I've heard that age of consent in Japan is 13, hence the wide availability of manga with very young characters who freak out westerners.
Age of consent in the US varies by state; it ranges from 14 (I think that's currently the lowest; it was previously 12) to 18. But even in the states with under-18 ages-of-consent, the laws get all tweaky-weird around age 18; it may be legal for two 16-year-olds to have sex but not for an 18-year-old to have sex with a 16-year-old.
And the laws are running into some psychotic problems right now, with the internet & cellphones, because *pictures* of under-18s are forbidden... and teens who take pics of their boyfriend/girlfriend and email it to other friends are running afoul of "child pornography" laws.
LGBT teens in the US have an extra layer of discrimination to deal with--until recently, "abstinence-only" sex ed was taught in 49 of the 50 states. (I'm in California, the one original holdout; I think we're down to about half the states still using those programs.) They taught that the only *safe* sex was monogamous inside marriage, and everyone should wait until marriage to have sex. So, um, gay people? Should be celibate for life. (The programs kinda implied that gay people shouldn't or maybe didn't really exist; "confused" teens should hold off on all sexual behavior until they find a straight marriage.)
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Age of consent in the US varies by state; it ranges from 14 (I think that's currently the lowest; it was previously 12) to 18. But even in the states with under-18 ages-of-consent, the laws get all tweaky-weird around age 18; it may be legal for two 16-year-olds to have sex but not for an 18-year-old to have sex with a 16-year-old.
And the laws are running into some psychotic problems right now, with the internet & cellphones, because *pictures* of under-18s are forbidden... and teens who take pics of their boyfriend/girlfriend and email it to other friends are running afoul of "child pornography" laws.
LGBT teens in the US have an extra layer of discrimination to deal with--until recently, "abstinence-only" sex ed was taught in 49 of the 50 states. (I'm in California, the one original holdout; I think we're down to about half the states still using those programs.) They taught that the only *safe* sex was monogamous inside marriage, and everyone should wait until marriage to have sex. So, um, gay people? Should be celibate for life. (The programs kinda implied that gay people shouldn't or maybe didn't really exist; "confused" teens should hold off on all sexual behavior until they find a straight marriage.)