The Last Execution For Sodomy In England....

[+ azdr0710]

a post in the "BLM Is Racist" thread led me to this interesting wiki article......

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Pratt_and_John_Smith

Edited June 14, 2020 by azdr0710

[AceHardware]

Executed for private, consensual sex. And it's gross to me that people considered public hangings a form of entertainment. Just so many things wrong with the mentality behind this.

[instudiocity]

Executed for private, consensual sex. And it's gross to me that people considered public hangings a form of entertainment. Just so many things wrong with the mentality behind this.

We’ve EVOLVED?

[RealAvalon]

We’ve EVOLVED?

People protested and forced the laws to be changed.

[CuriousByNature]

People protested and forced the laws to be changed.

Interesting that the last execution for sodomy was 1835 - still horrendous, but I would have expected it to be later in the 19th century. The 1830s seemed to be a period of social change, after the death of George III in 1820, followed by George IV and William IV before Victoria ascended in 1837. I think Britain abolished the slave trade around that time too... like 1833 or 1834.

[RealAvalon]

Interesting that the last execution for sodomy was 1835 - still horrendous, but I would have expected it to be later in the 19th century. The 1830s seemed to be a period of social change, after the death of George III in 1820, followed by George IV and William IV before Victoria ascended in 1837. I think Britain abolished the slave trade around that time too... like 1833 or 1834.

I don't know when slavery was abolished by Britain, the slave trade was abolished in 1807, but slavery continued past that.

[CuriousByNature]

I don't know when slavery was abolished by Britain, the slave trade was abolished in 1807, but slavery continued past that.

Thanks! I was mistaken... the slave trade was abolished in 1807, and slavery itself in 1833 according to Wikipedia.

[RealAvalon]

Thanks! I was mistaken... the slave trade was abolished in 1807, and slavery itself in 1833 according to Wikipedia.

In the British Empire. If you don't like 'looting', you'll hate the British Museum in London

[+ azdr0710]

In the British Empire. If you don't like 'looting', you'll hate the British Museum in London

 

[CuriousByNature]

In the British Empire. If you don't like 'looting', you'll hate the British Museum in London

The British Museum is one of my favourite places. I could spend weeks in there.

[AceHardware]

Interesting that the last execution for sodomy was 1835 - still horrendous, but I would have expected it to be later in the 19th century.

I would have expected executions for sodomy to have continued longer also. Looking up dates, Oscar Wilde was imprisoned for sodomy in 1895. Then there was Alan Turing, prosecuted for being a homo in 1952 and undergoing chemical castration to avoid jail. I guess it was "progress" that the executions stopped in 1835, but gross injustice continued for well over another century.

[+ E.T.Bass]

a post in the "BLM Is Racist" thread led me to this interesting wiki article......

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Pratt_and_John_Smith

I had researched that case years ago and what I remember is there was no credible witness, just the tavern owner's wife that claimed she could see what was going on through a key hole. That particular day of the hanging, all those that were condemned to die were pardoned by the mercy of the judge, all except Pratt and Smith. Their crime was too great.

 

One of the two had a wife and kids. These men believed that they deserved their outcome, that Church and Crown were right to punish them for their terrible crime, and repented their sinful acts, hoping to be spared hellfire. The gentleman that lent them the room was also convicted. His punishment was exile to Australia.

 

To me it is no surprise knowing how strongly the Brits were against sodomy that hatred of gays was spread across their empire, and remains a legacy of their rule in places like India where homosexuality remained punishable until recently I believe, and is still a crime in many other countries. In the Colonies is was Thomas Jefferson that proposed the English Law practice of execution for sodomy was too severe, that cutting their nutz off was punishment enough.

Edited June 14, 2020 by E.T.Bass