The ‘leniency problem’: a Queensland case study on sentencing male same-sex offences, 1939–1948

Abstract

This article compares 225 criminal charges deployed against male homosexual and heterosexual behaviours in Queensland around World War II. Such an analysis allows us to evaluate whether the sentencing of same-sex offences within Australian jurisdictions has been historically lenient, as some scholars have suggested. This study reveals that homosexual crimes were not regarded with particular munificence but nor were they prosecuted with maliciousness. It cautions against using sentencing outcomes as the sole measure by which to assess approaches and attitudes within the criminal justice system.