The Hong Kong government has rejected a recommendation by a group of gay civil rights activists who wanted to lower the age of consent.

The group filed a formal complaint with the territory's equal opportunities commission alleging that current sodomy and consent laws violate equal protection rights. Currently, a man may face lifetime imprisonment for having intercourse with another male who is under 21.

Gay activist Tommy Chen has argued that the law is discriminating against homosexuals since men under 21 are legally allowed to have heterosexual sex. Reuters news agency quoted him as saying that several of his friends and acquaintances have been arrested on the consent statutes.

The Home Affairs Bureau has however refused to make changes to the law citing tradition. It said in a statement: "Despite a lower age of consent for homosexual intercourse in some other countries ... it would be inappropriate for Hong Kong to follow other countries without due regard to the local circumstances."

The bureau added that the law is intended to keep young men from being "corrupted" by predatory older men until they are mature enough to make such decisions on their own.