Oscar Wilde.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Labouchere Amendment canonical 2

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (45)

Predicate Object
instanceOf amendment to criminal law ⓘ
provision of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 ⓘ
alsoKnownAs Section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 ⓘ
gross indecency clause ⓘ
appliesToJurisdiction England and Wales ⓘ
Ireland (under British rule) ⓘ
citationStyle 48 & 49 Vict. c. 69, s. 11 ⓘ
controversialFor persecution of homosexual men ⓘ
use of vague moral standards in criminal law ⓘ
country United Kingdom ⓘ
criminalized gross indecency between males ⓘ
male homosexual acts ⓘ
male homosexual acts in public and private ⓘ
dateEnacted 1885-08-14 ⓘ
excludedFromScope female homosexual acts ⓘ
historicalEra Victorian era ⓘ
historicalImpact contributed to the stigmatization and criminalization of male homosexuality in Britain ⓘ
inForceUntil 1967 in England and Wales for consensual acts between adults in private ⓘ
inspiredLaterLaw similar gross indecency provisions in other jurisdictions of the British Empire ⓘ
introducedBy Henry Labouchere ⓘ
language English ⓘ
legalConcept gross indecency ⓘ
legalEffect expanded criminalization beyond sodomy to broader homosexual conduct ⓘ
legalStatusInUK repealed ⓘ
legislativeBody Parliament of the United Kingdom ⓘ
linked to: British Parliament
namedAfter Henry Labouchere ⓘ
notableFor use in high-profile prosecutions of homosexual men ⓘ
partOf Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 ⓘ
penaltyMaximum two years imprisonment with or without hard labour ⓘ
relatedTo Buggery Act 1533 ⓘ
Sexual Offences Act 1956 ⓘ
Sexual Offences Act 1967 ⓘ
repealedBy Sexual Offences Act 1967 ⓘ
repealYear 1967 ⓘ
sectionNumber Section 11 ⓘ
subjectMatter morality legislation ⓘ
sexual offences ⓘ
targetedGroup men who have sex with men ⓘ
typeOfOffence misdemeanour (at the time of enactment) ⓘ
usedInProsecutionOf Lord Alfred Douglas (indirectly implicated through Wilde trials) ⓘ
linked to: Lord Alfred Douglas

Oscar Wilde ⓘ
many lesser-known homosexual men in late 19th and early 20th centuries ⓘ
wordingCharacterization broadly worded ⓘ
vaguely defined offence ⓘ
yearEnacted 1885 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

1889 Cleveland Street scandal → legalContext → Labouchere Amendment ⓘ
Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 → alsoKnownAs → Labouchere Amendment ⓘ