Gay 1950
The journalist Peter Wildeblood may not be a household identify in Britain today, but he was in Along with the wealthy Lord Montagu and Michael Pitt-Rivers, Wildeblood was sent to prison for homosexual offences in a case that shocked Britain. His case is the subject of Against The Statute, a film premiered at the BFI Flare film festival and aired on BBC2 to label the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality.
The post-war period saw a major upswing in the number of such cases coming before the courts in the UK and the US. This was not because men were having more sex with other men, but because the authorities on both sides of the Atlantic were acting with increased vigour to catch them. In , the American biologist Alfred Kinsey and his team of scientists had published Sexual Habit in the Human Male, with its shock findings that same-sex incidents were widespread across the population.
Panic reactions, including attempts to name secret homosexuals hiding in the closet, were spurred by fears that the Soviet Union was using information about private lives t
The BBC's First Homosexual: How we made s labor into a play
He decided the new work needed a narrative and a character for the audience to invest in.
"Firstly, there's a real story, which is of the internal struggle in the BBC to make the documentary," he says.
"There's only one man in the whole programme who talks openly about same sex experiences and he's paraded as a 'cured homosexual'.
"So, I wanted an actual queer to be the centre of the play. And that's the second story, which I've invented, of Tom, a working-class shop assistant from Scunthorpe.
"He acts as our window on to the period. Through a series of monologues, he takes us with him as he discovers and experiments with his sexuality.
"He's in a void though as the tradition around him tells him almost nothing about homosexuality, except for reports of a few high-profile men being arrested.
"His journey leads him ultimately to listening to the broadcast of the documentary on the BBC Home Service in and we see its life-changing impact
For many, June represents the month of pride; a time to celebrate, teach and communicate all that is queer, gay and fabulous. Although today entity gay isn&#;t much of a deal, back in the 50&#;s it was a dangerous label to have. Throughout history, thousands have lost their lives because they were labeled as &#;gay&#; or &#;queer&#; and many lived out their true sexual preferences in secrecy. As it&#;s almost the end of Pride month, I wanted to have a gaze at some celebrities from the golden age of Hollywood who were homosexual, or at least thats what the rumours said. It&#;s difficult to realize if all these celebrities, and of course many more, were truly same-sex attracted, but I wanted to share a few stories just so see how far we&#;ve come. Joyful pride everyone.
*Disclaimer: Please note that some of the following stories may depict graphic descriptions and behaviours which some readers may find disturbing. Discretion is advised.
Katherine Hepburn
Iconic Hollywood actress and Academy Award-winning performer in films such as Guess Who&#;s Coming to Dinner, The Lion in Winter, and O The s were perilous times for individuals who fell outside of society’s legally allowed norms relating to gender or sexuality. There were many names for these individuals, including the clinical “homosexual,” a term popularized by pioneering German psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing. In the U.S., professionals often used the phrase “invert.” In the midth Century, many cities formed “vice squads” and police often labeled the people they arrested “sexual perverts.” The government’s preferred term was “deviant,” which came with legal consequences for anyone seeking a career in public service or the military. “Homophile” was the term preferred by some preceding activists, small networks of women and men who yearned for community and found creative ways to resist legal and societal persecution. With draft eligibility officially lowered from 21 to 18 in , World War II brought together millions of people from around the country–many of whom were leaving their home states for the first time–to pack the ranks of the military and tGovernment Persecution of the LGBTQ Group is Widespread