So, 50 years ago, on July 27, the Sex Offenses Act of 1967 received royal sanction, partially decriminalizing homosexuality and beginning a long and difficult journey to end discrimination and harassment of LGBT people.
I was 17 at the time and very closeted as a trans woman, and I was terrified that I might as well be ‘gay’. I think it’s hard now for people to understand how scary life was for all LGBT people back then, in the “Summer of Love.” The news of the law change was definitely not well received in my house.
The middle of 1967 was an incredible time. The Labor Party under the leadership of Harold Wilson had won a significant majority the previous year and was now actively seeking to bring about social change. The Beatles had just released “Sgt. Peppers,” heralding a new era in popular music, and hippy flower power was transforming youth culture around the world. Britain had also officially applied to join the EEC, which would later become the EU, which would become the catalyst for the positive changes in LGBT Law that we all now enjoy.
But before the positive changes in LGBT law following the New Labor election, we would still have to experience a severe hardening of negative attitudes. First, the Sex Offenses Act of 1976 did not decriminalize homosexuality. The crime of gross indecency, which resulted in the imprisonment of Oscar Wilde, lasted until 2003. In fact, as Peter Tatchell has shown, arrests for gross indecency increased by 400% in the mid-1970s and remained at that level until the 1990s.
The 1967 Act applied specifically to homosexual men over the age of 21 who had a sexual relationship “in private”. The courts interpreted ‘in private’ very narrowly to mean ‘no one else in the building’. As a result, police aggressively pursued gay men if they met a partner in a hotel room, which was not considered private. Even simple acts of holding hands or hitting on another man were likely to result in an arrest.
In fact, between 1967 and 1997, UK legislation made life increasingly difficult for all LGBT people. In 1970, the annulment of April Ashley’s marriage meant that trans people could not legally change their gender, meaning that many trans women were now treated as men and charged with gross indecency and sodemy.
During the 1980s, the Conservative government considered HIV and AIDS a “gay scourge” and in 1988, motivated by moral panic, they enacted Section 28 of the Local Government Act to make it illegal for the public sector to treat homosexuality as something normal. As a result, all public education on same-sex relationships ceased until it was finally repealed in 2003.
Perhaps you can understand from this why the LGBT community is celebrating this 50th anniversary with such enthusiasm. It’s not just about celebrating what happened 50 years ago, it’s about celebrating a 50-year battle. The offenses of gross indecency and sodemy were actually still applicable in Scotland until 2013. Same-sex marriage was finally allowed in the same year.
In 2015, more than 7,000 LGBT people reported hate crimes. In fact, research indicates that more than 75% of LGBT people have experienced hate crimes, even though 95% of those crimes go unreported.
To celebrate this 50 year milestone like we did in Hull last week is great and a reminder that we have now won most legal battles for equality. However, while changing the law has been difficult, changing attitudes is a much more difficult challenge that we have yet to win.