Editing Wolfenden report (section)

==Recommendations==
The committee recommended that "homosexual behaviour between consenting adults in private should no longer be a criminal offence".{{sfn|Lewis|2016|p=275}} All but James Adair were in favour of this and, contrary to some medical and psychiatric witnesses' evidence at that time, found that "homosexuality cannot legitimately be regarded as a disease, because in many cases it is the only symptom and is compatible with full mental health in other respects." The report added:
{{blockquote|The law's function is to preserve public order and decency, to protect the citizen from what is offensive or injurious, and to provide sufficient safeguards against exploitation and corruption of others&nbsp;... It is not, in our view, the function of the law to intervene in the private life of citizens, or to seek to enforce any particular pattern of behaviour.}}
The recommended [[age of consent]] was 21 years (the [[age of majority]] in the UK then, though for mixed sex couples the [[age of consent]] was 16 and 16-year-olds could marry with their parents' permission).

The report also discussed the rise in street prostitution at the time, which it associated with "community instability" and "weakening of the family". As a result, there was a police crackdown on street prostitution following the report{{sfn|Weeks|1981|p=240}} and the [[Street Offences Act 1959]] was passed.