LGBTQ+ Rights and opportunities

1533 Male homosexuality illegal and 1885 Criminal Law Amendment Act 

FAILURE

• Male homosexuality had been illegal in England since 1533 (Female homosexuality was never specified).

• The law became a lot stricter in 1885 with the Criminal Law Amendment Act, which made all homosexual acts illegal, even those carried out in private. 

• Up until 1967 people were STILL being arrested under this law (e.g Alan Turing).  

1950s and 1960s: Cambridge Five Spies (two homosexual).

• This was a ‘spy ring’ of former Cambridge University graduates who were caught spying for the Soviet Union.  

• 1952: An example of someone who worked in the intelligence services who was gay was Alan Turing. In his top secret work he had broken Nazi codes in WW2 but was arrested for Gross Indecency (meaning homosexuality) under the 1885 act. He was given hormones that altered his body: this treatment was called ‘chemical castration.’ He committed suicide in 1954. 

IMPROVEMENT

• This scared the government into action: it was the middle of the Cold War and because homosexuality was still illegal, the Soviet Union could blackmail gay men into spying for them to steal NATO secrets, like nuclear weapons during the arms race.   

1957 Wolfenden Committee Report published

• 1957 Wolfenden Committee Report published. The committee first met on 15 September 1954 and had 62 meetings in total over three years. Half of these were used for interviewing witnesses. Finding gay men who were willing to give evidence proved difficult because the stigma remained.  

• The government expected Wolfenden to make recommendations about how to support public ‘morality’ by stopping the spread of ‘open’ homosexuality. What the report recommended was much more radical.   

IMPROVEMENT

• The report interviewed homosexual men. It ADVISED the government that it would reduce the risk of spying and blackmail if it allowed homosexual relationships as long as they took place in the privacy of their own home between consenting adults aged 21 or above.   

FAILURE

• The Committee simply published a report of ADVICE: It did not have the power to change the law, only to suggest that it be changed.  

• The Age of Consent was STILL NOT equal: for heterosexual relationships it was 16 years old.  

• The fact that the government was shocked and surprised by what Wolfenden recommended suggests that the government still did NOT want to change the law.  

• One committee member James Adair argued that making homosexuality legal would have ‘serious effects on the whole moral fabric of social life’ 

1958: Homosexual Law Reform Society

• was supported by famous people like J B Priestley and Bertrand Russell.   

IMPROVEMENT

• Campaigned for the advice of the Wolfenden report to be made legal. Send a pamphlet to MPs in Parliament entitled ‘Homosexuals and the Law’ to try and get them to vote for the Sexual Offences Act to be passed.  

• Set up a charity “The Albany Trust” to provide guidance and advice to the homosexual community. Published articles, made films and gave lectures in support of gay rights.  

FAILURE

• It was clear that the government did not want to listen to the society and did not want to make the suggestions of the Wolfenden Report into law.

• It was not until 1967 and the Sexual Offences Act that it finally passed the laws that Wolfenden had advised. 

1966 Beaumont Society set up 

IMPROVEMENT

• Provided information and education to the general public, medical and legal professions on ‘transvestism’ and encourage research aimed at a fuller understanding.

• The organisation is now the UK’s largest and longest running support group for transgender people and their families. 

FAILURE

• Stigma still surrounds transgender community.  

1967 Sexual Offences Act 

IMPROVEMENT

• This Act finally made the advice of the Wolfenden Report into Law.  

FAILURE

• it took a full 10 years for the advice of the report to be made into law: this suggests that there was still a lot of opposition to homosexual equality, particularly from conservative and traditional parts of society, like the Church, who viewed it as  sinful. Again, it shows that the government was really reluctant to act.  

1970 Gay Liberation Front

• established The 1971 Gay Liberation Front Manifesto proclaimed that ‘Homosexuals, who have been oppressed by physical violence and by ideological and psychological attacks at every level of social interaction, are at last becoming angry.’ 

IMPROVEMENT

• A militant, radical gay rights activist group that campaigned for equal rights for homosexuals.

• Following the Stonewall Riots in New York in June 1969 over the treatment of the LGBT community by the police, Gay Liberation Front was founded (GLF) in the UK.

• The GLF fought for the rights of LGBT people, and were much more radical in their approach, encouraging them to challenge oppression wherever they found it. 

FAILURE

• broke up in 1973

1972 First Gay Pride march  

IMPROVEMENT

• The GLF organised the very first Pride march in London (1972), with 2,000 people taking part.

• Today, over 1 million people celebrate Pride in the capital, and there are events all over the world. 

1973 Campaign for homosexual Equality established 

IMPROVEMENT

• When the GLF broke up in late 1973 the Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE), based in Manchester, led the fight for equality through legal change. 

FAILURE

• no equality for age of consent

1974 London Gay Switchboard established  

1975 Manchester Lesbian and Gay Switchboard Services established (MLGSS) 

IMPROVEMENT

• Telephone hotlines providing advice for homosexual men and women.

• The hotline was operated by gay male and female volunteers who supported fellow members of the gay community. 

Started in 1976 as the Gay Medics and Dentists Group at University of London.  

• In 1983 became Gay Medical Association established to support homosexual doctors and to advise doctors and nurses on how to support homosexual patients.

IMPROVEMENT

• Organised the first public meetings to discuss the AIDS crisis; published the first leaflet about AIDS providing advice: it was distributed in night clubs.    

AIDs epidemic:

• AIDS was a new disease that spread most quickly through the gay community. It first effected the gay community in San Franscico, USA, but spread the UK.

FAILURE

• There was no cure and it created a great amount of FEAR of homosexual people.

• Newspapers announced the spread of the ‘gay plague’ and some newspapers spread suggestions that gay people should be isolated or shunned from society. 

• Some church leaders said it was a punishment from GOD to punish homosexuals for their ‘sinful’ lifestyle.

• People were worried about how the caught it.

• The terrifying ‘Tombstone’ advert spread further panic.  - “don’t die of ignorance”

1983 Terence Higgins Trust established  

• It was named after a 37-year-old man named Terry Higgins collapsed on the dancefloor of the London nightclub Heaven. Terry was one of the first people in the UK to die of an AIDS-related illness.

IMPROVEMENT

• This helped spread greater information and understanding about AIDS. It combated the belief that it could be easily caught from things like sharing seats on public transport or using public toilets.  

1986 Princess Diana opened first AIDS hospital ward in England  

IMPROVEMENT

• Princess Diana met with AIDS victims, talked to them and touched them.

• This was widely pictured and reported on TV and in the newspapers.

• At the time she was probably the most popular celebrity in Britain and so she received a lot attention for this.

• This helped break down the stigma against AIDS victims.  

1988 Section 28 of the Local Government Act 

IMPROVEMENT

• Section 28 was repealed in 2003, and Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron apologised for the legislation in 2009. 

FAILURE

• introduced by the Conservative Government under Margaret Thatcher, banned local authorities from ‘promoting homosexuality’ or ‘pretended family relationships’, and prohibited councils from funding educational materials and projects perceived to 'promote homosexuality'.  

• Teachers avoided talking about homosexuality because they feared being arrested or fired just for mentioning it: support for young homosexual students greatly reduced. Caused massive mental health problems for young gay people brought up in an education system that said their lifestyle was ‘dirty’, ‘depraved’ or ‘a sin.’

1994 Healthy Gay Manchester formed (HGM) 

IMPROVEMENT

• Provided a direct approach to HIV/AIDs prevention. Gave out free condoms, sexual health information about staying safer from infections and counselling and advice.  

2001 Age of Consent Law in England, Wales and Scotland.  

IMPROVEMENT

• The law established a common age of consent of 16 for sexual activity, regardless of gender or sexual orientation.

• This equalized the age of consent for both male homosexuals and heterosexuals. 

FAILURE

• not in northern Ireland

2004 Civil Partnership Act 

IMPROVEMENT

• Same-sex couples to legally enter into binding partnerships, similar to marriage.  

FAILURE

• Did not include Northern Ireland or Scotland. Scotland eventually caught up with the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 (so not until after the course ends).

• Still could not marry: not until 2013 Marriage (Same Sex couples) Act).     

2004 Gender Recognition Act 

IMPROVEMENT

• Gives Trans people full legal recognition of their gender, allowing them to acquire a new birth certificate with gender options.  

2009 Age of consent made equal in Northern Ireland.  

IMPROVEMENT

• Age of Consent for homosexual and heterosexual relationships finally equal everywhere in the UK: 16 years old.  

2010 Equality Act 

IMPROVEMENT

• gave LGBT employees protections from discrimination, harassment and victimisation at work solidifying rights granted by the Gender Recognition Act. 

FAILURE

• Taking an employer to court is still very costly and time-consuming. Proving discrimination is not always easy.  

• the victim was required to pay for the expense