1791: "Pederasty"
Decriminalized in France
After the French Revolution, penal codes were revised to
reflect the Enlightenment philosophy that led to the
Declaration of the Rights of Man, including the removal of
all penalties for "unnatural acts." Even
though the French detested the men they called "pederasts"
as much as anyone else, the French legal doctrine that a man
is free to do whatever he wishes so long as he doesn't harm
anyone else led authorities to remove all criminal laws
pertaining to private sexual behavior between consenting
adults.
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