BRITAIN PLAYING CATCH UP, AS USUAL

On 1^st March I was pleasantly surprised to hear the news that Britain was getting its first LGBT+ museum. Queer Britain looks to open its doors in Southwark by 2021 creating a visitor centre and social hub for discussions about LGBTQ+. Guy Pewsey, of the Evening Standard, gave me a little chortle on the train home when he asked the question “why don’t we already have one?”. When one thinks of museums they are usually mausoleums of the governmental hegemony over discourse.  These places are funded to present positive narratives of those in charge. Thus in response to Mr. Pewsey’s question, and the creation of the museum set to open in 2021, I contemplated 2 thoughts. A museum is supposed to be a showcase of a long history of a group or area of study. How can we have an expose of all the great gay things when they have only been fully legal for 14 years (4 if you’re from Scotland)? Plus in regards to narratives, how can the government present any positive history of its relationship with the gay community?

Britain has long been a slower reformer in its attitudes towards homosexuality. It took 10 years before any action was taken on the 1957 Wolfenden Report, which stated its belief that homosexuality should be partially decriminalised. When the government did finally introduced legislaon the age of consent was set higher for homosexuals than heterosexuals. On top of this the law was deliberately ambiguously worded in terms of “group” and public” male on male relations. Gay men were only allowed to have sex in their own private dwellings and only between two consenting adults, no more than that. This decriminalisation, ironically, actually led to more prosecutions for gay men in the aftermath of the 1967 Sexual Offences Act. Peter Tatchell’s illuminating research shows how over 15,000 gay men were convicted in the decades that followed the “decriminalisation”. The government wanted to make sure that the public understood that being gay was "not normal" in comparison to heterosexual relationships and that the framework for this legislation was based around pity for the "sick" gay men rather than allowing them to fuly express themselves.

By taking this stance government did little in trying to lead public attitudes towards a more equal outlook, the prejudice was just the same and the law gave them little protection. However the path to equality got a little worse, rather than better, in the 1980’s. The economic liberalism of the 1980’s was not matched by a freer approach towards individual gay rights. Fears around HIV/AIDs were exasperated with a government policy of “family values” that oversaw the imposition of Section 28 in the Local Government Act 1988. The amendment stated that local authorities “shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or teach "the acceptability of homosexuality”. This affected many open gay male teachers who were forced to lave the profession, but the imposition of his legislation also lead to the suppression of important discussions about sexuality for young people. Many young gay men were not educated or allowed to discuss their feeling at a time when education and the local authorities should have been giving them support. What is more informative is that this legislation was not fully repealed until 2003 across the whole of the United Kingdom.

The total decriminalisation for homosexual acts was even slower to be equalised. The reality is that gay sex stopped being a criminal offence only 5 years ago in the whole of the UK. The 2003 Sexual Offences Act oversaw the equalisation of gay sex with heterosexuality in England, Wales and Northern Ireland but Scotland did not relinquish its anti-gay laws until 2009, and sodomy was only made legal in 2013. What must also be mentioned is the journey to have equality in gay weddings. Celia Kitzinger and Sue Wilkinson's legal case highlighted how unfair the system was for gay couples. Although they had been married in another country the UK imposed civil partnership, and therefore lesser rights, upon them. The 2006 judgement was a big knock for the fairness for marriages in the UK and did not recover until the equalisation Same Sex Couples Marriage Act of 2013. Although passed relatively recently the Same Sex Couples Marriage Act highlighted the persistent prejudices that still exist in society towards the LGBT community. Although the majority for the House of Commons passed the bill the House of Lords tried to aggressively oppose it. There were even discussions to introduce a rarely used "wrecking" motion to try and reject the bill in full.  Eventually though the bill was passed and granted Royal Assent to become law on 17th July 2013, but with its passing it had highlighted the unpleasantness still ingrained in the system . 

To answer then “why don’t we already have one?” we only have to look at our past to see that it would have been difficult to build a museum to a group of people who have only been allowed to be themselves for such a short amount of time. Indeed the section 28 law may have made the advent of the museum illegal before 2003. Queer Britain will probably not be one of the biggest museums in the UK but its importance is huge. The museum will hopefully serve to illuminate the unfairness that British gay men have had to experience. When anniversaries, museums or large cultural centres open it normally brings with it an opening up of debates around the subject. Hopefully this discourse will serve to pave the way to a fairer, more equal society for all in the UK today. It cannot open soon enough.