Homosexual Law Changes (Press, 9 July 1985)
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Summary: Homosexual Law Changes (Press, 9 July 1985)
In a letter to the editor published on 9 July 1985, Max Abbott, the conference co-ordinator and director of the Mental Health Foundation, addressed concerns raised by Professor Philip Ney regarding a statement about the Homosexual Law Reform Bill. The statement indicated that the bill was unanimously approved by participants at a recent conference, generating some controversy. Abbott clarified that the "unanimity" only referenced those present at the closing plenary session, where the remit supporting the bill was discussed. He noted that Professor Ney did not attend this session or the plenary, and mentioned that approximately 30 out of the 250 conference attendees were absent from the closing session. Abbott pointed out that Ney’s opposition to the bill diverged from the stance of the New Zealand branch of the Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, as well as the views of the other Mental Health Foundation board members. Additionally, in a separate letter, Mark D. Sadler responded to a letter by E. R. L. Wilson, acknowledging an error in the interpretation of a table from Kinsey's research on sexual orientation. Sadler highlighted that the statistics in Table 141 showed a decrease in the percentage of males identified as exclusively homosexual from 13 per cent at age 13 to 5 per cent at age 20. He argued that these figures suggest that sexual orientation is not entirely predetermined before the teen years. To illustrate his point, he referenced English literature, specifically mentioning a character from Nigel Balchin’s novel “Seen Dimly Before Dawn,” who experiences a homosexual infatuation before later developing an interest in girls. Sadler proposed that had the character engaged physically with his male infatuation, he may have been less likely to pursue romantic interests with females afterwards.
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