April 13

Events

• Current events

1903 - You can't "freeze frame" a play, either - Little Lord Fauntelroy opened on Broadway on this date. the play was an adaptation of the classic children's story by Frances Hodgson Burnett. The story centers on Ceddie, a young American boy who finds out that he is the heir to an elderly British nobleman, Earl of Dorincourt. The Earl decides he wants the lad to come live with him, but insists that the boy's mother not come along. They boy becomes very fond of the man and soon after the man develops a similar affection for the boy. Pedos were disappointed that the play only ran for 12 shows, but the story has not been forgotten. It has been filmed several times, including versions in 1936 starring sexy boy-god-of-his-generation Freddie Bartholomew and in 1980 starring sexy boy-god-of-his-generation Ricky Schroder, who was born on this date in 1970.

1999 - Thus quoth the Baron - The British House of Lords debated on this date a proposal to lower the age of consent for gay sex to 16 to make it the same as the age of consent for heterosexual sex. Among the comments made were these - The Minister of State for the Home Office, Lord Williams of Mostyn: "I do not myself see any moral distinction between a man of 47 or 57 having sexual intercourse with a girl of 16 plus and a man of that same age having sexual relationships with a boy of 16 plus." Baroness Young: "Clause 1 allows for the first time anal intercourse on 16 year-old girls. I can only suppose that this is regarded as another equal opportunity, but of a rather curious character!" Earl Russell: "I believe that 16 and 17 year-old homosexuals have quite as much right to love each other in the privacy of their own rooms as I have to smoke in the privacy of my own room." The Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells: " Here we are talking about people who either by nature or nurture have developed as homosexual boys and men. What they most need from society is to be treated with respect and to be recognised as citizens." Baroness Hilton of Eggardon: "Paedophiles are not interested in spotty, clumsy, adolescent youths. Their interests lie in pre-pubescent children, both boys and girls, as young as six or seven; not the 16 or 17 year-olds we are discussing today." Lord Ashbourne: "The adolescent age range is one in which homosexuals are particularly interested, hence the importance of not lowering the age of consent to 16." The Earl of Clancarty: "Young people find the current law both intolerable and undignified. They find it undignified because 16 to 18 year-olds today are not as young and naive as many older people imagine them to be, or perhaps as they would like to keep them." Lord Alli: "I am openly gay. I am 34.... For me this debate tonight is not an academic, intellectual or even theological one. Between the ages of 16 to 21 I suffered under this law. I was made to keep my relationships secret from my employers, friends and even my family. To create that level of fear in anyone so young is unforgivable and I do not believe that we should put any more young people through it." Lord Lucas: "It is ridiculous to criminalise young people of 16 and 17 for engaging in homosexual activities among themselves. If that law had been in force when I was at school, Eton would have been decimated." At 11.56 p.m. on this date, the Lords voted 222-146 against the proposal. It was, however, only a temporary setback, as the law eventually was revived and passed.

2002 - More laws means more justice? - On this date the Hawaiian House of Representatives passed what was called a "watered-down" version of a bill designed to prevent "sexual exploitation of minors" at adult businesses. The measure originally would have created a new felony of "sexual exploitation of a minor" with penalties of up to 10 years in prison and $25,000 in fines for businesses that hired people under the age of 18 for sex-related businesses like nude and exotic dancing, nude and erotic massage and escort services. The amended bill only required adult businesses to keep records of the ages of their employees. Radical anti-child and anti-sex propagandists expressed disappointment at the revision. But the Judiciary Vice Chairman said the bill had to be changed because some parts of the bill were probably unconstitutional. he also pointed out the redundant nature of the law, given that laws current at that time prohibited the use of minors in pornographic materials or performances, the Honolulu Liquor Commission rules already barred anyone under 21 from working as a stripper, and prostitution of any sort was illegal. The radical opponents were not happy. They tend to like overkill.

2002 - There is no such thing as bad publicity - Despite the fact that Judith Levine's book Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex was still a month away from its first publication, the University of Minnesota Press announced on this date that it had ordered a second printing of 10,000 books. The first printing of 3,500 copies had already been sold out in large part because of all the controversy that anti-child, anti-sex propagandists were stirring up with accusations that Levine was promoting pedophilia. Originally, the University of Minnesota Press would have considered itself lucky if the entire first print had sold out, as academic books do not often sell that well. In this case, they got a rather unexpected bonanza.