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Content about Obscenity law

March 16, 2013
Tokyo gay shop busted for selling 'obscene' photo books

Japan's police arrested two staff of a gay shop for selling photography books which included pictures of nude men

Tokyo’s metropolitan police announced that it arrested staff of a gay store in the Shinjuku district for selling a book by photographer Leslie Kee that included images of full male nudity, which they deemed 'obscene'.

Officers took into custody yesterday (15 March) the 61-year-old manager of Lumiere, a shop located in Tokyo’s gay quarter that sells DVDs and magazines, and one other employee.

The manager of Lumiere told officers that the editor of Japan’s gay magazine Badi said that selling Kee’s books is not illegal as they are considered artistic.

February 25, 2013
MPs computers used to access gay dating, hardcore porn websites

UK parliamentary computers have been used to access websites for gay cruising, foot fetishes, and women lying next to cats

Parliamentary computers have been used to access gay cruising and hardcore pornography websites thousands of times over a 14 month period.

The Mail on Sunday revealed gay cruising websites were accessed 3,459 times on computers used by members of parliament, peers and staff between May 2011 and July 2012.

On May 2011, a gay dating website was accessed 2,878 alone.

Pornography accessed by parliamentary computers include sadomasochism, foot and fat fetishism, and a website featuring naked women lying next to cats.

August 8, 2012
Are British law officials biased against gay sex?

Simon Walsh and Michael Peacock were both cleared of gay porn charges in UK courts, but why did the police and prosecutors take it that far in the first place?

Is the English legal establishment institutionally homophobic? That may seem an odd question, given the wealth of LGBT-positive initiatives put in place by police forces in recent years. But two recent prosecutions around gay pornography – of Michael Peacock in January for distributing it and of Simon Walsh for possessing it – are leading many in the non-straight community to raise an eyebrow.

August 7, 2012
Gay London Mayor aide says 'strange sex life' hurt no-one

Trial of Simon Walsh heard the barrister deny owning 'extreme porn' depicting 'violent sex acts' and an image of an underage boy

A gay former aide to the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, denied his ‘strange sex life’ hurt anyone, a court heard.

Barrister Simon Walsh is charged with five counts of possessing extreme porn images and one of possessing an indecent picture of an underage boy.

The photos were discovered in the 50-year-old’s email account, which he admits was used solely for sex, and included photos of violent sex acts, a jury at Kingston Crown Court was told.