The topic of LGBT+ conversation therapy has been on everybody's lips recently. Making noise online and in mainstream news, the UK Government's zig-zagging on its decision to ban conversion therapy has left people frustrated. Wanting to hold its very own Safe To Be conference in June to celebrate and talk about LGBT+ issues, the move was quickly cancelled after over 80 organisations withdrew their partnership in protest at the government's "failure to protect trans people" in it's conversion therapy plan.
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The UK Government spoke out regarding its decision to cancel its summer LGBT + event by stating that the UK has a "proud" history of LGBT rights. It said: "It is disappointing to see partners withdraw from an international LGBT conference focused on the fundamental human rights issues facing LGBT people around the world and which provides a global platform to create positive change. The UK has a proud history of LGBT rights and the Prime Minister has been very clear he is committed to bringing forward legislation to ban conversion therapy."
So, to highlight our incredibly proud LGBT+ history, we complied a quick timeline of some great legislation that shaped our society over the centuries. 10 year prison sentence anyone? Sourced from the British Library, these are just some of Britain's proud history of LGBT+ rights so far.
The Buggery Act, 1533
This is a bit of an ancient one. Passed by parliament, this bit of legislation was put in place during the reign of Henry VII. This was the first time in law that male homosexuality was targeted for persecution in the UK. With this lovely piece of law, homosexuality was punishable by death. The death penalty was finally abolished for sodomy in 1861 but a lovely sentence of 10 years in jail was the next best thing.
The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885
This little law went a step further. It made any, even private homosexual acts, illegal. This meant even if there weren't any witnesses to the events of homosexuality taking place, you were still prosecuted. Sounded lovely and fair. Letters of affection between men was enough evidence required to get someone prosecuted. Surprising, seeing as literature back then used the word gay to describe their carefree lives. Luckily for lesbians, they were never targeted in any legislation. It was discussed in parliament in the '20s but was quickly sacked off due to fear that it would draw attention and encourage women to explore homosexuality.
The Sexual Offences Act, 1967
We're getting somewhere now. It took a decade for the government to implement the Wolfenden Report's recommendations of legalising homosexual behavior in a private setting. Phew, we can send some letters! The act partially legalised same-sex acts between men over the age of 21 which were conducted in private. Cruising was out of the question at this point, of course. The age of consent equality did not come into place until 2001 in Wales, England and Scotland. Consent equality was only introduced in Northern Ireland in 2009.
Section 28 of the Local Government Act, 1988
Introduced during Margaret Thatcher's Conservative leadership, Section 28 banned local authorities in the UK from "promoting homosexuality" and "pretended family relationships". The new legislation prevented councils from funding school materials that were deemed to promote homosexuality. It wasn't until 2003 that the legislation was repealed. An apology was given, and the world kept moving. Who knew a simple sorry could heal decades worth of trauma? Thanks David Cameron!
The Equality Act, 2010
Just over 10 years ago and a year after an apology for Section 28, we finally got The Equality Act. This gave LGBT+ employees protection from discrimination, harassment and victimisation at work. This was particularly important as the legislation added protections for the trans community, solidifying the Gender Recognition Act, 2004. This act let trans people acquire legal control over their gender identity.
Civil Partnership Act, 2004 and Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Act, 2013
Civil partnerships. Now, these were a positive bit of news for gay people. This act allowed same-sex couples to, by law, enter into partnership. Not marriage, we haven't reached that just yet. In 2013 we were granted same-sex marriage in England and Wales. Scotland followed in 2014, with Northern Ireland coming in and officially legalising in 2020. See, 2020 wasn't so bad.
To top off this very impressive list, trans hate crimes have risen by 354% since 2015 according to a BBC report. In this progressive society, it seems zig-zagging our way to equality tends to be the most common theme. If you haven't guessed already, the headline was sarcasm. This society is far from equal and has a history of legislations that have maimed our community for centuries. Now, this is far from an in-depth list, and why would it be? It's not a historical piece of research. Instead of focusing on things such as sport and toilets, maybe we should look at the rising physical and verbal hate crimes that are taking place up and down the country. All over the the UK, sexual and gender-related hate crime have actually risen from 10,000 reported incidents over an eight-month period in 2019 to over 14,000 during the same time span in 2021.
We've had some amazing history wins as well. This history has been at the hands of amazing LGBT+ campaigners, who've lent their voice and time to campaigning for our rights. From the founding of charity Stonewall, to trans based organisations popping up in recent years, things are getting positive. But to say that we have a positive history is a bit of a bold statement.
"We do have a proud history made in most cases by people campaigning," writer and historian Norena Shopland told me. The Conservatives have a poor history of band-wagon jumping, rubber-stamping activism when they’re left with no other choice but to conform to what is the right thing to do. "
Mair Jones, freelance historian, added: "Though the UK does have a history of LGBT rights, since partial decriminalization of homosexuality with the Sexual Offences Act in 1967, the UK does not have a particularly proud history of LGBT rights. Homosexuality was decriminalized because of course it was first criminalized for centuries, with a crackdown on consensual sexual acts between men around time of the trial of Oscar Wilde. Under criminalisation, men were sentenced to hard labour.
"In 1942 in Wales, in what was called the 'Abergavenny Witch Hunt,' over 20 men were trialed for homosexuality, with one teenager dying by suicide after he was arrested rather than facing the shame of trial. Section 28 was decriminalized in 2003 in Wales and England (in 2000 in Scotland) but again, that was after Thatcher criminalised "promotion" of homosexuality by local authorities in 1988. The Gender Recognition Act of 2004 allowed trans people to legally change their gender, but by now it is woefully out of date, while the UK government has dragged its heels as much as possible in updating the GRA and trans people's rights, and now is particularly erasing and abandoning trans people's rights by shamefully backpedalling on their intention to ban conversion therapy of trans people."
Seasoned activist and co-founder of Stonewall UK, Lisa Power said: "Politicians in general, with honourable exceptions, far too often they've paid lip service to us but had to be pushed into change. Tory governments are the worst, their only really proud claim is equal marriage and they wouldn't have achieved that without a cross-party coalition to defeat the bigots in their own ranks. The current government should feel nothing but shame for its broken promises and increasingly open bigotry and that's why, despite a lot of honest people's best intentions, the Safe To Be conference descended into utter farce."
So I ask again, are you sure the UK has a proud history of LGBT+ rights?
