200 Years of LGBTQIA+ History

From Shadows to Pride — UK & Global Timeline

Source Record

Offences Against the Person Act 1828

Why this source is used

Transcription of the 1828 Act showing buggery remained a capital offence in statute law.

Start with the answer

Start with the answer How did UK law criminalise homosexuality before 1967? Before 1967, English and Welsh law criminalised male same-sex intimacy through buggery and gross indecency offences, with punishments ranging from execution to imprisonment. Read the topic guide Criminalisation Before Decriminalisation Before partial decriminalisation in 1967, English and Welsh law criminalised male same-sex intimacy through sodomy and gross indecency offences.

Source Status

Publisher
Wikisource
Type
primary
Reliability
medium
Cited by
3 pages

Source Links

Open original source https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Offences_Against_the_Person_Act_1828 Accessed 5 June 2026 Open archived copy https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Offences_Against_the_Person_Act_1828

Used by Topics

Criminalisation Before Decriminalisation

Used by Questions

How did UK law criminalise homosexuality before 1967?

Used by Timeline Events

1 July 1828 DiscriminationLegalUK

UK Offences Against the Person Act

Introduced capital punishment for 'buggery' under statute law, reinforcing centuries of ecclesiastical and common law persecution of male same-sex relations. The Act consolidated earlier legal traditions into a single framework, ensuring that same-sex intimacy remained among the most severely punished offences in English law.