LGBT Culture In Liverpool

LGBT life in Liverpool, England is made up of persons who are either lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender/transsexual. Research commissioned by the North West Regional Development Agency approximated that there were around 94,000 LGBT persons living in the city's metropolitan area by mid-2009 - equivalent to the GLB population of San Francisco, making it the single largest minority group on Merseyside.

Out of 100 cities around the world, Liverpool was voted number 51 most LGBT friendly in 2017. The poll was taken by the gay community in major hubs around the world.

As the location of Britain's first and only official gay quarter, the only LGBT combined arts organisation in Northern England, the UK's most gay friendly university and one of Europe's largest free LGBT Pride festivals, life in modern Liverpool allows many more liberties for gays and lesbians than it ever did. However, up until quite recently the city was often thought of as a 'lesser gay-friendly' destination and compared negatively in comparison to other metropolitan areas of similar size and stature. Liverpool's idiosyncratic culture, economy, and religious traditions (particularly Roman Catholicism) have long been discussed in the context of homosexuality and often cited as possible explanations for perceived lack of progress. Nevertheless, the recent resurgence since its time as European Capital of Culture has inspired a national and international debate and has led to a major new perspective of local gay and lesbian life.

18th century

The history of gay and LGBT Liverpool is one full of contrasts and contradictions from larger than life characters, legendary gay clubs and relative tolerance, to the anonymous and underground subculture of cottaging, repression and outright persecution. As a commercial city and major port, the history is long and manifold. The earliest experiences of homosexuality can be traced back to the Georgian era when Liverpool was growing rapidly in population and stature, right through to its height as second city of the British Empire during Queen Victoria's reign.

In England, sex between men was punishable by death until 1861 under the Buggery Act 1533.

In summer 1806, twenty four men aged 17 to 84 from in and around Warrington, Manchester, and Liverpool were arrested for sodomy and other homosexual offences (three men were from Liverpool: Aspinall, Denton, and Smith and were all acquitted). Nine of the men were eventually tried by magistrates John Borron and Richard Gwillym at the Lancaster assizes. The trials became known collectively as the "Remarkable Trials", a reference to a pamphlet of the same name published shortly afterwards.

After the executions of three men, the two magistrates decided to investigate the scale of, and clamp down on, further homosexual offences in the region. They relied heavily on the interviews, statements and confessions of a Manchester artisan named Thomas Rix. During his testimonies, Rix spoke of his life and sexual experiences in Liverpool in the 1790s, suggesting that sodomy was widespread in the town.
Rix spoke of homosexuals congregating in the ropewalk which led from Whitechapel and Dale Street - which had recently been widened and improved. Research by James Allanson Picton claims that there was a ropewalk on Sir Thomas Street which connected Dale Street to Whitechapel from as early as 1725. He describes Sir Thomas Street as a street that was partially built on at the east side which contained a chapel at the Dale Street end. The remainder of the street contained the ropewalk, a barn and other buildings at the Whitechapel end. The research claims that this area remained considerably unbuilt on until the end of the 18th century.

According to Rix, most of his homosexual encounters with other men were casual and took place in streets, taverns and pubs. He made particular reference to a tavern ‘kept by a widow woman in Trueman Street at the bottom of Dale Street in Liverpool’.

Acquaintances and sexual partners that he met involved a man named John Barron, a broker, a publican, a joiner and a weaver. His encounters also involved other artisans 'from other classes and petit-bourgeois milieux', including three gentleman’s servants and a fustian cutter named Simister who was well known for manipulating young men into homosexual sex.

19th century

Recent research unearthed by Dr Jeff Evans highlights the extent to which gay men were arrested and persecuted in the court papers of Liverpool between 1850 and the 1970s.

In 1861, Parliament removed the death penalty for the crime of buggery under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. The punishment was now life imprisonment or a jail sentence of not less than 10 years.

The research by Dr Evans showed that between 1850 and 1918, there were more incidences in Liverpool than anywhere else in the entire county of Lancashire where inter-male sex related cases were being actively pursued by the police and courts. During these years, there were a total of 276 incidences in Lancashire where magistrates insisted on a man accused of a homosexual sex crime should be sent to trial. Only four urban centres in the county recorded these incidences in double figures: 109 occasions were in Liverpool, 35 were in Manchester, 36 in Salford and 11 in St Helens.

Evans compared the high number of cases in Liverpool to the rest of Lancashire, where it was a relatively rare occurrence for police forces to build successful criminal cases against homosexual crimes, or for gay men to be sent to trial. He argues that Liverpool was a notable exception to the rule.

From the 1890s, Evans argues that the police forces in larger conurbations were able to prosecute inter-male sex cases in greater numbers due to the fact they were able to more easily identify areas where it was taking place. From as early as 1806, Liverpool City Police force had identified an established meeting place for homosexual sex at the bottom end of Dale Street in Liverpool City Centre.

It was also during this period it is known that Jack the Ripper suspect Francis Tumblety had a homosexual affair with well-known author Hall Caine whilst spending time in the city. Tumblety is said to have engaged in 'unusual sexual activities' and became known for his 'mania for the company of young men and grown-up youths', and for despising women. In 1888, he was arrested on charges of gross indecency and indecent assault with force and arms against four men in Liverpool, euphemisms for homosexual activities. It would have been later in the same year he was arrested on suspicion of the infamous Whitechapel murders.

During the 1870s, Constantine P. Cavafy lived in Liverpool with his family. Widely considered the most distinguished Greek poet of the 20th century, his homosexual orientation informed much of his work which included sexually explicit erotic poetry.

1895 saw a high-profile case involving three homosexual men in Liverpool which culminated in the hanging of William Miller, a 27-year-old sailor, at Watson Prison. Miller had been lodging with Edward Moyse, a wealthy local bookshop proprietor, and his young apprentice John Needham, who were both homosexuals. Over time Miller had become violently jealous of the pair and proceeded to batter Moyse to death with a fire poker as well as attempting to take Needham's life. Miller had also turned his attentions on finding Moyse's money. After surviving the attack, Needham was able to raise the alarm, inform the police and positively identify Miller, who was later tried and hanged for murder.

20th century

1910s–1920s

According to the research by Dr Jeff Evans, in the couple of decades that followed World War I, police managers and their governing bodies in Liverpool were choosing to punish homosexual sex crimes in an even more severe and disproportionate manner than previous years. In the period between 1919 and 1939, Liverpool continued to be the location with the most number of homosexuals being sent to trial compared to anywhere else in Lancashire. Evans notes that Liverpool was flourishing as a large and busy port with a booming commercial sex industry, but argues that this was not necessarily the case why so many gay men were being prosecuted. Evans argues that Liverpool was an exceptional case within Lancashire where a more explicit 'moral agenda' was taking place to stamp out homosexual sex acts. There was also a marked increase in the number of cases where the most serious charge of 'gross indecency' was being pursued.

1930s

In his interview with Our Story Liverpool, a local LGBT history project, the late artist Yankel Feather recounts his experiences of cottaging in public toilets off Princes Road in the 1930s. Due to the lack of openly gay clubs and bars at this time, many gay men visited lavatories as a means of meeting others in secret for both sex and company. Yankel explains how life was still very difficult and how men would make the most of whatever pleasures they could get in life. During the second World War, he goes onto describe how a 'gay identity' had not yet developed and how the word 'queer' was still being used to describe 'difference'.

1940s–1960s

A number of contributing factors at the advent of World War II meant Liverpool had earned itself a reputation as 'gay centre of The North'. Liverpool's strategic importance as the great port of the British Empire brought with it a constant flow of passenger liners and merchant ships and a regular influx of gay stewards, sailors, soldiers and airmen choosing to spend time and money in the city. The general sense that death could very easily be around the corner and consequential 'live for the moment' ethos led to semi-secret pockets of acceptance and development of a vibrant underground subculture of homosexual bars and cottages. Gays and lesbians found refuge in the pubs around Queen Square close to the city's music clubs and theatres in what had evolved into an unofficial gay village. The area was already familiar to the 'theatrical crowd' and had been associated with 'disreputable activity' since the early 19th century.

Gay frequented bars included the Stork Hotel, Magic Clock, Royal Court bar, Old Royal and the Basnett Bar. Numerous other places such as the Black Cat & Bear's Paw existed further out from the main strip.

The neighbourhood provided asylum well into the 1960s, but people who patronised the bars tended to be confined to those who were aware of the criminality and comfortable enough being out. Sex between men was still a criminal offence and being gay was highly disapproved of socially. Local radio DJ Pete Price recalled how the gay clientele were still forced to exercise caution when frequenting the area as despite being relatively tolerated by local police, considerable adversity would still be felt. As a consequence, the semi-covert community had adopted its own slang terms and language.

The Magic Clock was characterised as 'home away from home' for a lot of gay men, a 'little old fashioned traditional pub with stained glass windows, beaten copper bar top and big brass bar pumps' full of 'Quentin Crisp types', 'camp little queens' in suits and glamorous eyelashes. The barmaid known as 'Babs' was known to be a gay tolerant motherly figure and the straight clientele were very aware of the type of place it was, very often the only place gay people could mix with others who were like them. Regulars recall how pubs in those days closed at 10pm and when the alcohol had finished many would continue onwards to house parties.

Cinemas also provided an alternative place where gay men could meet. The Liverpool News Theatre on Clayton Square and Tatler News Theatre on Church Street were known in gay circles as a meeting place for sex. Closer to the bars, the Playhouse Theatre also had a strong gay element and the gay community would often mix with members of the cast.

The cottaging culture was still very much prominent, with several public toilets identified as hotspots for homosexual activity. Public conveniences dotted around Liverpool City Centre had earned themselves nicknames, the 'Wheel of Fortune' and the 'Garden of Allah' amongst some of the titles. Married men would visit regularly after work, recommend busy areas to other men and found themselves dodging undercover police officers who set out to entrap those participating in sexual acts, many were caught and arrested. In the early fifties, the Army and Navy store on Byrom Street employed a lot of men who had served time in prison for these crimes. With their reputations damaged, many had been unable to find work elsewhere. Few places for lesbians existed by the early sixties and they were to a larger extent less obvious in public. Lesbians and gay men had their own separate networks and often did not socialise together with women preferring to meet up in houses.

Shortly after the Wolfenden report of 1957 and the beginnings of the Gay liberation movement, articles about homosexuality began to appear in the Liverpool University Guild Gazette. The language and tone was still largely negative with terminology such as 'queer', 'sodomite', 'perversion' and 'illness' still in use in reference to homosexuality.

1970s

The 60s saw the Campaign for Homosexual Equality formed and by the early 70s the Liverpool branch had formed their own gay society at Liverpool University. The society championed gay rights, organised events, meetings, and published pieces in the university's newspaper to challenge stereotypes and myths about gay people. At national conferences and protests, the society helped to influence the national student debate surrounding sexuality.

By 1975, most of the bars that had provided a safe haven for so long around Queen Square had been demolished to make way for the new St. John's Shopping Centre, Roe Street Gyratory and bus station. The Bar Royal on Wood Street had become the 'place to be'. Guests there were heavily vetted on arrival by its owner Sadie and the main door was bolted as people entered. The bar became a hive of activity where students mixed with dockers and glamorous transvestites and transsexuals mixed harmoniously with lesbians and gay men. By the close of the decade, the various groups had separated as heterosexual 'New Romantics' had begun to take over. After a brief close, re-opening and boycott due to rampant misogyny, the bar finally closed when Sadie died in the late 1980s.

1980s

Interviewees from Our Story Liverpool recall memories of the vibrant 1980's gay scene which included Jody's, The Curzon, Lisbon, Paco's, Reflections, Scarlett's and Sadie's. Most of the venues were based on or around Stanley Street, tracing the embryonic stages of the present day gay quarter. Scarlett's and Reflections both served as a meeting place for members of Friend Merseyside, a Liverpool-based LGBT support group which operated a weekly coffee bar, befriending, counselling and switchboard service in the city centre. In spite of the modest freedoms afforded by the bars, interviews reveal how homosexuality was still seen as taboo in mainstream society and how copies of the Gay Times were still being stocked in brown paper bags at the News From Nowhere bookstore, even by the late 1980s. The hysteria over the AIDS epidemic had reached fever pitch whilst anxieties surrounding the infamous Section 28, which prohibited local authorities from intentionally 'promoting homosexuality', were at their height. Indeed, the fear of prosecution under Section 28 had a direct impact on the city, when in 1988, Liverpool City Council chose to cancel a grant to a gay play being performed at the Everyman Theatre. Following widespread opposition to the Act, a co-ordinated 'Liverpool Against the Clause' campaign organised protests in nearby Manchester, whilst debates were had on the extent to which one was liable to be prosecuted for working in schools. In an effort to stimulate debate and in a show of solidarity, Tate Liverpool opened David Hockney's exhibition illustrating C.P. Cavafy's explicitly homosexual poems in 1993.

1990s

Stuart Linden Rhodes, former photographer for Gay Times & APN Northern UK gay scene in the 1990s, published a photo-book in 2022 titled 'Out and About with Linden'. The book was created from a collection of negatives accumulated over a 30 year period and is a documentation of the LGBT venues in the big cities of Northern England throughout the 1990s.

Stuart Linden Rhodes told the Liverpool Echo that by 1992 there were six LGBT venues in Liverpool City Centre, most of which were based in and around Stanley Street. The venues were Reflections, The Curzon Club, The Lisbon, Sadie's Bar Royal, Paco's Bar and Jody's. In the 1990s, he describes a significant transformation within Liverpool's gay nightlife scene, in which the venues were becoming more socially mixed, mainstream and were competing on a scale of national importance. Large breweries had also began to invest and sponsor gay venues and events. He describes the evolution between 1992 and 1997 from a one time scene dominated by small traditional bars and nightclubs to the superclubs of the late 1990s, such as Garlands. This coincided with the fact that LGBT people had begun to celebrate their identity in a more public and visible way.

Pulse Magazine describes a vibrant, expanding gay scene based around Stanley Street during 1994-1995. In the Pulse Magazine 1994 awards, the 'Best New Gay Village' in the United Kingdom joint award went to Liverpool and Edinburgh. The 'Best Real Ale Pub' award went to Time Out bar in Liverpool. The magazine lists The Curzon Club, Garlands, Reflections, Paco's, The Lisbon, Brunswick Vaults and Daley's Dandelion as venues based in the emergent gay neighbourhood.

In June 1994, Garlands is described as a cross between a trendy cafe bar and disco attracting many young people for its high energy dance music policy. The large and spacious cafe bar opened from midday and offered food, drink and satellite TV. Reflections was described as down to earth, dark and seedy which had numerous bars including a quieter one.

In late 1994, Time Out bar opened on Pownall Square which became popular with the 18 to 25 age group, particularly students. It was described as a laid back 'Berlinesque' bar with polished pine floors and was tightly crammed with people.

In the following month, the Escape Club, a 'lavishly decorated' two level venue with balconies, two bars, two dance floors and a capacity of four hundred opened on the other side of the city centre. The total cost of the venue was £1.25million. Baa Bar was also entertaining gay punters on the opposite side of the city centre.

In March 1995, Pulse argues that the most notable gay clubs on Liverpool's gay scene were The Escape and Garlands. Daley's Dandelion opened in June 1995. Throughout the rest of the year, plans were being formalised and fundraisers organised for the Mersey Pride which took place on Pownall Square outside Time Out. The Pink Palace also opened temporarily next to the Masquerade Bar on Cumberland Street in September 1995.

In the 1990s, a series of gay prides were held in Liverpool City Centre (see Liverpool Pride).

21st century

Early 2000s

In the 2000s, Liverpool's gay community had become increasingly visible and there was a concerted push to take it further. However, comparisons were still being drawn with the gay profile of its closest neighbour Manchester, which along with its successful gay village and Mardi Gras, had for a long time claimed to be 'Gay Capital of the North'.

Liverpool was often accused of lagging behind and not providing adequate provisions for its diverse communities. It had been a decade since the city had held a Pride of its own. Whilst the LGBT community had established roots around Stanley Street and surrounding district for several decades, a debate on developing and promoting it as a 'gay village', akin to other major cities, was only just beginning to gather momentum.

2004 saw the launch of Homotopia and the first Liverpool Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (Outsiders) which together boasted an ambitious programme of LGBT culture across the city. Homotopia's Festival Director, Gary Everett, said "The City is experiencing one of the most exciting chapters in its history, and I hope that this event will unleash the creative energies."

Mersey Marauders, Liverpool's own gay football team was launched later in 2005, whilst city leaders continued debating the Liverpool gay village. The pro side hoped to boost the local economy whilst those with reservations pointed to the fact that a gay district was already growing organically and warned about further ghettoising the community. Prior to the introduction of legalised same sex relationships, Liverpool was one of the first local authorities to grant commitment ceremonies for gay couples at its municipal Register office. Despite not granting legal rights at the time, in 2005, the city became the first ever UK local authority to include a gay couple on the front cover of its civil ceremony promotional material.

A report in 2006 into the experience of LGBTQ+ people living, working, studying and socialising in Liverpool found that of the 210 that took part in the survey 59% had experienced homophobic crime within the Liverpool area. This was significantly higher than in London which reported a hate incidence rate of 47%.A decade after gay teen Michael Causer's murder, is hate crime rising?
BBC Three. Published 10 August 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.

2004–2006 Liverpool Gay Tourism Guides

In preparation for Liverpool's European Capital of Culture year, local gay scene reporter Richie Wright researched and produced Liverpool's very first gay tourism guide in conjunction with Liverpool Culture Company. In August 2004, 2500 booklets were distributed in gay venues around the North West of England and it was requested as far as the Chamber of Commerce in New York. In 2005, Richie Wright was re-commissioned to produce a second guide which went on to have a total print run of 10,000 copies. Both guides informed readers on Liverpool's LGBT friendly businesses and community.

2008 European Capital of Culture

In 2008, Liverpool held the yearlong title as European Capital of Culture and with the cultural credentials of the city under the spotlight, the LGBT community had begun to question its place in the overall context. Liverpool had successfully celebrated Homotopia and Outsiders for several years, but questions were still being raised as to how 'gay friendly' the area was and why the city was still the largest in Britain to not hold a Pride.

The complexities associated with Liverpool were under scrutiny and reasons as to why the city had not moved forward were explored. Theories included that the city was 'old fashioned, shackled by nostalgia, rough, macho, and submerged by Roman Catholicism'.

Later that year, Liverpool's LGBT Network was established and brought together local individuals and organisations. The venture intended the gay community to be more visible, inclusive and gain a greater role in local decisions. Its key campaigns were to develop Liverpool Pride as well as tackling homophobia in the region.

2008–2009 Michael Causer and James Parkes attacks

In the same year Liverpool celebrated Capital of Culture, the homophobic murder of 18-year-old Michael Causer brought national attention to the city. Shocked and outraged by the acquittal of Gavin Alker, who was said to have played a critical role in the murder, the LGBT community organised a protest outside Liverpool Crown Court. Headed by the Causer family, protestors reacted angrily amid the backdrop of placards, remembrance photos, and rainbow flags.

The following year in 2009, the community was again plunged into exasperation after gay trainee police officer James Parkes was left fighting for his life after an attack by 20 teenage youths in the heart of the gay quarter. A candlelit vigil attended by 2500 people was held on Stanley Street with James' boyfriend, local community leaders, and Louise Ellman MP as speakers.

The wider implications of these high-profile attacks have since been felt, not least through helping to galvanise the community by bringing together various disparate groups and organisations, but also causing a shift in attitude at municipal authority level. Merseyside Police have since been voted amongst the top 3 most gay friendly police forces in the UK by Stonewall, and in 2012 the city gained international recognition by becoming the world's first to mark IDAHO with a programme of free events. Moreover, the city now marks IDAHO every year by flying the rainbow flag from prominent buildings in the city centre.

Early 2010s

The 2010s saw enormous strides in raising the profile of Liverpool's LGBT community. The second official Liverpool Pride in 2011 was attended by over 40,000 people and firmly established it as one of Europe's largest free Gay Pride festivals, generating over £2.6 million for the local economy. Moreover, Liverpool City Council made the decision to officially recognise the Stanley Street district as Liverpool's official gay quarter and signposted the area with street signs emblazoned with the rainbow flag, making it the first UK city to mark a gay quarter in this way. The City Council hoped to make the area an international tourist attraction and had planned extensive regeneration and investment over the following years.

The city was the location for a pivotal moment in the history of the gay rights movement as the Liberal Democrats announced their public support for same sex marriage at their 2010 annual conference held in Liverpool, becoming the first mainstream British political party to do so.

An exhibition called "Hello, Sailor!" was on display at various museums throughout Liverpool for over 12 years between 2006 and 2019. The exhibition, in conjunction with Homotopia and National Museums Liverpool, looked at the experience of gay seafarers on passenger and merchant Ships from the 1950s – 1980s. Through video, photos and personal stories, visitors were able to gain an insight into the hidden history of gay life at sea. The exhibition was one of the few examples where this history had ever been celebrated in a major British museum.

The first ever award ceremony to celebrate the achievements of Liverpool's LGBT community took place on 13 October 2011, organised by Seen Magazine - the city's home grown lesbian and gay publication. Amongst the winners was the Michael Causer Foundation, voted as Best LGBT Charity of the Year.

In the early part of the decade, Liverpool also competed regularly against other UK cities in the annual Mr Gay UK beauty competition, with the representative from the city participating in the national final. The winner of Mr Gay Europe 2007, Jackson Netto, was a student at Liverpool University, however, he represented Germany and not the UK.

2017–2018 hate crimes

In 2018, homophobic and transphobic hate crime was at record levels in Merseyside, dramatically increasing since Michael Causer's death in 2008. Of the figures retrieved by the BBC, more than half of the 442 reported victims in 2017 were under-35, and more than 50 were under 18. There were a number of theories and factors suggested as contributing to this rise, one of which was improvements in reporting. It was suggested that LGBTQ+ people generally felt more comfortable reporting hate crimes and that police were taking them more seriously. However, the number of offenders being brought to justice had not been found to have increased in line with the number of hate crimes recorded. It was reported that only one in five homophobic hate crimes were solved. "Merseyside Police told BBC Three there has been a 38% rise in trans hate crime since 017 with most victims aged between 26–35".

In December 2018, according to Freedom of Information responses received from 38 police forces across England, Scotland and Wales, Merseyside had the highest rate of recorded homophobic hate crimes.

2020s

On 22 June 2021, hundreds of people demonstrated in Liverpool City Centre after reports of at least four people being attacked in suspected homophobic hate crimes in the city within the space of a single month.

A young woman, her girlfriend and sister were attacked and threatened with rape and murder at the end of May. A gay couple and their friend were attacked at knifepoint on June 11. In addition, two 19-year-old bisexual friends, Curtis Stewart and Josh Ormrod, were battered in separate assaults only days apart during the following week.

The protest, organised by bar staff from Liverpool's LGBT venues, started at the corner of Church Street and Paradise Street at 1pm and consisted of a march past St Johns Shopping Centre, Williamson Square and finished at Victoria Street in the gay quarter. Speeches and statements in condemnation of the attacks were made by Liverpool Mayor Joanne Anderson

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