It's Time For a Change

"It would seem time to reevaluate our thinking and laws about sexual behavior, Dr. Karl M. Bowman, Professor of Psychiatry, Emeritus, University of California, declared in an address before the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco early in October.

He said he advocated translating into United State law the sex provisions of the European Code Napoleon. This body of civil law, promulgated by Napoleon in 1804, provides that "any sexual act carried out by two consenting adulte which does not result in physical harm and does not offend public decency is not considered a crime."

Present attitudes toward homosexuality, Dr. Bowman said, "are largely inherited from and based on an ancient Jewish code of 2000 years ago." The Christian religion largely took over the Jewish laws concerning sexual behavior.

"The society in which one lives," Dr. Bowman contended, decides what sort of sexual behavior can be practiced and what type of sexual behavior would be forbidden by law. These forbidden practices are commonly referred

to as perversions."

Biologically, the pyschiatrist remarked, there is no such thing as perversion."

"Where we have honest differences of opinion about the propriety of certain types of sexual behavior, it would seem that we should rely on education, family training and the influence of society generally (including religious organizations), as a means of dealing with it, rather than by passing laws."

Dr. Bowman, who was medical superintendent of Langley Porter Neuropsychiatric Clinic from 1941 to 1956, said he was also against any law which interfered with the sexual life of married peoplo, such as laws depriving