Homosexual sex has been legal in New Zealand since the passage of the Homosexual Law Reform Act in 1986. Prior to that, attempts to change the law had failed, including steps taken by National Member of Parliament, Venn Young, in 1974. In 1986, the Crimes Act was changed with the passing of the Homosexual Law Reform Act, removing the offence of consensual sex between men over the age of sixteen. Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation was outlawed several years later in amendments to the Human Rights Act.