If anyone ever needed evidence of the strength of resistance to homosexual law reform they need look no further than the UK.

As I have previously noted, the 1967 Sexual Offences Act, which decriminalised male homosexual acts – subject to a large number of terms and conditions – was only applied to Scotland in 1980. And it took a ruling by the European Commission on Human Rights to have it applied to Northern Ireland in 1982.

But that’s far from the end of the story. The island of Guernsey, despite being generally perceived as ‘British’ is legally ‘a Crown dependency’. In practice this means it passes its own legislation which receives assent directly from the British monarch rather than Parliament.

And so when it comes to homosexuality, it’s legislation is even more antiquated that Northern Ireland. The 1967 Sexual Offences Act does not apply there: the key piece of legislation is the 1983 Sexual Offences (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law. This essentially reflected the provisions of the UK’s 1967 Sexual Offences Act, with an age of consent of 21 and the same restrictive definition of “in private”. And homosexual acts committed in the merchant navy remained a crime

So, 16 years late, Guernsey enacted its own piece of unenlightened legislation. However, whilst the rest of the UK gradually improved its laws, Guernsey remained reluctant to do so. It did reduce the age of consent (to 18 in 2000 and 16 in 2011). But it retains the ridiculous notion of “in private” and, even though homosexual acts in the merchant navy are no long a crime, legislators went out of their way to stipulate that it can still be used as grounds for dismissal.