Information on Crimes Act 1908

The Crimes Act 1908 played a significant role in shaping the legal landscape regarding homosexuality in New Zealand. This legislation, which consolidated various laws including an 1893 statute, explicitly outlawed any form of sexual contact between males. Regardless of whether the sexual activity was consensual between adults, it was viewed as indecent assault by the State. The consequences for those found guilty were severe, encompassing punishments such as whipping, flogging, and life imprisonment with hard labour.

This legislative stance on homosexuality can be traced back to the adoption of British laws by New Zealand, which criminalized male homosexual intercourse by labeling it buggery/sodomy, a crime punishable by death. Although in practice, New Zealand used the death penalty mainly for murder and once for treason, the threat of such severe punishment loomed over same-sex activities. In 1861, the United Kingdom abolished the death penalty for buggery, substituting it with life imprisonment, a change mirrored in New Zealand six years later. By 1893, New Zealand broadened its law to make any sexual activity between men unlawful, imposing penalties like life imprisonment, hard labor, and flogging.

It was not until the Crimes Act 1961 that the potential term of life imprisonment for sodomy was removed, although other legal sanctions against homosexual activity continued.

The legacy of these laws and their impact on the LGBTI community in New Zealand was significant. It took until 1986 for male same-sex sexual activity to be decriminalized, and it was only in 2018 that the New Zealand Parliament passed legislation allowing men, or their relatives, to apply to have their convictions for homosexual activity wiped from their records. While this act did not offer financial compensation or personal apologies, in 2017, the House of Representatives did issue a formal apology, recognizing the tremendous hurt and suffering these laws caused to many men and their families.