London - An AIDS support organisation has condemned the decision by the Catholic Herald to "name and shame" Catholic MPs who voted for the age of consent for homosexual sex to be lowered to 16, Rachel Donnelly writes.
A spokesman for the Terence Higgins Trust said the organisation, which supports equalising the age of consent, said the trust was "disappointed" by the Catholic Herald's treatment of the issue. "It was not a very constructive response to an overwhelming vote. Equalising the age of consent allows organisations to give a safe sex message to young people and to educate people about safer sex," the spokesman added. A total of 336 MPs voted for equalising the age of consent, including the Prime Minister, Mr Blair.
In its edition this week, the Catholic Herald published the names of every Catholic and other Christian MP that voted in favour of a change in the law. In its editorial, the paper's editor, Ms Deborah Jones, castigated the MPs for saying they had voted for a "corruption of values, the abuse of relationships and the distortion of the gift of God's sexuality".
Last night, Ms Jones said the newspaper stood by its decision to name the MPs. Their decision was "reprehensible" and lowering the age of consent would expose young gays to attacks by older homosexuals.