my 16 year old girlfriend wants me to go prom with her

Then there's the fact most people with a brain want the AOC to be 18, not 16. The law is opinion based, not morality set in stone.

we're not justifying it, we're just saying that this is the UK, NOT THE US. US laws don't apply here. while your opinion is valid, you can't call it 'fundamentally inappropriate' when it is literally said in our law that it's pretty much ok. the sexual aspect has nothing to do with it anyway, you're the one who imposed that topic into the conversation. we're talking about a romantic relationship - the sexual aspect has nothing to do with OP's post since he is legitimately just asking whether he can take his girlfriend to prom or not.

F*ck the law, the age of consent should be 18. There is no difference between the vulnerability of a 15 year old to a 16 year old. They are both children and mentally underdeveloped compared to people 18 and above. End of.

as a 16 year old myself i think it's stupid that i wouldn't be able to have sex at 16, but can still legally smoke at 16. hmmmmmmm.
i think at 16 i have the responsibility to make my own life choices and do as i wish with myself

Then campaign for the law to be changed then. Simples. Do you think people suddenly develop between when they are 17 and 364 days and when they are 18? Of course not.

Plus, that would not stop the OP from dating them. You can’t make laws against that.

Stop 👏 justifying 👏 having sex 👏 with children 👏

The “law” doesn’t change the fact that it’s inherently wrong. FGM is legal in some jurisdictions, does that make it okay? Certain countries have set the age of consent at 11, does that make it okay?

You genuinely sound insane.
Just because something is legal doesn’t make it appropriate or right.

I think you are the insane one here not me. 11 and 16 is a huge age difference. At 16 you get many rights in the U.K. FGM is a stupid comparison.

the OP said nothing to suggest it was a sexual relationship, you are the one who keeps bringing up sex with children.

We we are not arguing whether it is appropriate or not, it’s the legal status that matters.

You don’t. You’ll realize that in about 2-3 years. I moved to London by myself at 16 and I was a child. I was very mature for my age, but I was still a child. My younger self would have hated me for saying this, but 18 is a reasonable age limit.

even if 18 WAS the age limit, everyone wouldn't listen anyway. even NOW people don't listen. besides, i didn't say i felt mature enough to have the ability to move out. even i know i couldn't deal with that. i just think it's dumb that people have such tight constraints on legal age limits, i don't see the big deal here. i get the whole 'massive age gap' thing - op's age gap is pretty big but we don't know anything about the nature of his relationship so we can't make a solid judgement whether it's wrong or not. same goes with any relationship similar to this. besides, some adults have age gaps of like, 10 years.

In my state he could be legally prosecuted (most Americans live in states with a 17 or 18-year old age of consent) and even in a situation like that, a 16 year old is an underage minor, a child.

If you’re not mentally mature enough to move out, you’re not mentally mature enough to make choices about your own life.
There’s a reason it’s set at 18. 16 year olds are children and they’re legally classified as such so they aren’t old enough to 1) consent where I’m from 2) do much of anything else without their parent’s consent. That sounds reasonable because at the end of the day, y’all are children.

im 19 and my 16 yr old gf wants me to take her to prom.
first question is is this even aloud in the uk?
would it be strange?
and how would we go about doing it?

moving out and having sexual relationships with people are two completely different things?? i just,, i don't understand where you're coming from, but ok.

OP is a female

If you’re not mentally mature enough to live on your own like most 18 year olds are expected to do (at least in college dorms etc), you’re not old enough to make choices regarding your own life.

ngl we're making our own life decisions all the time, like choosing what subjects we're taking at school. if we're old enough to do that, we're old enough to consent.

How come?