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To what extent did rights and opportunities for sexual minorities change 1914-44?
Not much progress till nearly halfway through the 20th century
What rights were fought for sexual minorities purposes
→ marriage rights
→ parental/ adoption rights
→ acceptance of life choice (church)
→ job discrimination
→ equal access to medical treatment
Was male homosexuality legal, if not why and when did this change
→ illegal in England since 1533
→ changes in 1967
→ the law was a lot stricter in 1885 with the Criminal Law Amendment Act, which made all homosexual acts illegal (even private acts)
What did Alan Turning do
Made the computer that helped break Nazi codes in WW2
What happened after WW2 in terms of homosexuality
→ Arrests and prosecution for homosexual activity increased
→ many feared ‘immorality’ was spreading
→ the government feared that homosexual members of the civil service was being blackmailed into giving state secrets to the USSR
How was the paranoia of homosexuality and being blackmailed magnify
→ magnified with the discovery of the Cambridge Five - a ring of spies who passed info to the soviet during WW2 due to blackmail of being exposed of their homosexuality
The Wolfenden report published 1957
What was the Wolfenden report (1957) based on
→ the committee first met on 15 september 1954 and had 62 meetings over 3 years
→ used for interviewing witnesses
→ finding gay men who were willing to give evidence
→ ended up focusing on 3 men: Carl Winter, Patrick Trevor-Roper and Peter Wildeblood
What did the Wolfenden report recommend
→ homosexual behaviour between consenting adults over the age of 21 in private should no longer be considered a criminal offence
→ “claiming it was not the law’s business” in peoples private lives - Wolfenden
What were some disagreements towards the Wolfenden report
→ not everyone agreed
→ one committee member - James Adair (from Scotland) felt that he could not accept the Report’s findings (influenced all of Scotland making homosexuality continued as illegal)
What happened after the Wolfenden report
→ the government rejected wolfendens recommendation
→however activists continued to push for a change in the law
→ the report was signed by important figured such as J.B Priestly (helped for Homosexual Law Reform Society)
→ all this pressure led in 1967 for the Sexual Offences Act to be passed and homosexuality became legal for England and Wales
Sexual Offences Act 1967
→ legalised same sex acts with men over 21 as long as it was in private
→ step towards equality
→ Only in england + wales
The Beaumont society (1966)
→ set up to provide info and education to general public - medical and legal professions on ‘transvestism’
→ now the UK’s largest and longest support group for trans their families
→ not campaigning for big legal change
The gay liberation front
→ fought for rights of LGBT
→ challenged oppression
→ first pride march in london (1972) with 2,000 people
→ today, over 1 million celebrate pride in the capital
The campaign for homosexual equality (1973)
→ based in manchester
→ led fight for equality through legal change
→ further change too time
→ age of consent equality did not come till 2001 (England, scotland, wales) 2009 for Northern Ireland
The AIDS epidemic (1981 onwards)
→ HIV : virus affects and weakens immune system
→ passed on through close contact of gay men
→ Terrance Higgins trust founded after Terry collapsed on the dancefloor of the London nightclub Heaven (died)
→Set up a helpline and became a registered charity
→negative media coverage - stigma formed(God punished the unfaithful)
How did Princess Diana help with the stigma of homosexuality
→ she visited a first specialist AIDS hospital ward
→ shook hands with the patients
→ tackled the stigma surrounding AIDS
Creation of campaign for homosexual activity 1973
equality through legal reform
Section 28 of the local Government act 1988
→ introduced under Margaret Thatcher
→ banned local authorities from ‘promoting homosexuality’
→prohibited councils from funding educational materials and projects which promoted homosexuality (minimising discussion in schools)
Age of consent 2001 (england, scotland, wales)
age was higher for homosexual people
Age of consent (northern ireland) 2009
equal age of consent in 2009 for all sexualities
Civil partnership act 2004
→ allowed same sex couples to enter into binding partnerships → marriage
Marriage act 2013
allowing same-sex couples in england + wales to marry → scotland followed a different act in 2014
Gender recognition act 2004
gave trans people full recognition of their gender → acquire new birth certificates
Equality act
gave LGBT employees protections from discrimination, harassment etc at work
Case study: The LGBT foundation
→ began in the Manchester Lesbian and Gay Switchboard services
→ six gay men provided info and support for men coming out
→ the line ran from 7 to 9pm every evening
→ formed LBGT foundation when collaborating with Healthy Gay Manchester
→pride yearly event now
How the LGBT foundation describe themselves today
→ rich and passionate history of grassroots activism
→ in 2000s two charities merged for change becoming the UK’s largest health and community charity for LGBT people
Overtime the LGBT foundation have witnessed and responded to: (summary)
→ decriminalisation of homosexuality
→ the emergence of HIV and AIDS (devastating impact as well as inspiration response from out communities)
→ removal of homosexuality from the WHO list of mental illnesses
→ the ending of the ban on LGBT people serving in armed forces
→ adoption rights for same-sex couples + birth rights for lesbians or bisexual women
→passing of gender recognition act
→ essential workplace protections
→ the introduction of civil partnerships and same-sex marriage equality
