jan 6, 1885 - Labouchere Amendment Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885

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Section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885, commonly known as the Labouchere Amendment, made "gross indecency" a crime in the United Kingdom. In practice, the law was used broadly to prosecute male homosexuals where actual sodomy (meaning, in this context, anal intercourse) could not be proven. The penalty of life imprisonment for sodomy (until 1861 it had been death) was also so harsh that successful prosecutions were rare. The new law was much more enforceable.

Most famously, Oscar Wilde was convicted under section 11 and sentenced to two years' hard labour. Alan Turing was convicted under it and sentenced to oestrogen injections (chemical castration) as an alternative to prison.

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