Law Reference
Sexual Offences Act 1967
Short answer
The Sexual Offences Act 1967 partially decriminalised consensual sex between men in England and Wales, but only in private, only for adults over 21, and without creating full equality.
- Status
- reviewed
- Reviewed
- 22 May 2026
- Sources
- 7
- High trust
- 6
Curated Routes
Appears in these journeys
Use a journey when this legal reference is part of a wider reform story.
Overview
The Act followed the Wolfenden Report and years of law reform campaigning. It was a landmark step, but it retained major restrictions and left Scotland, Northern Ireland, the armed forces and merchant navy outside equivalent reform at the time.
Key Dates
- enacted
- 27 July 1967
Partial decriminalisation
The Act provided that a homosexual act in private would not be an offence when the statutory conditions were met.
Limited equality
The reform did not equalise the age of consent and did not end the wider policing, criminalisation and stigma that continued to affect gay and bisexual men.
Related Timeline Events
The Wolfenden Report Published
The Wolfenden Committee reported in 1957 and recommended that private homosexual activity between consenting adults over 21 should no longer be a criminal offence. The recommendation did not immediately change the law, but it created the central law-reform argument that later shaped the Sexual Offences Act 1967.
North Western Homosexual Law Reform Committee Founded
The North-Western Homosexual Law Reform Committee held its first meeting in Manchester on 4 June 1964, with a formal launch later that year. Founded by Allan Horsfall and others to support decriminalisation, it later became the Committee for Homosexual Equality and then the Campaign for Homosexual Equality.
Sexual Offences Act 1967
The Sexual Offences Act 1967 partially decriminalised sex between men in England and Wales, but only under tightly limited conditions. It applied to consenting adults over 21 in private and left major exclusions and inequalities in place, including outside England and Wales.
