Page:Edward Prime-Stevenson - The Intersexes.djvu/83

 began to look into the problem of similisexual love as a matter primarily in the psychiatric province, in all phases, and requiring new investigations. A large medical literature, and later one of criminology, found place for it, now in one country now another, particularly from German-writing specialists. Important contributions to the topic came presently from North America. Periodicals gave increasing room to contributions on it. The modifications of the French Code, elicited favourable or other comment. The negative position of Italian and other laws was also discussed with more interest and clearer rationality than had been earlier the tendency in most of Northern Europe. With the analytic study of nervous disease, of sex-problems and sex-instincts calm scientific interest in similisexualism grew firmer in Europe, decade by decade. Of much significance was the fact that the bench and the bar in Germany, France Italy and Austria, especially, began to dissent from legally recognizing intersexual relations and sentiments of the kind, except when forced, or if a menace to the morals of youth or offending by act the public decorum, as proper for legislation. The position of the Code Napoléon was and is such.

The following paragraph will sum up for the reader the present relations of Statutory Law in the more important European and other States toward similisexual love: more particularly as to the passion between men. Even to-day the statutes seem unwilling or indifferent toward the feminine sentiment and its practices, if compared with the masculine.

In Great Britain, where similisexual love is still denounced as a sentiment contrary to all human ethics, it is punished with imprisonment at hard labour for life; and, when only attempted, by imprisonment, also at hard labour, for a term not exceeding ten years; and with loss of civil rights. The offender is a felon, of deepest