Celtic Britain
*The
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
(600 BC to 50 AD) –
Celtic Britain
The British Iron Age is a conventional name used in the archaeology of Great Britain, referring to the prehistoric and protohistoric phases of the Iron Age culture of the main island and the smaller islands, typically excluding prehistoric Ire ...
commenced around the time of the Iron Age. In Celtic society male homosexuality was permissible and acceptable between free adult men. However, these homosexual activities were bound by the male dominated Celtic culture, and was not seen as an effeminate practice.
*
Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...
the Sicilian historian (1st century BC) stated that, 'although Celtic women were beautiful, their men preferred to sleep with each other'. Siculus also noted that 'it was an insult if a guest refused an offer of sex from a Celtic man. They usually sleep on the ground on skins of wild animals and tumble about with a bedfellow on either side. And what is strangest of all is that, without any thought for a natural sense of modesty, they carelessly surrender their virginity to other man. Far from finding anything shameful in all this, they feel insulted if anyone refuses the favours they offer'.
1st century
* The
Roman conquest of Britain
The Roman conquest of Britain refers to the conquest of the island of Britain by occupying Roman forces. It began in earnest in AD 43 under Emperor Claudius, and was largely completed in the southern half of Britain by 87 when the Staneg ...
begins, creating
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the period in classical antiquity when large parts of the island of Great Britain were under occupation by the Roman Empire. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. During that time, the territory conquered was ...
. Roman society was to shape Britain for the next four centuries. In the three main cities of
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
,
Colchester
Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian.
Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...
and
Saint Albans
St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roman r ...
as in all Roman settlements was
patriarchal
Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of Dominance hierarchy, dominance and Social privilege, privilege are primarily held by men. It is used, both as a technical Anthropology, anthropological term for families or clans controll ...
, and the
freeborn
"Freeborn" is a term associated with political agitator John Lilburne (1614–1657), a member of the Levellers, a 17th-century English political party. As a word, "freeborn" means born free, rather than in slavery or bondage or vassalage. Lilbur ...
male
citizen
Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection".
Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...
possessed political liberty (''libertas'') and the right to rule both himself and his household (''
familia''). "Virtue" (''
virtus
''Virtus'' () was a specific virtue in Ancient Rome. It carries connotations of valor, manliness, excellence, courage, character, and worth, perceived as masculine strengths (from Latin ''vir'', "man"). It was thus a frequently stated virtue o ...
'') was seen as an active quality through which a man (''vir'') defined himself. The conquest mentality and "cult of virility" shaped same-sex relations. Roman men were free to enjoy sex with other males without a perceived loss of masculinity or social status, as long as they took the dominant or penetrative role.
* Acceptable male partners included
prostitutes
Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...
, and entertainers, whose lifestyle placed them in the nebulous social realm of ''
infamia
In ancient Roman culture, ''infamia'' (''in-'', "not," and ''fama'', "reputation") was a loss of legal or social standing. As a technical term of Roman law, ''infamia'' was an official exclusion from the legal protections enjoyed by a Roman citiz ...
'', excluded from the normal protections accorded to a citizen even if they were technically free.
* Although Roman men in general seem to have preferred youths between the ages of 12 and 20 as sexual partners,
freeborn male minors were off limits, though professional prostitutes and entertainers might remain sexually available well into adulthood.
* By the end of the first century,
Londinium
Londinium, also known as Roman London, was the capital of Roman Britain during most of the period of Roman rule. It was originally a settlement established on the current site of the City of London around AD 47–50. It sat at a key cross ...
the city was dotted with lupanaria ('wolf dens' or public pleasure houses), fornices (brothels) and thermiae (hot baths).
2nd century
![Antinous, 2nd cent](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/Antinous%2C_2nd_cent._A.D._%28NAM_417_1-4-2020%29.jpg)
* 117 – Emperor
Hadrian
Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...
, ruled Britain from 117 to 138. Hadrian was not only a peacemaker, he was also the first leader of Rome to make it clear that he was in today's language what we would call ''gay''. Many predecessors had taken male lovers, as was possible in Roman society. Hadrian was unique however in making his love "official" in a way that no other emperor had before him. Hadrian had an openly sexual relationship with a beautiful youth,
Antinous
Antinous, also called Antinoös, (; grc-gre, Ἀντίνοος; 27 November – before 30 October 130) was a Greek youth from Bithynia and a favourite and probable lover of the Roman emperor Hadrian. Following his premature death before his ...
. When Antinous drowned in AD 130, Hadrian made
Antinous
Antinous, also called Antinoös, (; grc-gre, Ἀντίνοος; 27 November – before 30 October 130) was a Greek youth from Bithynia and a favourite and probable lover of the Roman emperor Hadrian. Following his premature death before his ...
into a god, publicly commemorated him across the empire, created a city
Antinopolis in his name and created a religious cult equivalent at the time to
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
in his name.
3rd century
* 208 – The Roman Empire was ruled from Britain for a brief period in AD 208–211.
4th century
* 312 – Roman Empire began to accept Christianity with the first emperor to convert to Christianity,
Emperor Constantine
Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterranea ...
. Along with his bishops, monks and missionaries an endless loop of alternating permissiveness and homosexual censure in the Roman world began.
*
Eusebius of Caesarea
Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christia ...
wrote that "Among the Gauls, the young men marry each other (gamountai) with complete freedom. In doing this, they do not incur any reproach or blame, since this is done according to custom amongst them."
* Temples devoted to the goddess
Cybele
Cybele ( ; Phrygian: ''Matar Kubileya/Kubeleya'' "Kubileya/Kubeleya Mother", perhaps "Mountain Mother"; Lydian ''Kuvava''; el, Κυβέλη ''Kybele'', ''Kybebe'', ''Kybelis'') is an Anatolian mother goddess; she may have a possible forer ...
are present in Britain, including sites that are now
Catterick and
Corbridge
Corbridge is a village in Northumberland, England, west of Newcastle and east of Hexham. Villages nearby include Halton, Acomb, Aydon and Sandhoe.
Etymology
Corbridge was known to the Romans as something like ''Corstopitum'' or ''Coriosopit ...
. Archeology in Catterick has located the remains of a
Galla; one of a priesthood to Cybele who could be understood in today's language as being
transgender
A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...
.
5th century
* 410 – Following the departure of the Romans,
Jutes
The Jutes (), Iuti, or Iutæ ( da, Jyder, non, Jótar, ang, Ēotas) were one of the Germanic tribes who settled in Great Britain after the departure of the Romans. According to Bede, they were one of the three most powerful Germanic nations ...
,
Angles
The Angles ( ang, Ængle, ; la, Angli) were one of the main Germanic peoples who settled in Great Britain in the post-Roman period. They founded several kingdoms of the Heptarchy in Anglo-Saxon England. Their name is the root of the name ' ...
,
Frisians
The Frisians are a Germanic ethnic group native to the coastal regions of the Netherlands and northwestern Germany. They inhabit an area known as Frisia and are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen and, in Germany, ...
and
Saxons
The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
*
*
*
*
peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
arrived at different times and regions, bringing with them their indigenous sexual traditions. (Tacitus previously described North Germanic tribes punishing homosexuality by drowning the offender in a bog.) There was no specific mention of homosexuality in
Anglo-Saxon law
Anglo-Saxon law (Old English ''ǣ'', later ''lagu'' "law"; dōm "decree, judgment") is a body of written rules and customs that were in place during the Anglo-Saxon period in England, before the Norman conquest. This body of law, along with earl ...
(which was in place during the
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
period in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, before the
Norman conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...
) until the seventh century.
6th century
*
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
King Maelgwn (Malgo) of
Gwynedd
Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...
ruled.
Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth ( la, Galfridus Monemutensis, Galfridus Arturus, cy, Gruffudd ap Arthur, Sieffre o Fynwy; 1095 – 1155) was a British cleric from Monmouth, Wales and one of the major figures in the development of British historiograph ...
in his pseudohistorical book ''
History of the Kings of Britain
''Historia regum Britanniae'' (''The History of the Kings of Britain''), originally called ''De gestis Britonum'' (''On the Deeds of the Britons''), is a pseudohistorical account of British history, written around 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. I ...
'' described the king as one of the handsomest of men in Britain, a great scourge of tyrants, and a man of great strength, extraordinary munificence, and matchless valour, but addicted very much to the detestable vice of sodomy, by which he made himself abominable to God.
* 597 – Christianity did not formally arrive in Britain until 597, when
Augustine of Canterbury
Augustine of Canterbury (early 6th century – probably 26 May 604) was a monk who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 597. He is considered the "Apostle to the English" and a founder of the English Church.Delaney '' ...
arrived in Britain to convert the Germanic Anglo Saxons (
Jutes
The Jutes (), Iuti, or Iutæ ( da, Jyder, non, Jótar, ang, Ēotas) were one of the Germanic tribes who settled in Great Britain after the departure of the Romans. According to Bede, they were one of the three most powerful Germanic nations ...
,
Angles
The Angles ( ang, Ængle, ; la, Angli) were one of the main Germanic peoples who settled in Great Britain in the post-Roman period. They founded several kingdoms of the Heptarchy in Anglo-Saxon England. Their name is the root of the name ' ...
,
Frisians
The Frisians are a Germanic ethnic group native to the coastal regions of the Netherlands and northwestern Germany. They inhabit an area known as Frisia and are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen and, in Germany, ...
and
Saxons
The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
*
*
*
*
peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
) to Christianity, thus confirming the prohibition of homosexuality, which was already punishable by death in Germanic societies.
8th century
* 797 – During the
Carolingian Renaissance
The Carolingian Renaissance was the first of three medieval renaissances, a period of cultural activity in the Carolingian Empire. It occurred from the late 8th century to the 9th century, taking inspiration from the State church of the Roman Emp ...
,
Alcuin of York
Alcuin of York (; la, Flaccus Albinus Alcuinus; 735 – 19 May 804) – also called Ealhwine, Alhwin, or Alchoin – was a scholar, clergyman, poet, and teacher from York, Northumbria. He was born around 735 and became the student o ...
, an
abbot
Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...
affectionately known as David, wrote love poems to other
monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
s in spite of numerous church laws condemning homosexuality. Historians agree that Alcuin at times "comes perilously close to communicating openly his same-sex desires", and this reflects the erotic subculture of the Carolingian monastic.
11th century
* 1050–1150 – Historian
John Boswell
John Eastburn Boswell (March 20, 1947December 24, 1994) was an American historian and a full professor at Yale University. Many of Boswell's studies focused on the issue of religion and homosexuality, specifically Christianity and homosexuality. ...
called the
High Middle Ages
The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history that lasted from AD 1000 to 1300. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and were followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended ...
the time of the 'Triumph of Ganymede' and finds evidence for a "reappearance for the first time since the decline of Rome of "what might be called a gay subculture" between 1050 and 1150 which completely disappears by 1300.
* 1056–1100 –
William II of England
William II ( xno, Williame; – 2 August 1100) was King of England from 26 September 1087 until his death in 1100, with powers over Normandy and influence in Scotland. He was less successful in extending control into Wales. The third so ...
inherited the throne on his father
William the Conqueror
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...
's death in 1087. Described as red haired, muscular and stocky and a taste for the latest fashion (including at shoes that curled up at the toe), he never married or produced heirs.
William of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury ( la, Willelmus Malmesbiriensis; ) was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. He has been ranked among the most talented English historians since Bede. Modern historian C. Warren Hollister described him as "a ...
, the foremost
English historian of the 12th century. described the King as "being in lust with
Ranulf Flambard
Ranulf Flambard ( c. 1060 – 5 September 1128) was a medieval Norman Bishop of Durham and an influential government minister of King William Rufus of England. Ranulf was the son of a priest of Bayeux, Normandy, and his nickname Flambard m ...
". He described the men of court having flamboyant tunics, pointed shoes, and hair down their backs like whores. He said court was full of "sodimites" and that William's death while hunting was judgement for his sins. Sodomy at this time however related to any sexual practice outside of marriage, and therefore does not necessarily refer to homosexuality.
12th century
* 1102 – The
Council of London (
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
church council
A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin word meani ...
of the
church in England) took measures to encourage the English public to believe that homosexuality was
sin
In a religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, s ...
ful.
13th century
* 1290 – Publication of
Fleta
''Fleta'' is a treatise on the common law of England. It was written in Latin with the sub-title ''seu Commentarius juris Anglicani''. The anonymous author of the book is sometimes referred to as "Fleta", although this is not in fact a person's na ...
, first book to suggest a punishment for homosexuality in English law. The 'Fleta' required 'sodomites' to be punished by being buried alive, whilst the 'Britton' advocated burning. No evidence exists that the punishments were ever carried out.
* 1297 –
Edward II of England
Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to ...
(1307–1337) and his favourite, his closest political and emotional ally and lover
Piers Gaveston
Piers Gaveston, Earl of Cornwall (c. 1284 – 19 June 1312) was an English nobleman of Gascon origin, and the favourite of Edward II of England.
At a young age, Gaveston made a good impression on King Edward I, who assigned him to the househo ...
, met. At 16 years old, Edward thus began a history of conflict with the nobility, who repeatedly banished Gaveston, the
Earl of Cornwall
The title of Earl of Cornwall was created several times in the Peerage of England before 1337, when it was superseded by the title Duke of Cornwall, which became attached to heirs-apparent to the throne.
Condor of Cornwall
*Condor of Cornwall, ...
, until Edward was king and could keep him reinstated. Gaveston's abuse of that power led to dangerous tensions with the barons who helped run the country and resulted in Gaveston's capture and eventual execution. After his death in 1312, Edward "constantly had prayers said for
aveston'ssoul; he spent a lot of money on Gaveston's tomb".
14th century
* 1315–1317 –
King Edward II
Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to th ...
had Piers Gaveston's embalmed body buried, two and a half years after his death. Edward moved on with a growing infatuation with
Roger d'Amory
Roger Damory, Lord d'Amory, Baron d'Amory in Ireland, (d. bef. 14 March 1321/1322) was a nobleman and Constable of Corfe Castle.
He was the younger son of Sir Robert D'Amory, Knight, of Bucknell and Woodperry, Oxfordshire. Sir Roger also posses ...
which can be tracked from the extensive list of gifts, grants, wardship and land. By 1317 Damory was the most important man at court and the King's 'favourite'. It is unknown whether Roger Damory was Edward II's lover.
* 1320 –
King Edward II
Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to th ...
formed a close relationship with another good looking favorite and aide,
Hugh Despenser, who manoeuvred into the affections of King Edward, displacing Roger d'Amory. This came much to the dismay of the baronage as they saw him both taking their rightful places at court at best, and at worst being the new, worse Gaveston. By 1320 Despenser's greed was running free. He also supposedly vowed revenge on
Roger Mortimer, because
Mortimer's grandfather had killed
his own grandfather.
* 1321 – Despenser had earned many enemies in every stratum of society, from King Edward's wife
Queen Isabella in France, to the barons, to the common people. There was even a
plot to kill Despenser by sticking his wax likeness with pins.
* 1326 – While Isabella was in France to negotiate between her husband and the French king, she formed a liaison with Roger Mortimer and began planning an invasion of England in September 1326. The majority of the nobility rallied to them throughout September and October, preferring to stand with them rather than King Edward and Despenser. Despenser fled west with the King, with a sizeable sum from the treasury, but the escape was unsuccessful. The King and Despenser were deserted by most of their followers, and were captured near
Neath
Neath (; cy, Castell-nedd) is a market town and Community (Wales), community situated in the Neath Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a po ...
in mid-November.
* 1337 –
King Edward II
Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to th ...
was placed in captivity and later
forced to abdicate in favour of his son
Edward III
Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...
. The popular story that the king was then assassinated by having a red-hot poker thrust into his anus has no basis in accounts recorded by Edward's contemporaries.
Despenser was brought to trial and was found guilty on many charges. He was sentenced to death and was dragged naked through the streets, for the crowd's mistreatment. He was made a spectacle, which included writing on his body biblical verses against the capital sins he was accused of. Then he was hanged as a mere commoner, yet released before asphyxiation killed him. In
Froissart
Jean Froissart (Old and Middle French: ''Jehan'', – ) (also John Froissart) was a French-speaking medieval author and court historian from the Low Countries who wrote several works, including ''Chronicles'' and ''Meliador'', a long Arthurian ...
's account of his execution, Despenser was then tied firmly to a ladder and his genitals sliced off and burned while he was still conscious. His entrails were slowly pulled out; finally, his heart was cut out and thrown into a fire. Froissart (or, rather,
Jean le Bel
Jean Le Bel (c. 1290 – 15 February 1370) was a chronicler from Liège.
Biography
Jean Le Bel's father, Gilles le Beal des Changes, was an alderman of Liège. Jean entered the church and became a canon of the cathedral church, but he and his b ...
's chronicle, on which he relied) is the only source to mention castration; other contemporary accounts have Despenser
hanged, drawn and quartered
To be hanged, drawn and quartered became a statutory penalty for men convicted of high treason in the Kingdom of England from 1352 under Edward III of England, King Edward III (1327–1377), although similar rituals are recorded during the rei ...
, which usually did not involve castration.
* 1395 –
John Rykener
Eleanor Rykener, also known as John, was a 14th-century sex worker arrested in December 1394 for performing a sex act with
John Britby, a man who was a former chaplain of the St Margaret Pattens church, in London's Cheapside while wearing fema ...
, known also as Johannes Richer and Eleanor, a
transvestite
Transvestism is the practice of dressing in a manner traditionally associated with the opposite sex. In some cultures, transvestism is practiced for religious, traditional, or ceremonial reasons. The term is considered outdated in Western c ...
prostitute
Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...
working mainly in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
(near
Cheapside
Cheapside is a street in the City of London, the historic and modern financial centre of London, which forms part of the A40 London to Fishguard road. It links St. Martin's Le Grand with Poultry. Near its eastern end at Bank junction, where ...
), but also active in
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, was arrested for
cross-dressing
Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes usually worn by a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and self-express oneself.
Cross-dressing has play ...
and interrogated.
16th century
![Portrait of James I of England wearing the jewel called the Three Brothers in his hat](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Portrait_of_James_I_of_England_wearing_the_jewel_called_the_Three_Brothers_in_his_hat.jpg)
* 1533 – King
Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
passed the
Buggery Act 1533
The Buggery Act 1533, formally An Acte for the punishment of the vice of Buggerie (25 Hen. 8 c. 6), was an Act of the Parliament of England that was passed during the reign of Henry VIII.
It was the country's first civil sodomy law, such offe ...
making all male–male sexual activity punishable by death. Buggery related only to intercourse ''
per anum'' by a man with a man or woman or intercourse ''
per anum'' or ''
per vaginum'' by either
a man or a woman with an animal. Other forms of "unnatural intercourse" amounted to
indecent assault
Indecent assault is an offence of aggravated assault in some common law-based jurisdictions. It is characterised as a sex crime and has significant overlap with offences referred to as sexual assault.
England and Wales
Indecent assault was a broad ...
or
gross indecency Gross indecency is a crime in some parts of the English-speaking world, originally used to criminalize sexual activity between men that fell short of sodomy, which required penetration. The term was first used in British law in a statute of the Br ...
, but did not constitute buggery. The lesser offence of "attempted buggery" was punished by two years of jail and often horrific time on the
pillory
The pillory is a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, formerly used for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse. The pillory is related to the stocks ...
.
* 1541 – The
Buggery Act 1533
The Buggery Act 1533, formally An Acte for the punishment of the vice of Buggerie (25 Hen. 8 c. 6), was an Act of the Parliament of England that was passed during the reign of Henry VIII.
It was the country's first civil sodomy law, such offe ...
only ran until the end of the parliament. The law was re-enacted three times, and then in 1541 it was enacted to continue in force "for ever".
[Bailey, 147–148, and H. Montgomery Hyde, ''The Love That Dared Not Speak Its Name: A Candid History of Homosexuality in Britain'' (Boston: Little, Brown, 1970) ritish title: ''The Other Love''/ref>
* 1543 – ]Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
gives royal assent to the Laws in Wales Act 1542, extending the buggery law into Wales.
* 1547 – King Edward VI
Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour ...
's first Parliament repealed all felonies created in the last reign of King Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
.
* 1548 – The provisions of the Buggery Act 1533
The Buggery Act 1533, formally An Acte for the punishment of the vice of Buggerie (25 Hen. 8 c. 6), was an Act of the Parliament of England that was passed during the reign of Henry VIII.
It was the country's first civil sodomy law, such offe ...
were given new force, with minor amendments. The penalty for buggery remained death, but goods and lands were not forfeit, and the rights of wives and heirs were safeguarded.
* 1553 – Mary Tudor ascends the English throne and repealed the Buggery Act 1533
The Buggery Act 1533, formally An Acte for the punishment of the vice of Buggerie (25 Hen. 8 c. 6), was an Act of the Parliament of England that was passed during the reign of Henry VIII.
It was the country's first civil sodomy law, such offe ...
during her brief reign of 1553–1558.
* 1558 – Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
El ...
ascended the English throne and reinstated the sodomy laws of 1533 (not 1548), which were then given permanent force until 1828 when replaced with the Offences Against the Person Act 1828
The Offences Against the Person Act 1828 (9 Geo. 4 c. 31) (also known as Lord Lansdowne's Act) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It consolidated provisions in the law related to offences against t ...
.
* 1580 – King James VI of Scotland, King James I England had romantic relationships with three men: Esmé Stewart, Robert Carr
Leonard Robert Carr, Baron Carr of Hadley, (11 November 1916 – 17 February 2012) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Home Secretary from 1972 to 1974. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for 26 years, and later ser ...
and George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, 28 August 1592 – 23 August 1628), was an English courtier, statesman, and patron of the arts. He was a favourite and possibly also a lover of King James I of England. Buckingham remained at the ...
. In 1580 at 14 years old, King James I of England began a relationship with Franco-Scottish Lord Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox
Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox, 1st Earl of Lennox, 6th Seigneur d'Aubigny, (26 May 1583) of the Château d'Aubigny at Aubigny-sur-Nère in the ancient province of Berry, France, was a Roman Catholic French nobleman of Scottish ancestry ...
. Lennox was a relative and 24 years senior to James, married and the father of 5 children. The influence Lennox his "favourite" had on politics, and the resentment at the wealth they acquired, became major political issues during his reign. Scottish nobles ousted Lennox by luring the young king to Ruthven Castle as a guest but then imprisoned him for ten months. The Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
nobles forced King James to banish Lennox to France. Lennox and James remained in secret contact. Lennox remained in France. He died in Paris in 1583. William Schaw
William Schaw (c. 1550–1602) was Master of Works to James VI of Scotland for building castles and palaces, and is claimed to have been an important figure in the development of Freemasonry in Scotland.
Biography
William Schaw was the second ...
took Lennox's heart back to James in Scotland, since in life its true place had been with the King.
17th century
* 1682 – A same-sex marriage is annulled. Arabella Hunt
Arabella Hunt (1662–1705) was an English vocalist and lutenist, celebrated for her beauty and talents.
Early life
Arabella Hunt was born in London on 27 February 1662 to Richard and Elizabeth Hunt. She sang at court and is recorded to have per ...
had married "James Howard" two years earlier but the marriage was annulled on the ground that Howard was in fact Amy Poulter, a 'perfect woman in all her parts', and two women could not validly marry.
* 1690 – King William III of England
William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 16508 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from the ...
had several close, male associates, including two Dutch courtiers to whom he granted English titles: Hans Willem Bentinck became Earl of Portland
Earl of Portland is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England, firstly in 1633 and secondly in 1689. What proved to be a long co-held title, Duke of Portland, was created in 1716 and became extinct in 1990 upon the death of t ...
and Arnold Joost van Keppel
Arnold Joost van Keppel, 1st Earl of Albemarle, , and lord of De Voorst in Guelders (Gelderland) (; baptised 30 January 167030 May 1718), was a Dutch military leader who fought for King William III of England and became the first Earl of Albemarl ...
was created Earl of Albemarle
Earl of Albemarle is a title created several times from Norman times onwards. The word ''Albemarle'' is derived from the Latinised form of the French county of ''Aumale'' in Normandy (Latin: ''Alba Marla'' meaning "White Marl", marl being a ty ...
. These relationships with male friends and his apparent lack of more than one female mistress led William's enemies to suggest that he might prefer homosexual relationships. Keppel was 20 years William's junior, described as strikingly handsome, and rose from being a royal page to an earldom with some ease.
* 1697 – William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland
Hans William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland, (20 July 164923 November 1709) was a Dutch and English nobleman who became in an early stage the favourite of William, Prince of Orange, Stadtholder in the Netherlands, and future King of England. H ...
wrote to King William III that "the kindness which your Majesty has for a young man, and the way in which you seem to authorise his liberties ... make the world say things I am ashamed to hear".[Van der Kiste, 202–203] This, he said, was "tarnishing a reputation which has never before been subject to such accusations". William tersely dismissed these suggestions, saying, "It seems to me very extraordinary that it should be impossible to have esteem and regard for a young man without it being criminal."[
]
18th century
* 1711 – Anne, Queen of Great Britain
Anne (6 February 1665 – 1 August 1714) was Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland from 8 March 1702 until 1 May 1707. On 1 May 1707, under the Acts of Union, the kingdoms of England and Scotland united as a single sovereign state known as ...
ended a long-lasting intimate friendship with Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough
Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, Princess of Mindelheim, Countess of Nellenburg (née Jenyns, spelt Jennings in most modern references; 5 June 1660 (Old Style) – 18 October 1744), was an English courtier who rose to be one of th ...
. The "Queen's Favourite" hoped to wield power equal to that of a government minister. When their relationship soured, she blackmailed Anne with letters revealing their intimacy, and accused her of perverting the course of national affairs by keeping lesbian favourites. Anne and Sarah had invented petnames for themselves during their youths which they continued to use after Anne became queen: ''Mrs Freeman'' (Sarah) and ''Mrs Morley'' (Anne). Effectively a business manager, Sarah had control over the queen's position, from her finances to people admitted to the royal presence.
* 1722 – John Quincy
Colonel John Quincy (July 21, 1689 – July 13, 1767) was an American soldier, politician and member of the Quincy political family. His granddaughter Abigail Adams named her son, the future president John Quincy Adams, after him. Two days aft ...
writes about lesbianism in his second edition of the ''Lexicon Physico Medicum''. According to Quincy, ''confricatrices'' or ''confictrices'' were terms used by authors for lesbians "who have learned to titulate one another with their clitoris
The clitoris ( or ) is a female sex organ present in mammals, ostriches and a limited number of other animals. In humans, the visible portion – the glans – is at the front junction of the labia minora (inner lips), above the ope ...
, in imitation of venereal intercourse with men".
*1724 – Margaret Clap
Margaret Clap (died c. 1726), better known as Mother Clap, ran a coffee house from 1724 to 1726 in Holborn, Middlesex, a short distance from the City of London. As well as running a molly house (an inn or tavern primarily frequented by homosexual ...
, better known as ''Mother Clap'', ran a coffee house from 1724 to 1726 in Holborn
Holborn ( or ) is a district in central London, which covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part ( St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London.
The area has its roots ...
, London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. The coffee house served as a Molly House
Molly-house was a term used in 18th- and 19th-century Britain for a meeting place for homosexual men. The meeting places were generally taverns, public houses, coffeehouses or even private rooms where men could either socialise or meet possible s ...
for the underground gay community. Her house was popular, being well known within the gay community. She cared for her customers, and catered especially to the gay men who frequented it. She was known to have provided "beds in every room of the house" and commonly had "thirty or forty of such Kind of Chaps every Night, but more especially on Sunday Nights".
*1726 – Three men (Gabriel Lawrence, William Griffin, and Thomas Wright) were hanged at Tyburn
Tyburn was a manor (estate) in the county of Middlesex, one of two which were served by the parish of Marylebone.
The parish, probably therefore also the manor, was bounded by Roman roads to the west (modern Edgware Road) and south (modern Ox ...
for sodomy following a raid of Margaret Clap's Molly House.
*1727 – Charles Hitchen
Charles Hitchen, also mentioned as Charles Hitchin in other sources, (''c.'' 1675 – 1727) was a "thief-taker" (private policeman) and under-marshal of the City of London in the early 18th century, also, famously tried for homosexual acts and s ...
, a London Under City Marshal
Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated o ...
, was convicted of attempted sodomy
Sodomy () or buggery (British English) is generally anal or oral sex between people, or sexual activity between a person and a non-human animal ( bestiality), but it may also mean any non- procreative sexual activity. Originally, the term ''sodo ...
at a Molly House
Molly-house was a term used in 18th- and 19th-century Britain for a meeting place for homosexual men. The meeting places were generally taverns, public houses, coffeehouses or even private rooms where men could either socialise or meet possible s ...
. Hitchen had abused his position of power to extort bribes from brothels and pickpockets to prevent arrest, and he particularly leaned on the thieves to make them fence their goods through him. Hitchen had frequently picked up soldiers for sex, but had eluded prosecution by the Society for the Reformation of Manners
The Society for the Reformation of Manners was founded in the Tower Hamlets area of London in 1691.[Molly House
Molly-house was a term used in 18th- and 19th-century Britain for a meeting place for homosexual men. The meeting places were generally taverns, public houses, coffeehouses or even private rooms where men could either socialise or meet possible s ...](_blank)
, Julius Caesar Taylor's, Tottenham Court Road
Tottenham Court Road (occasionally abbreviated as TCR) is a major road in Central London, almost entirely within the London Borough of Camden.
The road runs from Euston Road in the north to St Giles Circus in the south; Tottenham Court Road tub ...
, Jenny Greensleeves' Molly House, Durham Yard, off The Strand, The Golden Ball, Bond's Stables, off Chancery Lane
Chancery Lane is a one-way street situated in the ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London. It has formed the western boundary of the City since 1994, having previously been divided between the City of Westminster and the London Boroug ...
, Royal Oak Molly House, Giltspur Street, Smithfield and Three Tobacco Rolls Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...
were operating in London.
*1730 – The term "lesbian" to describe same sex relationships between women comes into use around the 1730s.
*1735 – Conyers Place wrote "Reason Insufficient Guide to Conduct Mankind in Religion".
*1736 – Love letters from Lord John Hervey to Stephen Fox
Sir Stephen Fox (27 March 1627 – 28 October 1716) of Farley in Wiltshire, of Redlynch Park in Somerset, of Chiswick, Middlesex and of Whitehall, was a royal administrator and courtier to King Charles II, and a politician, who rose from ...
PC, a British peer and Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
, show that they had been living in a homosexual relationship for a period of ten years, from 1726 to 1736.
*1749 – Thomas Cannon
Thomas Cannon (1720–?)Gladfelder, Hal ''Fanny Hill in Bombay: The Making and Unmaking of John Cleland'', Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012, p. 46 of Gray's Inn was an English author of the 18th century. He wrote what may be the earliest p ...
wrote "Ancient and Modern Pederasty Investigated and Exemplified".
*1772 – The first public debate about homosexuality began during the trial of Captain Robert Jones who was convicted of the capital offence of sodomising a thirteen-year-old boy. The debate during the case and with the background of the 1772 Macaroni
Macaroni (, Italian: maccheroni) is dry pasta shaped like narrow tubes.Oxford DictionaryMacaroni/ref> Made with durum wheat, macaroni is commonly cut in short lengths; curved macaroni may be referred to as elbow macaroni. Some home machines ...
prosecutions considered Christian intolerance of homosexuality and the human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
of men who were homosexual. Jones was acquitted and received a pardon on condition that he leave the country. He ended up living in grandeur with his footman
A footman is a male domestic worker employed mainly to wait at table or attend a coach or carriage.
Etymology
Originally in the 14th century a footman denoted a soldier or any pedestrian, later it indicated a foot servant. A running footman deli ...
at Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
, in the South of France
Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', A ...
.
*1773 – Charles Crawford wrote "A Dissertation on the Phaedon of Plato".
*1776 –18th century London gay bar, Harlequin (Nag's Head Court, Covent Garden) was operating
*1778 - Eleanor Butler & Sarah Ponsonby, known as The Ladies of Llangollen
The "Ladies of Llangollen", Eleanor Butler (1739–1829) and Sarah Ponsonby (1755–1831), were two upper-class Irish women whose relationship scandalised and fascinated their contemporaries. The pair moved to a Gothic house in Llangollen, No ...
, were two upper-class Irish women whose relationship scandalised and fascinated their contemporaries during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The pair moved to a Gothic house in Llangollen
Llangollen () is a town and community, situated on the River Dee, in Denbighshire, Wales. Its riverside location forms the edge of the Berwyn range, and the Dee Valley section of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beau ...
, North Wales, in 1780 after leaving Ireland to escape the social pressures of conventional marriages. Over the years, numerous distinguished visitors called upon them. Guests included Shelley, Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...
, Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
and Wordsworth
William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Ballads'' (1798).
Wordsworth's ' ...
, who wrote a sonnet about them.
*1785 – Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham (; 15 February 1748 Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._4_February_1747.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. 4 February 1747">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.htm ...
becomes one of the first people to argue for the decriminalisation of sodomy in England, which was punishable by hanging. The essay ''Offences Against One's Self'', written about 1785, argued for the liberalisation of laws prohibiting homosexual sex. He argued that homosexual acts did not weaken men, nor threaten population or marriage. The essay was never published in his lifetime.
*1797 – The ''Encyclopedia Britannica
An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...
'' published a brief mention of homosexuality in the article about Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
.
19th century
*1800 – William Blake
William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...
paints "Lot and His Daughters". The Book of Genesis
The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning") ...
in chapters 11–14 and 18–19 describes Lot
Lot or LOT or The Lot or ''similar'' may refer to:
Common meanings Areas
* Land lot, an area of land
* Parking lot, for automobiles
*Backlot, in movie production
Sets of items
*Lot number, in batch production
*Lot, a set of goods for sale togethe ...
and his family, living through the fire and brimstone
Fire and brimstone ( ''gofrit va’esh'', grc, πυρὸς καὶ θείου) is an idiomatic expression referring to God's wrath found in both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament. In the Bible, it often appears in reference t ...
sent against Sodom and Gomorrah
Sodom and Gomorrah () were two legendary biblical cities destroyed by God for their wickedness. Their story parallels the Genesis flood narrative in its theme of God's anger provoked by man's sin (see Genesis 19:1–28). They are mentioned frequ ...
apparently for either rape, transgression of the laws of hospitality, or homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
. "Lot and His Daughters" however portrays the part of the story that involves incest, not homosexuality: the story in Genesis describes how the daughters of Lot, along the road as they fled from Sodom and Gomorrah, got their father drunk so that after he fell asleep they could have sex with him and in this way get children from him.
*1806 – Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
gentlewoman Anne Lister
Anne Lister (3 April 1791 – 22 September 1840) was an English diarist, famous for revelations for which she was dubbed "the first modern lesbian".
Lister was from a minor landowning family at Shibden in Calderdale, West Riding of Yorkshire ...
starts writing love letters to and from Eliza Raine. Lister actively participated in and wrote about her lesbian relationships in an encrypted diary. Although she did not use the word lesbian, at age thirty, she wrote, "I love and only love the fairer sex and thus, beloved by them in turn my heart revolts from any other love but theirs."
*1810 – The nineteenth century began with a wave of prosecutions against homosexual men. On 14 January, a farmer in West Yorkshire wrote in his diary that capital punishment seemed an unacceptably cruel response to a sexual behavior that nature or God had ordained in an individual. (The diary entry was discovered in 2020.) On 8 July, the Bow Street Runners
The Bow Street Runners were the law enforcement officers of the Bow Street Magistrates' Court in the City of Westminster. They have been called London's first professional police force. The force originally numbered six men and was founded in 1 ...
raided The White Swan, a tumbledown pub of Tudor origin near Drury Lane
Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster.
Notable landmarks ...
. Twenty-seven men were arrested on suspicion of sodomy and attempted sodomy.
*1811 – The Scottish court case ''Woods and Pirie vs Dame Cumming Gordon'' showed two teachers are accused of having a lesbian relationship by a pupil, claiming they had indecent sexual relationships. However, one judge found that sex between women was "equally imaginary with witchcraft, sorcery or carnal copulation with the devil", illustrating notions at the time that tied sexuality with masculinity.
*1812 – James Miranda Barry
James Barry (born Margaret Anne Bulkley (or Bulkeley), – 25 July 1865) was a military surgeon in the British Army. Originally from the city of Cork in Ireland, Barry obtained a medical degree from the University of Edinburgh Medical School ...
graduated from the Medical School of Edinburgh University as a doctor. Barry went on to serve as an army surgeon working overseas. Barry lived as a man but was found to be female-bodied upon his death in 1865.
*1828 – The Buggery Act 1533 was repealed and replaced by the Offences against the Person Act 1828
The Offences Against the Person Act 1828 (9 Geo. 4 c. 31) (also known as Lord Lansdowne's Act) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It consolidated provisions in the law related to offences against t ...
. Buggery remained punishable by death.
*1833 – 24-year old actor Eliza Edwards is found dead. The corpse was taken to Guys Hospital for an autopsy, where it is discovered that they were 'a perfect man'.
*1835 – The last two men to be executed in Britain for buggery, James Pratt and John Smith
James Pratt (1805–1835), also known as John Pratt, and John Smith (1795–1835) were two London men who, in November 1835, became the last two to be executed for sodomy in England.Cook ''et al'' (2007), p. 109. Pratt and Smith were arrested in ...
, were arrested on 29 August in London after being spied upon while having sex in a private room; they were hanged on 27 November.
*1838 – Harry Stokes
Harry Stokes (c1799 – 15 October 1859) was a master bricklayer, beerhouse manager and special constable in Manchester. He was assigned a female gender at birth but lived as a man. Harry had two long-term relationships with women, both of whic ...
was a master bricklayer
A bricklayer, which is related to but different from a mason, is a craftsman and tradesman who lays bricks to construct brickwork. The terms also refer to personnel who use blocks to construct blockwork walls and other forms of masonry. ...
, beerhouse A beerhouse was a type of public house created in the United Kingdom by the 1830 Beerhouse Act, legally defined as a place "where beer is sold to be consumed ''on'' the premises". They were also known as 'small' or 'Tom and Jerry' shops Existing pu ...
manager and special constable in Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
. He was assigned a female gender at birth but lived as a man. Harry had two long-term relationships with women, both of which lasted over 20 years. In 1838 and 1859 his gender variance
Gender variance or gender nonconformity is behavior or gender expression by an individual that does not match masculine or feminine gender norms. A gender-nonconforming person may be variant in their gender identity, being transgender or non-bina ...
became the subject of local and national newspaper articles in which he was described as a 'man-woman' and a 'female husband'.
*1852 – John Martin paints ''The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorah.'' Sodom was (supposedly) destroyed for the sin of sodomy
Sodomy () or buggery (British English) is generally anal or oral sex between people, or sexual activity between a person and a non-human animal ( bestiality), but it may also mean any non- procreative sexual activity. Originally, the term ''sodo ...
, although a strong case has been made that violence against persons and transgression of the laws of hospitality, including a demand that he hand over his houseguests (who happened to be angels) to the ruffian citizens of the town, were more important at the time of the composition of the story in Genesis, chapter 19.
*1861 – The death penalty
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
for buggery was abolished when the Offences Against the Person Act 1828
The Offences Against the Person Act 1828 (9 Geo. 4 c. 31) (also known as Lord Lansdowne's Act) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It consolidated provisions in the law related to offences against t ...
was replaced with the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. A total of 8921 men had been prosecuted since 1806 for sodomy
Sodomy () or buggery (British English) is generally anal or oral sex between people, or sexual activity between a person and a non-human animal ( bestiality), but it may also mean any non- procreative sexual activity. Originally, the term ''sodo ...
with 404 sentenced to death and 56 executed. Homosexuality remained illegal until 1967 in England and Wales and 1980 in Scotland.
*1866 – Marriage was defined as being between a man and a woman (preventing future same-sex marriages
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...
). In the case of ''Hyde v. Hyde and Woodmansee'' (a case of polygamy
Crimes
Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married ...
), Lord Penzance
James Plaisted Wilde, 1st Baron Penzance, (12 July 1816 – 9 December 1899) was a noted United Kingdom, British judge and rose breeder who was also a proponent of the Baconian theory that the works usually attributed to William Shakespeare were ...
's judgment began "Marriage as understood in Christendom
Christendom historically refers to the Christian states, Christian-majority countries and the countries in which Christianity dominates, prevails,SeMerriam-Webster.com : dictionary, "Christendom"/ref> or is culturally or historically intertwine ...
is the voluntary union for life of one man and one woman, to the exclusion of all others."
*1871 – Ernest 'Stella' Boulton and Frederick 'Fanny' Park, two Victorian transvestites
Transvestism is the practice of dressing in a manner traditionally associated with the opposite sex. In some cultures, transvestism is practiced for religious, traditional, or ceremonial reasons. The term is considered outdated in Western c ...
and suspected homosexuals
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...
, appeared as defendants in the celebrated Boulton and Park
Thomas Ernest Boulton and Frederick William Park were two Victorian cross-dressers. In 1870, while in drag, they were arrested after leaving a London theatre. They were charged with conspiracy to commit sodomy, a crime that carried a maximum pri ...
trial in London, charged "with conspiring and inciting persons to commit an unnatural offence". The indictment was against Lord Arthur Clinton
Lord Arthur Pelham-Clinton (23 June 1840 – 18 June 1870), known as Lord Arthur Clinton, was an English aristocrat and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party politician. A member of parliament (MP) for three years, he was notorious for involvement i ...
, Ernest Boulton, Frederic Park, Louis Hurt, John Fiske, Martin Cumming, William Sommerville and C. H. Thompson. The prosecution was unable to prove either that they had committed any homosexual offence or that men wearing women's clothing was an offence in English law. Lord Arthur Clinton killed himself before his trial.
*1872 – Sheridan Le Fanu publishes the novella ''Carmilla
''Carmilla'' is an 1872 Gothic fiction, Gothic novella by Irish author Sheridan Le Fanu and one of the early works of vampire fiction, predating Bram Stoker's ''Dracula'' (1897) by 26 years. First published as a Serial (literature), serial in ' ...
'', which depicts the tale of a lesbian vampire luring young women for her mother to sacrifice
*1883 – John Maynard Keynes
John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, ( ; 5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946), was an English economist whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. Originally trained in ...
, Baron Keynes of Tilton, CB FBA was born. Openly homosexual, Keynes a British economist whose ideas have profoundly affected the theory and practice of modern macroeconomics, as well as the economic policies of governments. He diarised his homosexual encounters and records that he had 65 encounters in 1909, 26 in 1910, 39 in 1911.
*1885 – The British Parliament enacted Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885
The Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 ( 48 & 49 Vict. c.69), or "An Act to make further provision for the Protection of Women and Girls, the suppression of brothels, and other purposes," was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the lat ...
, section 11 of which, known as the Labouchere Amendment
Section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885, commonly known as the Labouchere Amendment, made " gross indecency" a crime in the United Kingdom. In practice, the law was used broadly to prosecute male homosexuals where actual sodomy (meaning ...
, prohibited gross indecency Gross indecency is a crime in some parts of the English-speaking world, originally used to criminalize sexual activity between men that fell short of sodomy, which required penetration. The term was first used in British law in a statute of the Br ...
between males. It thus became possible to prosecute homosexuals for engaging in sexual acts where buggery or attempted buggery could not be proven.
*1885 – A collection of the poems of Sappho were translated and published in English by Henry Thornton Wharton as ''Sappho: Memoir, Text, and Selected Renderings''. Wharton maintained a homosexual interpretation of "Ode to Aphrodite".
*1889 – The Cleveland Street scandal
The Cleveland Street scandal occurred in 1889, when a homosexual male brothel and Love hotel, house of assignation on Cleveland Street, London, was discovered by police. The government was accused of covering up the scandal to protect the names o ...
occurred, when a homosexual
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
male brothel
A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...
in Cleveland Street, Fitzrovia
Fitzrovia () is a district of central London, England, near the West End. The eastern part of area is in the London Borough of Camden, and the western in the City of Westminster. It has its roots in the Manor of Tottenham Court, and was urban ...
, London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, was raided by police after they discovered telegraph boy
In many English-speaking countries, a telegram messenger, more often known as a telegram delivery boy, telegraph boy or telegram boy was a young man employed to deliver telegrams, usually on bicycle. In the United Kingdom, they were employed by t ...
s had been working there as rent boys
Male prostitution is the act or practice of men providing sexual services in return for payment. It is a form of sex work. Although clients can be of any gender, the vast majority are older males looking to fulfill their sexual needs. Male pro ...
. A number of aristocratic clients were discovered, including Lord Arthur Somerset, equerry
An equerry (; from French ' stable', and related to 'squire') is an officer of honour. Historically, it was a senior attendant with responsibilities for the horses of a person of rank. In contemporary use, it is a personal attendant, usually up ...
to the Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
. The Prince of Wales's son Prince Albert Victor
Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (Albert Victor Christian Edward; 8 January 1864 – 14 January 1892) was the eldest child of the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra) and grandson of the re ...
and Lord Euston were also implicated in the scandal.
*Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
became the last jurisdiction in Europe to abolish the death penalty for same-sex sexual intercourse, which reduced the penalty to life imprisonment in a penitentiary.
*1895 – Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...
, tried for gross indecency Gross indecency is a crime in some parts of the English-speaking world, originally used to criminalize sexual activity between men that fell short of sodomy, which required penetration. The term was first used in British law in a statute of the Br ...
over a relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas
Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas (22 October 1870 – 20 March 1945), also known as Bosie Douglas, was an English poet and journalist, and a lover of Oscar Wilde. At Oxford he edited an undergraduate journal, ''The Spirit Lamp'', that carried a homoer ...
, was sentenced to two years in prison with hard labour.
* The gay English poet A. E. Housman
Alfred Edward Housman (; 26 March 1859 – 30 April 1936) was an English classical scholar and poet. After an initially poor performance while at university, he took employment as a clerk in London and established his academic reputation by pub ...
writes a poem about the trial of Oscar Wilde. Due to its content, it was not published until after Housman's death.
* Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
was accused of having committed "acts of gross immorality of the Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...
type" while a cadet at Sandhurst. Churchill sued the accuser for defamation and was awarded £400 in damages. Throughout his life, Churchill showed little interest in women other than his wife, enjoyed the company of homosexuals, and was deeply attached to male friends and his long-standing secretary Edward Marsh, although there is no evidence of any physical relationships.
* 1897 – George Cecil Ives
George Cecil Ives (1 October 1867 in Frankfurt, Germany – 4 June 1950 in Hampstead/Middlesex, Great Britain) was an English poet, writer, penal reformer and early homosexual law reform campaigner.
Life and career
Ives was the illegitimate ...
organises the first homosexual rights group in England, the Order of Chaeronea
The Order of Chaeronea was a secret society for the cultivation of a homosexual moral, ethical, cultural and spiritual ethos. It was founded by George Cecil Ives in 1897, as a result of his belief that homosexuals would not be accepted openly in s ...
. Dr Helen Boyle and her partner, Mabel Jones, set up the first women-run general practice
General practice is the name given in various nations, such as the United Kingdom, India, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa to the services provided by general practitioners. In some nations, such as the US, similar services may be describe ...
in Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
, including offering free therapy for poor women. Helen Boyle also founded the National Council for Mental Hygiene (which subsequently became MIND) in 1922. British sexologist Havelock Ellis publishes ''Sexual Inversion'', the first volume in an intended series called ''Studies in the Psychology of Sex''. He argues that homosexuality is not a disease but a natural anomaly occurring throughout human and animal history, and should be accepted, not treated. He describes lesbians as being more like men, possessing male intelligence and propensity for independence. The book is banned in England for being obscene; the subsequent volumes in the series are published in the US and not sold in England until 1936.
* 1898 – George Bedborough
George Bedborough Higgs (10 January 1868 – 7 August 1940) was an English bookseller, journalist and writer who advocated for a number of causes, including sex reform, freethought, secularism, eugenics, animal rights, vegetarianism, and free lov ...
is convicted of obscenity, for selling a copy of Havelock Ellis
Henry Havelock Ellis (2 February 1859 – 8 July 1939) was an English physician, eugenicist, writer, progressive intellectual and social reformer who studied human sexuality. He co-wrote the first medical textbook in English on homosexuality in ...
's book ''Studies in the Psychology of Sex Vol. 2
''Studies in the Psychology of Sex Vol. 2'' is a book published in 1900 written by Havelock Ellis (1859–1939), an English physician, writer and social reformer. The book deals with the phenomenon of sexual inversion, an outdated term for homose ...
'', on the topic of homosexuality.
20th century
*1906 – Dr. Louisa Martindale
Louisa Martindale, (30 October 1872 – 5 February 1966) was an English physician, surgeon, and writer. She also served as magistrate on the Brighton bench, was a prison commissioner and a member of the National Council of Women. She served ...
set up a private practice in Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
and became the first woman GP. With a group of other Brighton feminists she developed the New Sussex Hospital for Women and Children, where she was Senior Surgeon and Physician. She later became a specialist in the early treatment of cervical cancer
Cervical cancer is a cancer arising from the cervix. It is due to the abnormal growth of cells that have the ability to invade or spread to other parts of the body. Early on, typically no symptoms are seen. Later symptoms may include abnormal ...
and was appointed a CBE
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
in 1931. Louisa lived with her partner Ismay FitzGerald for three decades, and wrote of her love for her in her autobiography A Woman Surgeon, published in 1951.
*1909 – The transgender writer Irene Clyde
Thomas Baty (8 February 1869 – 9 February 1954), also known by the name Irene Clyde, was an English writer, lawyer and expert on international law who spent much of his career working for the Imperial Japanese government. Baty was also an act ...
publishes ''Beatrice the Sixteenth
''Beatrice the Sixteenth: Being the Personal Narrative of Mary Hatherley, M.B., Explorer and Geographer'' is a 1909 feminist utopian novel by the English lawyer, writer and activist Irene Clyde—who is remembered as non-binary, transgender, or ...
'', a science fiction utopian novel set in a postgender society.
*1910 – While homosexuals in London had always socialised in public places such as pubs, coffee houses and tea shops, it possibly became more overt. Waitresses ensured that a section of Lyons Corner House
J. Lyons & Co. was a British restaurant Chain store, chain, food manufacturing, and hotel conglomerate founded in 1884 by Joseph Lyons (caterer), Joseph Lyons and his brothers in law, Isidore Gluckstein, Isidore and Montague Gluckstein. Lyons’ ...
in Piccadilly Circus was reserved for homosexuals. The section became known as the Lily Pond.
*1912 – London's first gay pub (as we now know the term), Madame Strindgberg's The Cave of the Golden Calf
The Cave of the Golden Calf was a night club in London. In existence for only two years immediately before the First World War, it epitomised decadence, and still inspires cultural events. Its name is a reference to the Golden Calf of the Biblica ...
opened in Heddon Street, off Regent Street.
*1913 – The British Society for the Study of Sex Psychology is founded by a group of theorists and activists, with Edward Carpenter
Edward Carpenter (29 August 1844 – 28 June 1929) was an English utopian socialist, poet, philosopher, anthologist, an early activist for gay rightsWarren Allen Smith: ''Who's Who in Hell, A Handbook and International Directory for Human ...
as president. Carpenter was a proponent of the theory of the homosexual as a third sex, and lived openly with his lover, George Merrill. The society was particularly concerned with homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
, aiming to combat legal discrimination against homosexuality with scientific understanding. Members included George Cecil Ives
George Cecil Ives (1 October 1867 in Frankfurt, Germany – 4 June 1950 in Hampstead/Middlesex, Great Britain) was an English poet, writer, penal reformer and early homosexual law reform campaigner.
Life and career
Ives was the illegitimate ...
, Edward Carpenter
Edward Carpenter (29 August 1844 – 28 June 1929) was an English utopian socialist, poet, philosopher, anthologist, an early activist for gay rightsWarren Allen Smith: ''Who's Who in Hell, A Handbook and International Directory for Human ...
, Montague Summers
Augustus Montague Summers (10 April 1880 – 10 August 1948) was an English author, clergyman, and teacher. He initially prepared for a career in the Church of England at Oxford and Lichfield, and was ordained as an Anglican deacon in 1908. He ...
, Stella Browne
Stella Browne (9 May 1880 – 8 May 1955) was a Canadian-born British feminist, socialist, sex radical, and birth control campaigner. She was one of the primary women in the fight for women's right to control and make decisions regarding their s ...
, Laurence Housman
Laurence Housman (; 18 July 1865 – 20 February 1959) was an English playwright, writer and illustrator whose career stretched from the 1890s to the 1950s. He studied art in London. He was a younger brother of the poet A. E. Housman and his s ...
, Havelock Ellis
Henry Havelock Ellis (2 February 1859 – 8 July 1939) was an English physician, eugenicist, writer, progressive intellectual and social reformer who studied human sexuality. He co-wrote the first medical textbook in English on homosexuality in ...
, George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
, and Ernest Jones
Alfred Ernest Jones (1 January 1879 – 11 February 1958) was a Welsh neurologist and psychoanalyst. A lifelong friend and colleague of Sigmund Freud from their first meeting in 1908, he became his official biographer. Jones was the first En ...
.
*1914 – The First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
broke out in August 1914 affecting thousand of lives. Openly homosexual writer Joe Randolph "J. R." Ackerley was commissioned as a second lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank.
Australia
The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...
and assigned to the 8th Battalion of the East Surrey Regiment
The East Surrey Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1959. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot, the 70th ...
. In June 1915, he was sent to France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. On 1 July 1916, he was wounded at the Battle of the Somme
The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...
. He was shot in the arm and suffered shards of a whisky bottle becoming imbedded in his side from an explosion. After lying wounded in a shell-hole for six hours, he was rescued and sent home for sick-leave. In May 1917, Ackerley led an attack in the Arras
Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department, which forms part of the regions of France, region of Hauts-de-France; before the regions of France#Reform and mergers of ...
region where he was wounded, this time in the buttock and thigh. While he was waiting for help, the Germans arrived and took him prisoner. As an officer, he was assigned to an internment camp in neutral Switzerland. Here he began his play, ''The Prisoners of War,'' which expresses the cabin fever of captivity and his frustrated longings for another male English prisoner.
*1916 – ''Urania
Urania ( ; grc, , Ouranía; modern Greek shortened name ''Ránia''; meaning "heavenly" or "of heaven") was, in Greek mythology, the muse of astronomy, and in later times, of Christian poetry. Urania is the goddess of astronomy and stars, he ...
'' a privately published feminist gender studies journal is established. It challenges gender stereotypes and advances the abolishment of gender; each issue is headed with the statement: "There are no 'men' or 'women' in ''Urania''." ''Urania'' was edited by Eva Gore-Booth
Eva Selina Laura Gore-Booth (22 May 1870 – 30 June 1926) was an Irish poet, theologian, and dramatist, and a committed suffragist, social worker and labour activist. She was born at Lissadell House, County Sligo, the younger sister of C ...
, Esther Roper
Esther Roper (4 August 1868 – 28 April 1938) was an Irish-English suffragist and social justice campaigner who fought for equal employment and voting rights for working-class women.
Early life and education
Esther Roper was born near Chorley ...
, Irene Clyde
Thomas Baty (8 February 1869 – 9 February 1954), also known by the name Irene Clyde, was an English writer, lawyer and expert on international law who spent much of his career working for the Imperial Japanese government. Baty was also an act ...
, Dorothy Cornish
Dorothy Helen Cornish (1 October 1870 – 7 October 1945) was an English Montessori educator, suffragist, translator, writer and editor of the feminist gender studies journal ''Urania''.
Biography
Cornish was born in Sixhills, Lincolnshire o ...
, and Jessey Wade
Jessey Wade (2 December 1859 – 1952) was an English suffragist and campaigner for animal welfare, known for founding the Cats Protection League (now known as Cats Protection). She co-founded a number of other animal welfare organisations and he ...
.
*1917 - May Toupie Lowther, known as 'Toupie', was awarded the Croix de Guerre
The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...
for her World War One efforts, which included the creation of an all-female ambulance unit. The unit travelled to France and close to the front line where they retrieved the wounded using their own cars. Lowther was a close friend of Radclyffe Hall
Marguerite Antonia Radclyffe Hall (12 August 1880 – 7 October 1943) was an English poet and author, best known for the novel ''The Well of Loneliness'', a groundbreaking work in lesbian literature. In adulthood, Hall often went by the name Jo ...
, author of ''The Well of Loneliness
''The Well of Loneliness'' is a lesbian novel by British author Radclyffe Hall that was first published in 1928 by Jonathan Cape. It follows the life of Stephen Gordon, an Englishwoman from an upper-class family whose " sexual inversion" (homo ...
'' and Hall drew on some of Lowther's experiences in depicting the life and character of its protagonist
A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...
Stephen.
*1918 – World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
ends. Army historian A.D. Harvey writes that "at least 230 soldiers were court-martialled, convicted and sentenced to terms of imprisonment for homosexual offences" during World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. The gay English poet and writer W. H. Auden
Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...
attended his first boarding school where he met Christopher Isherwood
Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood (26 August 1904 – 4 January 1986) was an Anglo-American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, autobiographer, and diarist. His best-known works include '' Goodbye to Berlin'' (1939), a semi-autobiographical ...
; when reintroduced to Isherwood in 1925, Auden probably fell in love with Isherwood and in the 1930s they maintained a sexual friendship in intervals between their relations with others.
1920s
*1921 – The Criminal Law Amendment Act
Criminal Law Amendment Act (with its many variations) is a stock short title used for legislation in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, Canada, India, Pakistan and South Africa which amends the criminal law (including both substantive an ...
was amended in the House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
to include a section to make sexual "acts of gross indecency" between women illegal, and was passed in the House of Commons. However the section was defeated in the House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
, in part due to the belief that criminalizing lesbian sex would only increase the frequency of such acts. As such, this amendment never became law.
*1924 – Bertolt Brecht
Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...
and Lion Feuchtwanger
Lion Feuchtwanger (; 7 July 1884 – 21 December 1958) was a German Jewish novelist and playwright. A prominent figure in the literary world of Weimar Germany, he influenced contemporaries including playwright Bertolt Brecht.
Feuchtwanger's Ju ...
worked on an adaptation of Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe, also known as Kit Marlowe (; baptised 26 February 156430 May 1593), was an English playwright, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the Elizabethan playwrights. Based upon the ...
's ''Edward II
Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to t ...
'' about the homosexual life of Edward II
Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to t ...
and Piers Gaveston, 1st Earl of Cornwall
Piers Gaveston, Earl of Cornwall (c. 1284 – 19 June 1312) was an English nobleman of Gascon origin, and the favourite of Edward II of England.
At a young age, Gaveston made a good impression on King Edward I, who assigned him to the househo ...
that proved to be a milestone in Brecht's early theatrical and dramaturgical development.
*1928 – ''The Well of Loneliness
''The Well of Loneliness'' is a lesbian novel by British author Radclyffe Hall that was first published in 1928 by Jonathan Cape. It follows the life of Stephen Gordon, an Englishwoman from an upper-class family whose " sexual inversion" (homo ...
'' by Radclyffe Hall
Marguerite Antonia Radclyffe Hall (12 August 1880 – 7 October 1943) was an English poet and author, best known for the novel ''The Well of Loneliness'', a groundbreaking work in lesbian literature. In adulthood, Hall often went by the name Jo ...
was published in the UK by Jonathan Cape
Jonathan Cape is a London publishing firm founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape, who was head of the firm until his death in 1960.
Cape and his business partner Wren Howard set up the publishing house in 1921. They established a reputation ...
. This sparked great legal controversy and brought the topic of homosexuality to public conversation. James Douglas, editor of the ''Sunday Express
The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...
'' newspaper, began a campaign to suppress the book with poster and billboard advertising. Cape panicked and sent a copy of ''The Well of Loneliness'' to the Home Secretary
The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...
, William Joynson-Hicks
William is a male given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norm ...
(a Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
) for his opinion; he took only two days to reply that the work was "gravely detrimental to the public interest" and if Cape did not withdraw it voluntarily, criminal proceedings would be brought against him. Cape suppressed the book after only two editions.
*1929 – The death of Edward Carpenter
Edward Carpenter (29 August 1844 – 28 June 1929) was an English utopian socialist, poet, philosopher, anthologist, an early activist for gay rightsWarren Allen Smith: ''Who's Who in Hell, A Handbook and International Directory for Human ...
(29 August 1844 – 28 June 1929), an English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...
, socialist philosopher, anthologist
In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors.
In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically catego ...
, and early gay activist.
1930s
*1932 – Sir Noël Coward wrote "Mad About the Boy
"Mad About the Boy" is a popular song with words and music by actor and playwright Noël Coward. It was introduced in the 1932 revue ''Words and Music (musical), Words and Music'' by Joyce Barbour, Steffi Duna, Norah Howard and Doris Hare. The ...
", a song which dealt with the theme of homosexual
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
love; it was introduced in the 1932
Events January
* January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel.
* January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...
revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own duri ...
, but due to the risque nature of the song, it was sung by a woman. The ''News of the World
The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling En ...
'' published a story, 'Amazing Change of Sex', about a trans man from Sussex who transitioned 'from Margery to Maurice', namely Colonel Sir Victor Barker (1895–1960) who married Elfrida Haward in Brighton. Barker's birth sex (female) is later revealed and the marriage is consequently annulled. Barker went on to appear in freak show
A freak show, also known as a creep show, is an exhibition of biological rarities, referred to in popular culture as "freaks of nature". Typical features would be physically unusual humans, such as those uncommonly large or small, those with ...
displays in New Brighton, Southend-on-Sea
Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...
and Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
.
*1935 – Queer club culture in the 1930s was vibrant and varied, especially in the growing post-First World War underground scene. Music was central to the character of many of these venues, from the music hall artists to the expanding London jazz scene. At the centre of the action was the Shim Sham Club at 37 Wardour Street
Wardour Street () is a street in Soho, City of Westminster, London. It is a one-way street that runs north from Leicester Square, through Chinatown, London, Chinatown, across Shaftesbury Avenue to Oxford Street. Throughout the 20th century the ...
, an unlicensed jazz club popular with black and gay audiences, and its successor the Rainbow Roof.
*1936 – A 30-year-old British athletic champion, Mark Weston of Plymouth, transitioned from female to male. The story appeared in some national newspapers, including the ''News of the World
The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling En ...
'' (31 May 1936). The reportage was accurate and sensitive. In the words of L. R. Broster, the Harley Street
Harley Street is a street in Marylebone, Central London, which has, since the 19th century housed a large number of private specialists in medicine and surgery. It was named after Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer.< ...
surgeon who treated him, 'Mark Weston, who has always been brought up as a female, is a male and should continue to live as such'. ''Nightwood'' by Djuna Barnes, a novel that portrays explicit homosexuality between women, is published in London by Faber and Faber.
1940s
* 1940 – Throughout the forties, attitudes to homosexuality were relaxed. With conscription
Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...
into the armed services, men and women were removed from their homes and families are relocated to a military life. John Howard described the services as being tolerant of 'homosex', which was same-sex sexual activity but which makes no assumption about the sexuality of its participants. In the Navy masturbation between seamen was known as a "flip". Jivani claims that in the Navy 'wingers' were sexual relationships between seamen of unequal rank and 'oppos' were sexual relationships between men of similar rank. In the army sex between men was often viewed by officers and other ranks as a legitimate response to the absence of women and the need for safe sexual relief. Both in the Army and the RAF the system of employing young boys as batmen who acted as orderlies for their officers was sometimes rooted in sex.
*1940 – ''Urania'', a feminist gender studies journal with strong pacifist editorial is established. The journal's goal was the abolition of gender in order to build a society of equal women whose sex and orientation were unimportant. Urania remained privately published for its 24-year history.
* 1939–1945 Blackout during World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
afforded men many new opportunities for sexual encounters that many wouldn't have experienced before. Men could find each other under the cover of complete darkness. They were also put into situations which would never have occurred in civvy life.
*1945 – World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
ends. 6,508,000 men and women had served in the British Armed Forces during World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
Following the war, moral attitudes to prostitution and homosexuality rapidly changed. The Anglican Public Morality Council declared that the police were once again 'conducting a campaign against this deplorable (homosexual sex) offences'. In London, gay men in Piccadilly
Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Court, ...
and Leicester Square
Leicester Square ( ) is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leicester House, itself named after Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester ...
were targeted and anyone caught charged with being "concerned together in committing an act of gross indecency"
*1946 – Harold Gillies
Sir Harold Delf Gillies (17 June 1882 – 10 September 1960) was a New Zealand otolaryngologist and father of modern plastic surgery.
Early life
Gillies was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, the son of Member of Parliament in Otago, Robert Gillies ...
and a colleague carried out one of the first sex reassignment surgeries from female to male on Michael Dillon
Laurence Michael Dillon (born Laura Maud Dillon; 1 May 1915 – 15 May 1962) was a physician and the first trans man to undergo phalloplasty.
Early life and transition
Dillon was the second child of Robert Arthur Dillon (1865–1925), heir to ...
. In 1951 he and colleagues carried out one of the first modern sex reassignment surgery from male to female using a flap technique on Roberta Cowell, which became the standard for 40 years.
1950s
Throughout the cold war
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
atmosphere of the 1950s, when witch hunts later called the Lavender Scare
The "lavender scare" was a moral panic about homosexual people in the United States government which led to their mass dismissal from government service during the mid-20th century. It contributed to and paralleled the anti-communist campaign wh ...
were ruining the lives of many gay men and lesbian women in the United States, the parallel political atmosphere in Britain was virulently anti-homosexual. The then Home Secretary
The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...
, Sir David Maxwell Fyfe, had promised "a new drive against male vice" that would "rid England of this plague." As many as 1,000 men were locked up in Britain's prisons every year amid a widespread police clampdown on homosexual offences. Undercover officers acting as "''agents provocateurs''" would pose as gay men soliciting in public places. The prevailing mood was one of barely concealed paranoia.
*1950 – In Rotherham
Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...
, an English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
schoolteacher, Kenneth Crowe, aged 37, was found dead wearing his wife's clothes and a wig. He approached a man on his way home from the pub, who upon discovering Crowe was male, beat and strangled him. The killer, John Cooney, was found not guilty of murder and sentenced to five years for manslaughter.
*1951 – Roberta Cowell a former World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griff ...
pilot, becomes the first transgender woman to undergo male-to-female confirmation surgery on 16 May. Cowell continued her career as a racing driver and published her autobiography in 1954. Ivor Novello
Ivor Novello (born David Ivor Davies; 15 January 1893 – 6 March 1951) was a Welsh actor, dramatist, singer and composer who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century.
He was born into a musical ...
Anglo-Welsh matinee idol, author and composer, noted for his hospitality and homosexuality dies.
*1952 – Sir John Nott-Bower
Sir John Reginald Hornby Nott-Bower (16 March 1892 – 3 October 1972) was Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, the head of the London Metropolitan Police, from 1953 to 1958. He was the first career police officer to hold this post.
Early ...
, commissioner of Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...
began to weed out homosexuals from the British Government
ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd
, image = HM Government logo.svg
, image_size = 220px
, image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg
, image_size2 = 180px
, caption = Royal Arms
, date_es ...
at the same time as McCarthy McCarthy (also spelled MacCarthy or McCarty) may refer to:
* MacCarthy, a Gaelic Irish clan
* McCarthy, Alaska, United States
* McCarty, Missouri, United States
* McCarthy Road, a road in Alaska
* McCarthy (band), an indie pop band
* Château MacC ...
was conducting a federal homosexual witch hunt in the US.
*1953 – John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Briti ...
, the actor-director, was arrested on 20 October in Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
for cruising in a public lavatory, and was subsequently fined. When the news broke he was in Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
on the pre-London tour of a new play. He was paralysed by nerves at the prospect of going onstage, but fellow players, led by Sybil Thorndike
Dame Agnes Sybil Thorndike, Lady Casson (24 October 18829 June 1976) was an English actress whose stage career lasted from 1904 to 1969.
Trained in her youth as a concert pianist, Thorndike turned to the stage when a medical problem with her ...
, encouraged him. The audience gave him a standing ovation, showing that they didn't care about his private life. The episode affected Gielgud's health and he suffered a nervous breakdown months later. He did not acknowledge publicly that he was gay.
* Edward Montagu (the 3rd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu) was charged and committed for trial at Winchester Assizes, firstly in 1953 for having underage sex with a 14-year-old boy scout at his beach hut on the Solent, a charge he always denied. The American Institute of Public Relations had just voted him the most promising young PR man when he was arrested. Although he enjoyed the support of his close family and a wide variety of friends, for a year or so he became "the subject of endless blue jokes and innumerable bawdy songs". This was not to be Montagu's first arrest during this witch hunt period.
*1954 – Michael Pitt-Rivers
Major Michael Augustus Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers (27 May 1917 – December 1999) was a West Country landowner who gained notoriety in Britain in the 1950s when he was put on trial charged with buggery. This trial was instrumental in bringing publ ...
and Peter Wildeblood
Peter Wildeblood (19 May 1923 – 14 November 1999) was an Anglo-Canadian journalist, novelist, playwright and gay rights campaigner. He was one of the first men in the UK publicly to declare his homosexuality.
Early life
Peter Wildeblood was ...
were arrested and charged with having committed specific acts of "indecency" with RAF airmen Edward McNally and John Reynolds; they were also accused of conspiring with Edward Montagu (the 3rd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu) to commit these offences. The Director of Public Prosecutions
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is the office or official charged with the prosecution of criminal offences in several criminal jurisdictions around the world. The title is used mainly in jurisdictions that are or have been members o ...
gave his assurance that the witnesses Reynolds and McNally would not be prosecuted in any circumstances, but Michael Pitt-Rivers
Major Michael Augustus Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers (27 May 1917 – December 1999) was a West Country landowner who gained notoriety in Britain in the 1950s when he was put on trial charged with buggery. This trial was instrumental in bringing publ ...
, Montagu and Peter Wildeblood
Peter Wildeblood (19 May 1923 – 14 November 1999) was an Anglo-Canadian journalist, novelist, playwright and gay rights campaigner. He was one of the first men in the UK publicly to declare his homosexuality.
Early life
Peter Wildeblood was ...
were tried and imprisoned at Winchester in 1954. This set off a chain of events which would lead to the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1967
*1954 – Alan Turing
Alan Mathison Turing (; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, and theoretical biologist. Turing was highly influential in the development of theoretical com ...
, an English mathematician
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems.
Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change.
History
On ...
, logician
Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...
, cryptanalyst
Cryptanalysis (from the Greek ''kryptós'', "hidden", and ''analýein'', "to analyze") refers to the process of analyzing information systems in order to understand hidden aspects of the systems. Cryptanalysis is used to breach cryptographic sec ...
and computer scientist
A computer scientist is a person who is trained in the academic study of computer science.
Computer scientists typically work on the theoretical side of computation, as opposed to the hardware side on which computer engineers mainly focus (al ...
, influential in the development of computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...
, committed suicide. He had been given a course of female hormones (chemical castration
Chemical castration is castration via anaphrodisiac drugs, whether to reduce libido and sexual activity, to treat cancer, or otherwise. Unlike surgical castration, where the gonads are removed through an incision in the body,[ ...]
) by doctors as an alternative to prison after being prosecuted by the police because of his homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
.
*1954 –The Wolfenden Committee is formed with Sir John Wolfenden as chairman. This follows from the trial of Edward Montagu, Michael Pitt-Rivers
Major Michael Augustus Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers (27 May 1917 – December 1999) was a West Country landowner who gained notoriety in Britain in the 1950s when he was put on trial charged with buggery. This trial was instrumental in bringing publ ...
and Peter Wildeblood
Peter Wildeblood (19 May 1923 – 14 November 1999) was an Anglo-Canadian journalist, novelist, playwright and gay rights campaigner. He was one of the first men in the UK publicly to declare his homosexuality.
Early life
Peter Wildeblood was ...
began on 15 March in the hall of Winchester Castle
Winchester Castle is a medieval building in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded in 1067. Only the Great Hall still stands; it houses a museum of the history of Winchester.
History
Early history
Around AD 70 the Romans constructed a ...
. All three defendants were convicted. The ''Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...
'' published an article entitled "Law and Hypocrisy" on 28 March that dealt with this trial and its outcome. Soon after, on 10 April, the ''New Statesman
The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...
'' printed an article called "''The Police and the Montagu Case''". A month after the Montagu trial the Home Secretary
The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...
Sir David Maxwell Fyfe agreed to appoint a committee to examine and report on the law covering homosexual offences (this would become known as The Wolfenden Report
The Report of the Departmental Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution (better known as the Wolfenden report, after Sir John Wolfenden, the chairman of the committee) was published in the United Kingdom on 4 September 1957 after a suc ...
).
*1956 – The Sexual Offences Act
Sexual Offences Act (with its variations) is a stock short title used for legislation in the United Kingdom and former British colonies and territories such as Antigua and Barbuda, Crown dependencies, Kenya, Lesotho, Republic of Ireland, Sierra L ...
recognises the crime of sexual assault between women.
*1957 – The ''Report of the Departmental Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution'' (better known as the Wolfenden report
The Report of the Departmental Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution (better known as the Wolfenden report, after Sir John Wolfenden, the chairman of the committee) was published in the United Kingdom on 4 September 1957 after a suc ...
, after Lord Wolfenden) was published. It advised the British Government
ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd
, image = HM Government logo.svg
, image_size = 220px
, image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg
, image_size2 = 180px
, caption = Royal Arms
, date_es ...
that homosexuality should be made legal (although this would take another decade).
*1958 – The Homosexual Law Reform Society
The Homosexual Law Reform Society was an organisation that campaigned in the United Kingdom for changes to the set of laws which criminalised homosexuality at the time.
History
In 1954 the Conservative government set up a Departmental Committe ...
is founded in the United Kingdom following the Wolfenden report
The Report of the Departmental Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution (better known as the Wolfenden report, after Sir John Wolfenden, the chairman of the committee) was published in the United Kingdom on 4 September 1957 after a suc ...
the previous year, to begin a campaign to make homosexuality legal in the UK.
*1959 – Alan Horsfall
Alan or Allan Horsfall (5 August 1926 – 24 May 2007) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s. He played at club level for Leeds Rhinos, Leeds and Castleford Tigers, Castleford (List of Castleford ...
, Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
councillor for Nelson, Lancashire
Nelson is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England, with a population of 29,135 in 2011. It is 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Burnley and 2.5 miles southwest of Colne.
It developed as a ...
, tables a motion to his local Labour party to back the decriminalisation of homosexuality. The motion is rejected, but Horsfall and fellow activist Antony Grey
Anthony Edgar Gartside Wright (6 October 1927 – 30 April 2010), better known by his pseudonym Antony Grey, was an English LGBT rights activist. Grey was credited by Lord Arran to have "done more than any single man to bring this social proble ...
later form the North West Homosexual Law Reform Committee. ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
, at the time the UK's only national commercial broadcaster, broadcasts the UK's first gay TV drama, ''South'', starring Peter Wyngarde
Peter Paul Wyngarde (born Cyril Goldbert, 23 August 1927 – 15 January 2018) was a British television, stage and film actor from the late 1940s to the mid 1990s. He was best known for portraying the character Jason King, a bestselling novelist ...
.
1960s
*1961 – ''Victim
Victim(s) or The Victim may refer to:
People
* Crime victim
* Victim, in psychotherapy, a posited role in the Karpman drama triangle model of transactional analysis
Films and television
* ''The Victim'' (1916 film), an American silent film by t ...
'' was the first English-language film to use the word "homosexual". It premiered in the UK on 31 August 1961.
*1963 – The Minorities Research Group
The Minorities Research Group (MRG) (est. 1963)p.96 From the Closet to the Screen – Jill Gardiner was the first organisation to openly advocate the interests of lesbians in the United Kingdom. It was founded by four women who got together in re ...
(MRG) became the UK's first lesbian social and political organisation. They went on to publish their own lesbian magazine called Arena Three.
*1964 – The North West Homosexual Law Reform Committee was founded, abandoning the medical model of homosexuality as a sickness and calling for its decriminalisation. The first meeting was held in Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
. The North West branch of the national Homosexual Law Reform Committee became the national Committee for Homosexual Equality in 1969 and in 1971 after the advent of the Gay Liberation Front in 1970, changed its name to Campaign for Homosexual Equality.
*1965 – In the House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
, Lord Arran proposed the decriminalisation of male homosexual acts (lesbian acts had never been illegal). A UK opinion poll finds that 93% of respondents see homosexuality as a form of illness requiring medical treatment.
*1966 – In the House of Commons Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
MP Humphry Berkeley
Humphry John Berkeley (21 February 192614 November 1994) was a British politician and author. He was noted for his three changes of parties and his early support for gay rights.
He is also remembered for a series of hoax letters he sent as fic ...
introduce a bill
Bill(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States)
* Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature
* Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer
* Bill, a bird or animal's beak
Plac ...
to legalise male homosexual relations along the lines of the Wolfenden report
The Report of the Departmental Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution (better known as the Wolfenden report, after Sir John Wolfenden, the chairman of the committee) was published in the United Kingdom on 4 September 1957 after a suc ...
. Berkeley was well known to his colleagues as a homosexual, according to a 2007 article published in ''The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
'' and was unpopular. His Bill was given a second reading by 164 to 107 on 11 February, but fell when Parliament was dissolved soon after. Unexpectedly, Berkeley lost his seat in the 1966 general election, and ascribed his defeat to the unpopularity of his bill on homosexuality. The Beaumont Society, a London-based social/support group for people who cross-dress, are transvestite or who are transsexual, was founded. The society takes its name from Charles-Geneviève-Louis-Auguste-André-Timothée d'Éon de Beaumont (the Chevalier d'Éon
Charles-Geneviève-Louis-Auguste-André-Timothée d'Éon de Beaumont or Charlotte-Geneviève-Louise-Augusta-Andréa-Timothéa d'Éon de Beaumont (5 October 172821 May 1810), usually known as the Chevalier d'Éon or the Chevalière d'Éon ( is t ...
) a French spy and diplomat, born a man, who lived as a woman for the last 33 years of her life, and after whom Havelock Ellis
Henry Havelock Ellis (2 February 1859 – 8 July 1939) was an English physician, eugenicist, writer, progressive intellectual and social reformer who studied human sexuality. He co-wrote the first medical textbook in English on homosexuality in ...
invented the term Eonism
Henry Havelock Ellis (2 February 1859 – 8 July 1939) was an English physician, eugenicist, writer, Progressivism, progressive intellectual and social reformer who studied human sexuality. He co-wrote the first medical textbook in English on ho ...
to refer to transgender conditions.
*1967 – Ten years after the Wolfenden Report, MP Leo Abse
Leopold Abse (22 April 1917 – 19 August 2008) was a Welsh lawyer and politician. He was a Welsh Labour MP for nearly 30 years, noted for promoting private member's bills to decriminalise male homosexual relations and liberalise the divorce la ...
introduced the Sexual Offences Bill 1967 supported by Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
MP Roy Jenkins
Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead, (11 November 1920 – 5 January 2003) was a British politician who served as President of the European Commission from 1977 to 1981. At various times a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Lab ...
, then the Labour Home Secretary
The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...
. When passed, The Act decriminalised homosexual acts between two men over 21 years of age ''in private'' in England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
. The 1967 Act did not extend to Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
, the Channel Islands
The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...
or the Isle of Man
)
, anthem = "O Land of Our Birth"
, image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg
, image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg
, mapsize =
, map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe
, map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green)
in Europe ...
, where all homosexual behaviour remained illegal. The privacy restrictions of the act meant a third person could not be present and men could not have sex in a hotel. These restrictions were overturned in the European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...
in 2000.
:The book Homosexual Behavior Among Males by Wainwright Churchill breaks ground as a scientific study approaching homosexuality as a fact of life and introduces the term "homoerotophobia", a possible precursor to "homophobia". The courts decided that transsexuals
Transsexual people experience a gender identity that is inconsistent with their assigned sex, and desire to permanently transition to the sex or gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance (including sex reassignment ...
could not get married; Justice Ormerod found that in the case of Talbot (otherwise Poyntz) v. Talbot where one spouse was a post-operative
Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pat ...
transsexual their marriage was not permitted. Justice Ormerod stated that ''Marriage is a relationship which depends on sex, not on gender''.
*1969 – Campaign for Homosexual Equality
The Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE) is a membership organisation in the United Kingdom with a stated aim from 1969 to promote legal and social equality for lesbians, gay men and bisexuals in England and Wales. Active throughout the 1970s ...
(CHE) formed as the first British gay activist group. In Scotland, gay right organisation the Scottish Minorities Group is founded by Ian Dunn (it was later known as Outright Scotland).
1970s
*1970 – Gay Liberation Front
Gay Liberation Front (GLF) was the name of several gay liberation groups, the first of which was formed in New York City in 1969, immediately after the Stonewall riots. Similar organizations also formed in the UK and Canada. The GLF provided a ...
(GLF) was established at London School of Economics
, mottoeng = To understand the causes of things
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £240.8 million (2021)
, budget = £391.1 millio ...
on 13 October, in response to debates many gay men and lesbians were having in Britain about the way they were treated. The formation of Gay Liberation Front was also influenced by the Stonewall Rebellion
The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous protests by members of the gay community in response to a police raid that began in the early morning hours of Ju ...
in the USA that started on 28 June 1969.
*On the 27th of November 150 members of the Gay Liberation Front, held a torchlight rally in Highbury Fields to protest against the continual harassment of the gay community in London by the police.In the case between April Ashley and Arthur Cameron Corbett, their marriage was annulled on the basis that Ashley, a transsexual woman, was a man under then-current British law. This set a legal precedent for trans people in Britain, meaning that the birth certificates of transsexual
Transsexual people experience a gender identity that is inconsistent with their assigned sex, and desire to permanently transition to the sex or gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance (including sex reassignment ...
and intersex
Intersex people are individuals born with any of several sex characteristics including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical bina ...
people could not be changed.
*1971 – The Nationwide Festival of Light
The Nationwide Festival of Light was a short-lived grassroots movement formed by British Christians concerned about the rise of the permissive society and social changes in English society by the late 1960s.
The movement was opposed to what t ...
supported by Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...
, Mary Whitehouse
Constance Mary Whitehouse (; 13 June 1910 – 23 November 2001) was a British teacher and conservative activist. She campaigned against social liberalism and the mainstream British media, both of which she accused of encouraging a more permiss ...
, Malcolm Muggeridge
Thomas Malcolm Muggeridge (24 March 1903 – 14 November 1990) was an English journalist and satirist. His father, H. T. Muggeridge, was a socialist politician and one of the early Labour Party (UK), Labour Party Members of Parliament (for Romfo ...
and Lord Longford
Francis Aungier Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford, 1st Baron Pakenham, Baron Pakenham of Cowley, (5 December 1905 – 3 August 2001), known to his family as Frank Longford and styled Lord Pakenham from 1945 to 1961, was a British politician and ...
was held by British Christians who were concerned about the development of the permissive society
A permissive society, also referred to as permissive culture, is a society in which some social norms become increasingly liberal, especially with regard to sexual freedom. This usually accompanies a change in what is considered deviant. While t ...
in the UK and in particular, homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
and out of wedlock sexual activity. The GLF interrupted the festival with a series of demonstrations. Lesbians invaded the platform of the Women's Liberation Conference in Skegness
Skegness ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Lindsey District of Lincolnshire, England. On the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea, the town is east of Lincoln and north-east of Boston. With a population of 19,579 as of 2011, i ...
, demanding recognition The Nullity of Marriage Act was passed, explicitly banning same-sex marriages
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...
between same-sex couples
A same-sex relationship is a Romance (love), romantic or Human sexuality, sexual relationship between people of the same sex. ''Same-sex marriage'' refers to the institutionalized recognition of such relationships in the form of a marriage; civil ...
in England and Wales
England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...
. The parliamentary debates on the 1971 act included discussion on the issue of transsexualism but not homosexuality.
*1972 – The First British Gay Pride Rally was held in London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
with an estimated 200-700 people marching from Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson commemo ...
to Hyde Park
Hyde Park may refer to:
Places
England
* Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London
* Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds
* Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield
* Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester
Austra ...
. ''Gay News
''Gay News'' was a fortnightly newspaper in the United Kingdom founded in June 1972 in a collaboration between former members of the Gay Liberation Front and members of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE). At the newspaper's height, circul ...
'', Britain's first gay newspaper was founded.
*1973 – London Icebreakers forms, offering a 24-hour helpline staffed exclusively by LGB people and offered gay-affirmative support. The Campaign for Homosexual Equality
The Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE) is a membership organisation in the United Kingdom with a stated aim from 1969 to promote legal and social equality for lesbians, gay men and bisexuals in England and Wales. Active throughout the 1970s ...
holds the first British gay rights
Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality.
Notably, , 3 ...
conference in Morecambe, Lancashire
Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea.
Name
The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...
. The Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
Gay Alliance formed by the University's Lesbian & Gay Society, CHE, a lesbian
A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...
group and transvestite
Transvestism is the practice of dressing in a manner traditionally associated with the opposite sex. In some cultures, transvestism is practiced for religious, traditional, or ceremonial reasons. The term is considered outdated in Western c ...
/ transsexual group. In late 1973 Dr. Carol Steele and another transsexual woman (Linda B.) formed the Manchester TV/TS Group (a group for transvestites and transsexuals). ef: Trans Britain – Our Long Journey from the Shadows – Unbound Books 2018*1974 – Maureen Colquhoun
Maureen Morfydd Colquhoun ( ; ' Smith, 12 August 1928 – 2 February 2021) was a British economist and Labour politician. She was Britain's first openly lesbian member of Parliament (MP).
Education and early political career
Smith was born i ...
came out as the first Lesbian MP for the Labour Party. When elected she was married in a heterosexual marriage. After coming out, her party refused to support her. The First National TV/TS (Transvestite/Transsexual Conference) is held in Leeds. Jan Morris
(Catharine) Jan MorrisJan Morris, Paul Clements, University of Wales Press, 2008, p. 7 (born James Humphry Morris; 2 October 192620 November 2020) was a Welsh historian, author and travel writer. She was known particularly for the ''Pax Brita ...
, one of Britain's top journalists who has covered wars and rebellions around the globe and climbed Mount Everest
Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...
in 1952, publishes Conundrum, a personal account of her transition, widely hailed as a classic.
*1975 – The groundbreaking film portraying homosexual gay icon Quentin Crisp
Quentin Crisp (born Denis Charles Pratt; – ) was an English raconteur, whose work in the public eye included a memoir of his life and various media appearances. Before becoming well-known, he was an artist's model, hence the title of ...
's life, The Naked Civil Servant (based on the 1968 autobiography and starring John Hurt
Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 25 January 2017) was an English actor whose career spanned over five decades. Hurt was regarded as one of Britain's finest actors. Director David Lynch described him as "simply the greatest actor in t ...
) was transmitted by Thames Television
Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...
for the British Television channel ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
. British journal Gay Left
Gay Left was a collective of gay men and a journal of the same name which they published every six months in London between the years 1975 and 1980. It was formed after the dissolution of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) and the Gay Marxist Gro ...
begins publication.[The Knitting Circle](_blank)
– 'Gay Left Collective' British Home Stores
British Home Stores, commonly abbreviated to BHS and latterly legally styled BHS Ltd, was a British department store chain, primarily selling clothing and household items. In its later years, the company began to expand into furniture, electron ...
sacked openly gay trainee Tony Whitehead; a national campaign subsequently picketed their stores. The Liberal Party passed a conference resolution in support of equality for gay people including an equal age of consent.
*1976 – Britain's political pressure group Liberty
Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom.
In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...
, under its original name ''National Council for Civil Liberties'' (NCCL), called for an equal age of consent of 14 in Britain. The term Gay Bowel Syndrome was coined to describe a range of rectal diseases seen among gay male patients; in the pre-AIDS era, this is the first medical term to relate to gay men.
*1976 – The was established by Phillip Cox and Paul Welch. It was chaired by Steven Power, a 1970s gay activist, from 1977 until 1980 when he became 21. It was the first officially registered gay youth group in Europe.
*1977 – The first gay lesbian Trades Union Congress
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre
A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national tra ...
(TUC) conference took place to discuss workplace rights for Gays and Lesbians.
*1978 – The International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) was founded as the International Gay Association (IGA) on 8 August during the conference of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality
The Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE) is a membership organisation in the United Kingdom with a stated aim from 1969 to promote legal and social equality for lesbians, gay men and bisexuals in England and Wales. Active throughout the 1970s ...
in Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...
, England, at a meeting attended by 30 men representing 17 organisations from 14 countries. The Coventry conference also called upon Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
to take up the issue of persecution of lesbians and gays.
1980s
*1980 – The Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980
The Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom (citation 1980 c.62). It decriminalized private homosexual acts between two consenting adults in Scotland when it came into effect on 1 February 1981.
"Subjec ...
decriminalised homosexual acts between two men over 21 years of age "in private" in Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. British documentary ''A Change of Sex
''A Change of Sex'' is a multi-part television documentary about English trans woman Julia Grant. The first chapter, initially titled ''George'', premiered on BBC2 in 1979. It is one of the first documentary films about transgender issues.
BBC ...
'' aired on BBC2
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
, enabling viewers to follow the social and medical transition of Julia Grant; also provides a snapshot of the Gender Identity Clinic at Charing Cross Hospital
Charing Cross Hospital is an acute general teaching hospital located in Hammersmith, London, United Kingdom. The present hospital was opened in 1973, although it was originally established in 1818, approximately five miles east, in central Lond ...
in London. The Self Help Association for Transsexuals (SHAFT) was formed as an information collecting and disseminating body for trans-people. The association later became known as 'Gender Dysphoria Trust International' (GDTI). The first Black Gay and Lesbian Group was formed in the UK. Lionel Blue
Lionel Blue (6 February 1930 – 19 December 2016) was a British Reform rabbi, journalist and broadcaster, described by ''The Guardian'' as "one of the most respected religious figures in the UK". He was best known for his longstanding work wit ...
became the first British rabbi to come out as gay. The UK's first television series specifically aimed at a gay audience is broadcast on London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 unt ...
. Called ''Gay Life
Gay Life was a weekly newspaper about LGBT culture, gay culture published by the LGBT Community Center of Baltimore and Central Maryland. It was distributed in Baltimore, Maryland and throughout the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic re ...
'', the programme airs late on Sundays and runs for two series. Former British soldier and gay rights activist Dudley Cave establishes the "Lesbian and Gay Bereavement Project" to support bereaved lesbian and gay people who could not be legally recognised as next-of-kin.
*1981 – The European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...
in ''Dudgeon v. United Kingdom
''Dudgeon v the United Kingdom'' (1981) was a European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) case, which held that Section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 which criminalised male homosexual acts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland violate ...
'' struck down Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
's criminalisation of homosexual acts between consenting adults. The first UK case of AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
was recorded when a 49-year-old man was admitted to Brompton Hospital
Royal Brompton Hospital is the largest specialist heart and lung medical centre in the United Kingdom. It is managed by Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust.
History Consumption in the 19th Century
In the 19th century, consumption was a co ...
in London suffering from PCP (Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia
''Pneumocystis'' pneumonia (PCP), also known as ''Pneumocystis jirovecii'' pneumonia (PJP), is a form of pneumonia that is caused by the yeast-like fungus ''Pneumocystis jirovecii''.
''Pneumocystis'' specimens are commonly found in the lungs of ...
). He died ten days later. The first bisexual group in the United Kingdom, London Bisexual Group, was founded.
*1982 – The Homosexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 1982
The Homosexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 1982, No. 1536 (N.I. 19), is an Order in Council which decriminalized homosexual acts between consenting adults in Northern Ireland. The Order was adopted as a result of a European Court of Human Rig ...
decriminalised homosexual acts between two men over 21 years of age "in private" in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
. Terry Higgins
Terrence Higgins (10 June 1945 – 4 July 1982) was among the first people known to die of an AIDS-related illness in the United Kingdom.[AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...](_blank)
in St Thomas' Hospital
St Thomas' Hospital is a large NHS teaching hospital in Central London, England. It is one of the institutions that compose the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. Administratively part of the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foun ...
London, his friends and partner Martyn Butler set up the Terry Higgins Trust (which became the Terrence Higgins Trust
Terrence Higgins Trust is a British charity that campaigns about and provides services relating to HIV and sexual health. In particular, the charity aims to end the transmission of HIV in the UK; to support and empower people living with HIV, to ...
), the first UK AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
charity.
*1983 – Britain reports 17 cases of AIDS. Gay men are asked not to donate blood. UK Crown Dependency Guernsey
Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency.
It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...
(Including Alderney
Alderney (; french: Aurigny ; Auregnais: ) is the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown dependency. It is long and wide.
The island's area is , making it the third-largest ...
, Herm
Herm (Guernésiais: , ultimately from Old Norse 'arm', due to the shape of the island, or Old French 'hermit') is one of the Channel Islands and part of the Parish of St Peter Port in the Bailiwick of Guernsey. It is located in the English ...
and Sark
Sark (french: link=no, Sercq, ; Sercquiais: or ) is a part of the Channel Islands in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, France. It is a royal fief, which forms part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, with its own set of l ...
) decriminalised homosexuality.
*1984 – Chris Smith, newly elected to the UK parliament declares: "My name is Chris Smith. I'm the Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
MP for Islington South and Finsbury, and I'm gay", making him the first openly out homosexual politician in the UK parliament. Britain reports 108 cases of AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
with 46 deaths (from AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
). The Politics of Bisexuality signals the growth of separate bisexual community organising. Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners
Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) was an alliance of lesbians and gay men who supported the National Union of Mineworkers during the year-long strike of 1984–1985. By the end of the strike, eleven LGSM groups had emerged in the UK ...
, a campaign of LGBT support for striking workers in the miners' strike
Miners' strikes are when miners conduct strike actions.
See also
* List of strikes
References
{{Reflist
Miners
A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are tw ...
of 1984 and 1985, is launched.
*1985 – AIDS hysteria grows in the UK when passengers on the ''Queen Elizabeth 2
''Queen Elizabeth 2'' (''QE2'') is a retired British ocean liner converted into a floating hotel. Originally built for the Cunard Line, the ship, named as the second ship named ''Queen Elizabeth'', was operated by Cunard as both a transatlantic ...
'' curtailed their holiday as a person with AIDS was discovered on board. Cunard
Cunard () is a British shipping and cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its three ships have been registered in Hamilton, Bermu ...
were criticised for trying to cover this up. A London support group Body Positive was set up as a self-help group for people affected by HTLV-3 and AIDS. Health Minister A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services.
Some governments have separate ministers for mental health.
Count ...
, Kenneth Clarke
Kenneth Harry Clarke, Baron Clarke of Nottingham, (born 2 July 1940), often known as Ken Clarke, is a British politician who served as Home Secretary from 1992 to 1993 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1993 to 1997 as well as serving as de ...
, enacted powers to detain people with AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
in hospital against their will, potentially preventing people coming forward for treatment.
*1986 –Mark Rees, a trans-man, brings a case to the European Court of Human Rights, stating that UK law prevented him from gaining legal status recognising him as male. The case was lost but the court noted the seriousness of the issues facing trans people.
*1987 – Conservative Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...
at the 1987 Conservative party conference, issued the statement stating ''"Children who need to be taught to respect traditional moral values are being taught that they have an inalienable right to be gay"''. Backbench Conservative MPs and Peers had already begun a backlash against the 'promotion' of homosexuality and, in December 1987, Clause 28 is introduced into the local government bill by Dame Jill Knight, Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
MP for Birmingham Edgbaston
Birmingham Edgbaston is a constituency, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Preet Gill, a Labour and Co-operative MP.
The most high-profile MP for the constituency was former Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain ...
. The first UK specialist HIV
The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...
ward was opened by Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...
; at the opening she made a point of not wearing protective gloves or a mask when she shook hands with the patients. AZT
Zidovudine (ZDV), also known as azidothymidine (AZT), is an antiretroviral medication used to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS. It is generally recommended for use in combination with other antiretrovirals. It may be used to prevent mother-to-child ...
, the first HIV drug to show promise of suppressing the disease was made available in the UK for the first time. In Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, Operation Spanner
Operation Spanner was a police investigation into same-sex male sadomasochism across the United Kingdom in the late 1980s. The investigation, led by the Obscene Publications Squad of the Metropolitan Police, began in 1987 and ran for three ye ...
carried out by police resulted in group of homosexuals being convicted for assault occasioning actual bodily harm
Assault occasioning actual bodily harm (often abbreviated to Assault OABH, AOABH or simply ABH) is a statutory offence of aggravated assault in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Hong Kong and t ...
for their involvement in consensual
Consent occurs when one person voluntarily agrees to the proposal or desires of another. It is a term of common speech, with specific definitions as used in such fields as the law, medicine, research, and sexual relationships. Consent as und ...
sadomasochism
Sadomasochism ( ) is the giving and receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation. Practitioners of sadomasochism may seek sexual pleasure from their acts. While the terms sadist and masochist refer ...
over a ten-year period.
*1988 – Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988
The United Kingdom Local Government Act 1988 is an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament. It was famous for its controversial section 28. This section prohibited local authorities from promoting, in a specified category of schools, "the teaching ...
enacted as an amendment to the United Kingdom's Local Government Act 1986, on 24 May 1988 stated that a local authority
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...
"shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality" or "promote the teaching in any maintained school
English state-funded schools, commonly known as state schools, provide Education in England, education to pupils between the ages of 3 and 18 without charge. Approximately 93% of English schoolchildren attend 20,000 or so such schools. Since 2008 ...
of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship". The act was introduced by Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...
. Almost identical legislation was enacted for Scotland by the Westminster Parliament. Princess Margaret
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth ...
opens the UK's first residential support centre for people living with HIV
The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...
and AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
in London at London Lighthouse. Sir Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. His career spans seven decades, having performed in genres ranging from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. Regarded as a British cultural i ...
came out
Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity.
Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...
on BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...
in response to the governments proposed Section 28
Section 28 or Clause 28While going through Parliament, the amendment was constantly relabelled with a variety of clause numbers as other amendments were added to or deleted from the Bill, but by the final version of the Bill, which received R ...
in the British Parliament
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremacy ...
.["Ian McKellen."](_blank)
Host: James Lipton. ''Inside the Actors Studio
''Inside the Actors Studio'' is an American talk show that airs on Ovation. The series premiered in 1994 on Bravo where it aired for 22 seasons and was hosted by James Lipton from its premiere until 2018. It is taped at the Michael Schimmel Cente ...
''. Bravo. 8 December 2002. No. 5, season 9. McKellen has stated that he was influenced in his decision by the advice and support of his friends, among them noted gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
author Armistead Maupin
Armistead Jones Maupin, Jr. ( ) (born May 13, 1944) is an American writer notable for ''Tales of the City'', a series of novels set in San Francisco.
Early life
Maupin was born in Washington, D.C., to Diana Jane (Barton) and Armistead Jones Maup ...
.
*1989 – The campaign group Stonewall UK is set up to oppose Section 28
Section 28 or Clause 28While going through Parliament, the amendment was constantly relabelled with a variety of clause numbers as other amendments were added to or deleted from the Bill, but by the final version of the Bill, which received R ...
and other barriers to equality.
1990s
*1990 – In July, following the murders in a short period of time, of Christopher Schliach, Henry Bright, William Dalziel and Michael Boothe, hundreds of lesbians and gay men marched from the park where Boothe had been killed to Ealing Town Hall
Ealing Town hall is a municipal building in New Broadway, Ealing, London. It is a Grade II listed building.
History
The building was commissioned to replace a mid-19th century town hall in The Mall designed by Charles Jones in the Gothic Revi ...
and held a candlelit vigil. The demonstration led to the formation of OutRage, who called for the police to start protecting gay men instead of arresting them. In September, lesbian and gay police officers established the Gay Police Association, Lesbian and Gay Police Association (Lagpa/GPA). The first gay pride event is held in Manchester. ''Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (TV serial), Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit'' by Jeanette Winterson, a semi-autobiographical screenplay about her lesbian life was shown on BBC television. Justin Fashanu became the first professional footballer to come out in the press (he subsequently committed suicide). Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
held their first Gay pride, Pride Parade. UK Crown Dependency of Jersey decriminalised homosexuality.
*1991 – List of LGBT rights activists, Gay Activist, Derek Jarman makes the Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe, also known as Kit Marlowe (; baptised 26 February 156430 May 1593), was an English playwright, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the Elizabethan playwrights. Based upon the ...
play ''Edward II
Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to t ...
'' from the early 1590s into a Edward II (film), film which used modern costumes and made overt reference to the gay rights movement and the Stonewall riots. Queen (band), Queen singer Freddie Mercury announced that he had AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
; he dies the following day.
*1992 – UK Crown Dependency of LGBT rights in the Isle of Man, Isle of Man repealed sodomy laws (homosexuality was still illegal until 1994). The first Gay pride, Pride Festival was held in Brighton. Europride was inaugurated in London and was attended by estimated crowds of over 100,000. Britain's first black gay play ''Boy with Beer (play), Boy with Beer'' by Paul Boakye opened in January at The Man in the Moon Theatre with nudity, simulated sex, and AIDS as a core concern. Acclaimed 20th century artist Francis Bacon (artist), Francis Bacon died of pneumonia complicated by asthma while visiting a friend in Madrid.
* 1993 – The radio DJ and comedian Kenny Everett and singer with the group Frankie goes to Hollywood, Holly Johnson, announced that they were HIV positive. Serial killer Colin Ireland was convicted of killing five gay men, who he picked up in the Coleherne public house, Coleherne leather bar. He was sentenced to life and died in 2012.
*1994 – The Conservative Member of Parliament Edwina Currie introduced an amendment to lower the age of consent for homosexual acts, from 21 to 16 in line with that for heterosexual acts. The vote was defeated and the gay male age of consent was instead lowered to 18. The lesbian age of consent was not set. UK Crown Dependency of Isle of Man decriminalised homosexuality. Charity Save the Children dropped lesbian Sandi Toksvig as compere of its 75th-anniversary celebrations after she Coming out, came out, but following a direct action protest by the Lesbian Avengers, Save the Children apologised. British filmmaker Derek Jarman died of AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
Derek Jarman was a film-maker, artist and gay rights activist who became a major cultural figure in the late 1980s.
*1996 – A breakthrough is made in the area of AIDS treatment; Management of HIV/AIDS, Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) is found to significantly delay the onset of AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
in people living with HIV. The National Health Service, NHS makes the treatment available in the UK. HAART has a dramatic effect and many bed ridden AIDS patients return to work. The European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...
heard ''Morris v. The United Kingdom'' and '' Sutherland v. the United Kingdom'', cases brought by Chris Morris (activist), Chris Morris and Euan Sutherland challenging the homosexual inequality in divided ages of consent. The government stated its intention to legislate to negate the court cases, which were put on hold.
:The landmark case – P v S and Cornwall County Council – finds that an employee who was about to undergo gender reassignment was wrongfully dismissed. It was the first piece of case law, anywhere in the world, which prevented discrimination in employment or vocational education because someone is trans.
*1997 – Angela Eagle, Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
MP for Wallasey (UK Parliament constituency), Wallasey, becomes the first MP to come out voluntarily as a lesbian. Gay partners were given equal immigration rights. Equality Network established in Scotland.
*1998 – The Bolton 7, a group of gay and bisexual men were convicted at Bolton Crown Court of the offences of gross indecency under the Sexual Offences Act 1956 and of age of consent offences under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. Although gay sex was partially decriminalised by the Sexual Offences Act 1967, they were all convicted under section 13 of the 1956 Act because more than two men had sex together, which was still illegal. The Waheed Alli, Baron Alli, Lord Alli, a Labour Party life peer, becomes the first openly gay member of the House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
and one of a few openly Islam and sexual orientation, gay Muslims. The Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
party introduced an amendment to Crime and Disorder Act 1998, Crime and Disorder Bill to set the age of consent at 16 for homosexual men. The amendment was then removed by the House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
.
*1999 – In May, the Admiral Duncan pub, Admiral Duncan, a gay pub in Soho was bombed by former British National Party member David Copeland, killing three people and wounding at least 70. Queer Youth Alliance was formed; The equal age of consent to the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, Crime and Disorder Bill proposed by the Labour government was blocked again in the House of Lords after a campaign headed by Conservative MP Janet Young, Baroness Young, Baroness Young. Stephen Twigg became the first openly gay politician to be elected to the House of Commons. Michael Cashman became the first openly gay UK member elected to the European Parliament. The British Museum acquired the Warren Cup for £1.8 million to prevent its going abroad which was, at that time, the most expensive single item ever acquired by The British Museum. The Warren Cup, cup depicts homosexual acts between Ancient Greek and Roman men and boys.
21st century
2000s
*2000
** The Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
government stops banning homosexuals from the armed forces after the European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...
rules it unlawful. The law will not actually be repealed until the Armed Forces Act 2016.
** The Labour government introduces legislation to repeal Section 28
Section 28 or Clause 28While going through Parliament, the amendment was constantly relabelled with a variety of clause numbers as other amendments were added to or deleted from the Bill, but by the final version of the Bill, which received R ...
in England and Wales – Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
MPs oppose the move. The bill is defeated by bishops and Conservatives in the House of Lords.
** Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
abolished Section 28, Clause 2a (Section 28) of the Local Government Act in October though it remains in place in England and Wales.
** HIV charity London Lighthouse merged with Terrence Higgins Trust
Terrence Higgins Trust is a British charity that campaigns about and provides services relating to HIV and sexual health. In particular, the charity aims to end the transmission of HIV in the UK; to support and empower people living with HIV, to ...
as the Aled Richards Trust and Body Positive London, closed. Shrinkage of the HIV charity sector occurred largely as a result of Management of HIV/AIDS HAART treatment allowing people living with HIV to be more self-sufficient.
*2001
** The last two pieces of unequal law regarding gay male sex are changed. In 1997 the European Commission of Human Rights found that the European Convention on Human Rights were violated by a discriminatory age of consent; the government submitted that it would propose a Bill to Parliament for a reduction of the age of consent for homosexual acts from 18 to 16. The ''Crime and Disorder Bill'' which proposed these amendments, was voted ''for'' in the House of Commons but rejected in the House of Lords. In 1998 it was reintroduced and again was voted ''for'' in the House of Commons but rejected in the House of Lords. It was reintroduced a third time in 1999 but the House of Lords amended it to maintain the age for buggery at 18 for both sexes. Provisions made in the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 made it possible to enact the bill without the Lords voting it through. The provisions of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000, Act came into force throughout the United Kingdom on 8 January 2001, lowering the age of consent to 16. Under the act consensual group sex for gay men is also decriminalised.
*2002
** Same-sex couples are granted equal rights to adopt.
** Alan Duncan becomes the first Conservative MP to admit being gay without being pushed.
** Brian Dowling (presenter), Brian Dowling becomes the first openly gay children's television presenter in the UK on ''SMTV Live''.
** In December 2002, the British Lord Chancellor's office publishes a ''Government Policy Concerning Transsexual People'' document that categorically states, "What transsexualism is not ... It is not a mental illness."
*2003
** Section 28
Section 28 or Clause 28While going through Parliament, the amendment was constantly relabelled with a variety of clause numbers as other amendments were added to or deleted from the Bill, but by the final version of the Bill, which received R ...
, which banned councils and schools from intentionally promoting homosexuality, is repealed in England and Wales and Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
. Employment Equality Regulations made it illegal to discriminate against lesbians, gays or bisexuals at work.
** EuroPride was hosted in Manchester.
** Celia Kitzinger and Sue Wilkinson, both British university professors, Same-sex marriage in British Columbia, legally married in British Columbia, Canada, however on their return their same-sex marriage was not recognised under British law. Under the subsequent Civil Partnership Act 2004, it was instead converted into a civil partnership. The couple sued for recognition of their same-sex marriage.
*2004
** The Civil Partnership Act, Civil Partnership Act 2004 is passed by the Labour Government, giving same-sex couples the same rights and responsibilities as married heterosexual couples in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
** The Gender Recognition Act 2004 is passed by the Labour Government. The act gives people with gender dysphoria legal recognition as members of the sex appropriate to their gender identity (male or female) allowing them to acquire a Gender Recognition Certificate, affording them full recognition of their acquired sex in law for all purposes, including marriage.
*2005
** The first civil partnership formed under the Civil Partnership Act 2004 took place at 11:00 GMT 5 December between Matthew Roche and Christopher Cramp at St Barnabas Hospice, Worthing, West Sussex. The statutory 15-day waiting period was waived as Roche was suffering from a terminal illness: he died the following day.
** The first partnership registered after the normal waiting period was held in Belfast on 19 December.
** The Adoption and Children Act 2002 comes into force, allowing unmarried and same-sex couples to adopt children for the first time.
** Twenty-four-year-old Jody Dobrowski is murdered on Clapham Common in a homophobic attack.
** Chris Smith one of the first openly homosexuality, gay United Kingdom, British MPs, (1984), becomes the first MP to acknowledge that he is HIV
The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...
positive.[Why this is the time to break my HIV silence](_blank)
Chris Smith writing in ''The Sunday Times'', 30 January 2005
** The UK-based online newspaper PinkNews is launched, which is specifically marketed to the LGBT community.
*2006
** The Equality Act 2006 which establishes the Equality and Human Rights Commission (CEHR) and makes discrimination against lesbians and gay men in the provision of goods and services illegal, gains Royal Assent on 16 February.
** The age of consent is equalised and Section 28
Section 28 or Clause 28While going through Parliament, the amendment was constantly relabelled with a variety of clause numbers as other amendments were added to or deleted from the Bill, but by the final version of the Bill, which received R ...
"successfully repealed" in the UK Crown Dependency of the LGBT rights in the Isle of Man, Isle of Man.
** UK Labour Party, Labour MP, Ben Bradshaw holds a Civil partnership in the United Kingdom, civil partnership ceremony with partner, Neal Dalgleish, a BBC Newsnight journalist.
** David Borrow, a Labour MP also holds a Civil partnership in the United Kingdom, civil partnership with his boyfriend in May.
** In May, Margot James becomes the first 'out' lesbian to be elected as a local councillor for the Brompton ward of Kensington & Chelsea. She subsequently became the first Tory Lesbian MP.
** In total 3,648 couples formed civil partnerships in England and Wales between 21 December 2005 and 31 January 2006. Male partnerships are more popular (2,150 ceremonies) than women's (1,138).
*2007
** The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations becomes law on 30 April making discrimination against lesbians and gay men in the provision of goods and services illegal. Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Birmingham declared his opposition to the act, saying that the legislation contradicted the Catholic Church's moral values. He supported efforts to have Catholic adoption agencies exempted from sexual orientation regulations (they were ultimately successful in a judgement given on 17 March 2010).
** Some 8,728 Civil Partnerships were conducted in 2007.
** Dr Lewis Turner and Professor Stephen Whittle publish ''Engendered Penalties Transsexual and Transgender People's Experience of Inequality and Discrimination (Equalities Review)'' which is instrumental in ensuring the inclusion of trans people in the remit of the new Commission for Equalities and Human Rights.
** Channel 4 released ''Clapham Junction (film), Clapham Junction'', a TV drama partially based on the murder of Jody Dobrowski almost two years after his murder, to mark the 40th anniversary of decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales.
** Four openly gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
, lesbian
A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...
or bisexual Member of the Scottish Parliament, MSPs are elected in the 2007–2011 Scottish Parliament, Ian Smith, Patrick Harvie, Margaret Smith (Scottish politician), Margaret Smith and Joe FitzPatrick.
*2008
** Treatment of lesbian parents and their children is equalised in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008. The legislation allows for lesbians and their partners (both civil and de facto) equal access to legal presumptions of parentage in cases of in vitro fertilisation ("IVF") or assisted/self insemination (other than at home) from the moment the child is born.
** Angela Eagle becomes the first female MP to enter into a Civil partnership in the United Kingdom, civil partnership (with partner Maria Exall).
** Parliament passes provisions in the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, Criminal Justice and Immigration Act, creating a new offence of incitement to homophobic hatred. Some 7,169 Civil partnerships were conducted in 2008.
** Murder of Michael Causer, Michael Causer, a gay teenager living in Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, is seriously assaulted on 25 July because of his sexual orientation and later dies in hospital, aged 18.
*2009
** The Labour Government Prime Minister Gordon Brown makes an official public apology on behalf of the British government for the way in which Alan Turing was chemically castrated for being gay, after the war.
** Opposition leader David Cameron apologises on behalf of the Conservative Party, for introducing Section 28 during Margaret Thatcher's third government.
** Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
rugby star Gareth Thomas (rugby player), Gareth Thomas becomes the first known top-level professional male athlete in a team sport to come out while still active in professional sport.
** Nikki Sinclaire becomes the first openly lesbian member of the European Parliament for the UK delegation. Some 6,281 Civil Partnerships were conducted in 2009.
2010s
*2010
** Pope Benedict XVI condemns British equality legislation for running contrary to "natural law" as he confirmed his first visit to the UK.
** The Equality Act 2010 makes discrimination on grounds of gender reasignment and sexual orientation in employment and in the provision of goods and services illegal.
** The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, Supreme Court ruled that two gay men from Iran and Cameroon have the right to asylum in the UK and David Hope, Baron Hope of Craighead, Lord Hope, who read out the judgment, said: ''To compel a homosexual person to pretend that his sexuality does not exist or suppress the behaviour by which to manifest itself is to deny him the fundamental right to be who he is''.
** Some 6,385 Civil Partnerships were conducted in Britain in 2010, 49% were men.
** Claire Rayner, ally of the gay rights movement, dies.
** Shadow Home Secretary
The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...
Chris Grayling MP said that he thought bed and breakfast owners ''should'' be able to bar gay couples, however, under the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 no-one can be refused goods or services on the grounds of their sexuality. Grayling subsequently was passed over as Home Secretary when the Cameron–Clegg coalition, Coalition government came to power.
** Parental orders for gay men and their partners became possible on 6 April 2010, reassigning the legal parents for gay men parenting children under surrogacy arrangements.
*2011
**England, Wales and Scotland allow gay and bi men to donate blood after a 1-year deferral period.
*2012
** In the year in which London hosted the Olympic Games, London hosts World Pride but the committee fails to secure funding and has to drastically cut back the parade and cancel many of the events.
** The coalition government committed to legislate for gay marriage by 2015, but by 2012 still had not been included in the Queen's Speech.
** Thousands of people sign an e-petition to feature Alan Turing
Alan Mathison Turing (; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, and theoretical biologist. Turing was highly influential in the development of theoretical com ...
, father of Computing and of Artificial Intelligence on the ten pound note.
** Cameron–Clegg coalition, Government Ministers pledge to push through legislation granting same-sex couples equal rights to get married despite the threat of a split with the Church of England and the continuance of current arrangements for the state recognition of canon law.
*2013
** The UK coalition government 2010, coalition government unveils its Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill on 25 January. On 21 May it passes its third reading in the House of Commons by a vote of 366 to 161. Altogether 133 Tories opposed the bill, along with 15 Labour MPs, four Lib Dems, eight Democratic Unionists and an independent. On 17 July 2013, Royal Assent is given to the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013.
** Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth II grants Alan Turing
Alan Mathison Turing (; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, and theoretical biologist. Turing was highly influential in the development of theoretical com ...
a posthumous pardon.
** Nikki Sinclaire comes out as transgender, thus becoming the United Kingdom's first openly transgender Parliamentarian.
** Civil partners Martyn Hall and Steven Preddy were successful Bull v Hall, in their case against Bed and breakfast, B&B owners Peter and Hazelmary Bull. Hall and Preddy were refused a double room at the Bulls' B&B, Chymorvah Guest House, which courts found was in contravention of the 2007 Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations, Equality Act Regulations,
*2014
** Same-sex marriage becomes legal in England and Wales on 29 March under the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013.
** Legislation to allow same-sex marriage in Scotland was passed by the Scottish Parliament in February 2014, received Royal Assent on 12 March 2014 and took effect on 16 December 2014.
** Queen Elizabeth II praises the London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard for their 40-year history, the first time the Crown has ever publicly supported the LGBT community. The Switchboard receives a comment from the Queen saying: "Best wishes and congratulations to all concerned on this most special anniversary."
*2015
** Mikhail Ivan Gallatinov and Mark Goodwin became the first couple to have a same-sex wedding in a UK prison after marrying at Full Sutton Prison in East Yorkshire.
** Northern Ireland's assembly voted narrowly in favour of gay marriage equality but the largest party in the devolved parliament, the Democratic Unionist Party, subsequently vetoed any change in the law.
** The Royal Vauxhall Tavern became the first ever building in the UK to be given a special "listing" status based on its LGBT history; it was accorded Grade II listed status by the UK's Department of Culture, Media and Sport.
** Inga Beale, CEO of Lloyd's of London, became the first woman and the first openly bisexual person to be named number one in the OUTstanding & FT Leading LGBT executive power list.
*2016
** There are 40 LGBT MPs in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which in 2016 is the most in any parliament around the world.
** Hannah Blythyn, Jeremy Miles, and Adam Price became the first openly gay members of the Welsh Assembly.
** Carl Austin-Behan was sworn in as Manchester's first openly gay Lord Mayor.
** Northern Ireland allow gay and bi men to donate blood after a 1-year deferral period.
** Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Prince William became the first member of Britain's royal family to appear on the cover of a gay magazine when he appeared on the cover of the July issue of ''Attitude (magazine), Attitude''; in the cover story, he also became the first British royal to openly condemn the bullying of the gay community.
** British Government minister Justine Greening revealed that she was in a same-sex relationship, thus becoming the first out LGB female cabinet minister.
** ''Elle (magazine), Elle'' printed special collectors' covers for their September 2016 issue, and one of them featured Hari Nef, which was the first time an openly transgender woman had been on the cover of a major commercial British magazine.
** The Great Britain women's national field hockey team, British women's field hockey team won gold at the Olympics; as Kate and Helen Richardson-Walsh were both on that team, this made them the first same-sex married couple to win Olympic medals.
** Nicholas Chamberlain became the first bishop in the Church of England to coming out, come out as gay, which occurred following threats of an outing from an unnamed Sunday newspaper. He said he lived with his partner in a celibate same-sex relationship, as required by the Bishops' guidelines, under which LGBT clergy in Christianity, gay clergy must practice abstinence and may not marry.
** Ivar Mountbatten came out as gay and revealed that he was in a relationship with James Coyle, an airline cabin services director whom he met whilst at a ski resort in Verbier. While not being a member of the British royal family, he is the first member of the extended family to come out as gay.
** Anwen Muston, a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician, was elected to Wolverhampton City Council at the Wolverhampton City Council election, 2016, 2016 elections; this makes her the first openly transgender woman to be elected as a Labour representative.
** The Armed Forces Act 2016 finally repeals "homosexual acts as a grounds of discharge from the armed forces".
*2017
** In April 2017, the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the Merchant Shipping (Homosexual Conduct) Act 2017. This private member's bill was drafted by Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
MP John Glen (politician), John Glen. It repealed sections 146(4) and 147(3) of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, which was labelled as the UK's ''last anti-gay law''. It went into effect immediately after royal assent.
** Andy Street became the United Kingdom's first openly gay, directly elected metro mayor.
** Philippa York, formerly Robert Millar, came out as transgender, thus becoming the first former professional cyclist to have publicly transitioned; she had been one of Britain's most successful cyclists of all time.
** British voters returned a record number of LGBTQ MPs to Parliament of the United Kingdom in the general election. Forty-five gay, lesbian or bi MPs were elected on Thursday 8 June, six more than in the previous parliament. The Scottish National Party, SNP registered the largest proportion of LGBTQ elected members in its parliamentary party, with seven of its 35 MPs identifying as such.
** Ryan Atkin became the first openly gay official in English football.
*2018
** Lord Ivar Mountbatten married his same-sex partner, James Coyle, on 22 September 2018, becoming the first member of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British monarch's extended family to have a same-sex wedding.
*2019
** Laverne Cox was one of fifteen women chosen by guest editor Meghan, Duchess of Sussex to appear on the cover of the September 2019 issue of British Vogue, British ''Vogue''; this made Cox the first openly transgender woman to appear on the cover of British ''Vogue''.
** ''Songs of Praise'' showed its first gay wedding, which was the wedding of Jamie Wallace and Ian McDowall at the Rutherglen United Reformed Church in Glasgow. Lucia Lucas became the first transgender singer to perform with the English National Opera in London.
** ''Gayming Magazine'', an online LGBTQ video gaming magazine is launched.
2020s
*2020
** UK Member of parliament, MP Layla Moran revealed in an interview with PinkNews that she is pansexual; she is believed to be the first Parliament of Great Britain, UK parliamentarian to come out as pansexual.
** On 13 January same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland, same-sex marriage became legal in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
.
** In February, the first same-sex marriage took place in Northern Ireland.
** Jan Morris
(Catharine) Jan MorrisJan Morris, Paul Clements, University of Wales Press, 2008, p. 7 (born James Humphry Morris; 2 October 192620 November 2020) was a Welsh historian, author and travel writer. She was known particularly for the ''Pax Brita ...
, a notable transgender historian, author and journalist passed away.
** The High Court of Justice ruled children under 16 are unlikely to be able to consent to hormone blocker treatment in the ''Bell v Tavistock'' case. This halted all referrals of under 18s from GID's for any form of treatment and any referrals to be made from 1 December 2020 had to go through court to be approved.
** Levi Davis (rugby union), Levi Davis comes out as bisexual, making him the first professional rugby union player to come out as bisexual while still playing.
*2021
** Adrian Hanstock was made the temporary Chief constable, Chief Constable of the British Transport Police, making him the first openly gay man to be chief of police of Law enforcement in the United Kingdom, a British police force.
** On the 23 June, the Bank of England released a new Bank of England £50 note, £50 banknote with Alan Turing
Alan Mathison Turing (; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, and theoretical biologist. Turing was highly influential in the development of theoretical com ...
, making the first banknote with an LGBT person on it.
** Owen J Hurcum became the world's first non-binary mayor and Wales' youngest ever elected mayor of Bangor City Council in Gwynedd
Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...
, Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
.
** Queen Elizabeth II announces that a conversion therapy ban is to be brought forward to parliament in her 2021 Queen's Speech.
** Blood donation laws changed to allow some men who have sex with men to donate.
** The UK census includes questions on gender identity and sexual orientation for the first time, meaning that data can be gathered on the numbers of LGBT people across the country.
** In September, judges overturned the ''Bell v Tavistock'' ruling and once again allowed trans people under 16 to consent to receiving puberty blockers.
*2022
** The UK government announced new proposals to pardon a wider group of people previously convicted of military or civilian crimes imposed on someone solely because of consensual same-sex sexual activity. The amendment would also allow those who have died prior to the amendment coming into force, and within a year after the change comes into force, to be posthumously pardoned.
** Blackpool F.C.'s forward Jake Daniels came out as gay, making him the first active professional footballer to come out as LGBT+.
**Queer Britain, the UK's first dedicated museum of LGBTQ history and culture opens in Kings Cross, London.
** The Royal Mint celebrates 50 years of LGBT Pride, pride in the UK by releasing a commemorative Fifty pence (British coin), 50p coin, marking the first time Britain’s LGBT+ community has been celebrated on a UK coin.
** The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill is passed by the Scottish Parliament, awaiting Royal Assent. The bill amends the Gender Recognition Act 2004 of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, making it simpler for people to change their legal gender in Scotland.
See also
* History of human sexuality
* LGBT history
* LGBT rights in the United Kingdom
* Stonewall (charity)
* History of violence against LGBT people in the United Kingdom
* Hall–Carpenter Archives the national archive of LGBT history
* Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...
* Table of years in LGBT rights
* Timeline of sexual orientation and medicine
References
*
*
Further reading
* David, Hugh. ''On queer street: a social history of British homosexuals.''
* Houlbrook, Matt. ''Queer London: Perils and Pleasures in the Sexual Metropolis, 1918–1957.''
* Hyde, Harford Montgomery. ''The Love that Dared Not Speak Its Name: A Candid History of Homosexuality in Britain.''
* Jennings, Rebecca. ''A Lesbian History of Britain: Love and Sex Between Women Since 1500.''
* Jennings, Rebecca. ''Tomboys and bachelor girls: A lesbian history of post-war Britain 1945–71.''
* Williams, Clifford . ''Courage to Be: Organised Gay Youth in England 1967 – 1990.''
*
External links
UK LGBT Archive
's "Timeline of UK LGBT History"]
{{LGBT in the United Kingdom
LGBT history in the United Kingdom, *
British history timelines
LGBT timelines, United Kingdom