The age of consent is arbitrary as proven by the differences in state laws and national laws.
Very true -- just another support for the fact that these issues belong to the states. Actually, it's no different from pornography, the definition of which legally varies from community to community. Basically, if a community wants to legalize gay marriage, etc., they should be allowed to do so. If a community wants to make sodomy illegal (as long as it's illegal for everyone - equal protection), they should be able to do that too. That's the genius of our republic. Sigh.