The notion of age of consent is peculiar in that one day sex can bring a 7 year prison term, and the next day is perfectly legal. It does not depend on the apparent physical age. The other oddness in Canada is that possession of a naked picture of someone under 18 is illegal even though it is legal to have sex with such a person. It is not clear if viewing such a picture is illegal, or if it requires possession.
My view is that gays and straights must be treated equally. It is bigotry to punish a gay person and let off a straight for doing the exact same act.
Another group I suspect are parents, who believe there is no way they can use reason, argument, bribes or threats to keep their teenage children from having sex. They have legitimate concerns to protect their children from STD (Sexually Transmitted Disease)s, pregnancy, AIDS (Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome) and getting trapped in inappropriate relationships. There are also less nurturing motives such a prudery, desire to control, youth envy and a refusal to acknowledge their child is growing up and will soon leave the nest. They hope a higher age of consent law will do for them what they cannot do for themselves. They are abusing the notion of age of consent. They are not trying to block some predator from taking advantage of their innocent child. They are trying to thwart their horny teen from pouncing someone.
If any changes are made to the law, it should make a clear distinction between pedophilic acts and ephebophilic acts. The litmus test would be puberty, a marker that a defendant could not pretend to have overlooked.
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