Can you take away someone's sexual rights because they have a low IQ?
Friday, March 4, 2011 at 12:49PM Wank Off Wednesday
Have you heard of this? Cognitive impairment has always presented an ethical dilemma in the world of consensual sexual activity. If you're drunk are you cognitively able to give consent? Does it matter if you consented to drinking alcohol? Are people living with Alzheimer's Disease able to consent to sexual activity? Are people with development disabilities able to take responsibility for their sexual actions? This article describes a court case where the outcome was definitively clear. NO. People with cognitive impairment are NOT able to make choices about their own sexual lives. How does this make you feel?
We present the article. A man living in a group home was in a consensual homosexual relationship with another man that he lives with. His sex drive was seen as "vigorous"- and the court decided that he didn't have adequate awareness of what he was doing to be able to participate in consensual sexual activity.
Questions! Do you think this is because his sexual activity was homosexual? Do you think the court acted with his best interest in mind? What do you think? We'd like to get conversations started on this blog that challenge, question, and celebrate sexuality in all the places we find it.
Ready? Hope so!
Love!
Donkey
Reader Comments (3)
I think this stinks of homophobia. And! I also think this is a situation where people can use someone's disability as an excuse to say they're trying to protect them- because they are unable, due to their cognitive impairment, to protect themselves. I dunno...Not happy about it!
i think it was a combo homophobia and a high sex drive. i think the world is generally scared of others with any kind of impairment having any kinds of sexuality, let alone a high libido.
stinks of homophobia and smacks of eugenixxx
jackass- word. Eugenics: just something from our past or also present in our world today? Creeepy! I've worked in residential homes with folks who have severe cognitive impairment and I honestly can't tell you what I would have done, in that role, if this situation had come up. The fact that he is capable of letting people know what he wants, clearly and consistently- says to me that he is capable of giving consent. Instead of stopping him from having any sexual contact, they should try and find a way for him to have a safe and appropriate place/time (by safe and appropriate I mean: doesn't interrupt the schedule for the house, doesn't impose his behaviors on un-consenting housemates, and is being done in tandem with regular sex education) to express him sexuality.