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I have deleted the references to the penalty for gay sexual activity prior to the Sexual Offences Act 1967, and the penalty for rape, as they were inaccurate, and not particularly relevant to the present article. In any event, superficial comparisons tend to be highly misleading.
The maximum penalty for rape (ie, at the time, only heterosexual, vaginal rape) under para 1 of Schedule 2 to the SOA 1956 was life imprisonment. This remains the maximum penalty for rape (now with an extended definition so as to cover anal rape, whether heterosexual or same sex).
The maximum penalty for buggery (ie all anal intercourse, whether heterosexual or same sex, and whether consensual or forced) prior to 1967 was also life imprisonment (see para 3 of Sch 2 to the SOA 1956). However, a single offence under s 12 SOA 1956 covered ALL such activity, from the violent anal rape of a minor to a consensual act between adults (including a married couple). A consensual act of anal sex would very probably have attracted a sentence of imprisonment, which might have been for several years. A very wide range of punishments would therefore be imposed for what was, in law, a single offence.
The maximum penalty for attempted buggery was 10 years.
Most same-sex sexual activity (so oral sex, mutual masturbation, etc.) was charged as " gross indecency" (s 13 SOA 1956) which carried a maximum sentence of two years' imprisonment (para 16 of Sch 2 to the SOA 1956). The homosexual offence prosecuted most frequently, as it was often used in "cottaging" cases may well have been "importuning for an immoral purpose" under s 32 of the SOA 1956, which also attracted a maximum penalty of 2 years (six months if prosecuted in a Magistrates' Court) (para 32 of Pt II of the Second Schedule to the SOA 1956).
For verification of maximum sentences, see: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Eliz2/4-5/69/schedule/SECOND/enacted.Ntmr (talk) 13:19, 26 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]
