'Landle' Short Documentary: The Hotle for Gay Farmers the U.K. - The Atlantic

Contents:

• THE 200-YEAR-OLD DIARY THAT'S REWRG GAY HISTORY
• NEW GAY FARMER FILM HERALD AS ‘BETTER THAN BROKEBACK MOUNTA’
• EXCLIVE: GAY FARMER FILM THAT’S ‘BETTER THAN BROKEBACK MOUNTA’ REVEALS BRILLIANT NEW POSTER
• THE 10 BEST YORKSHIRE GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS YORKSHIRE
• GLOUCTERSHIRE GAY YOUNG FARMER SHAR HIS G-OUT STORY
• A GAY FARMER ON LOVE, ISOLATN, AND DISPTG THE MEAT INDTRY ATRALIA
• THE SECRET LIV OF GAY FARMERS

THE 200-YEAR-OLD DIARY THAT'S REWRG GAY HISTORY

Image ptn, Claire Pickerg Wakefield library imag the diary wrer speakg a Yorkshire accentA diary wrten by a Yorkshire farmer more than 200 years ago is beg hailed as providg remarkable evince of tolerance towards homosexualy Bra much earlier than prevly imaged. Historians om Oxford Universy have been taken aback to disver that Matthew Tomlson's diary om 1810 ntas such open-md views about same-sex attractn beg a "natural" human diary challeng prenceptns about what "ordary people" thought about homosexualy - showg there was a bate about whether someone really should be discrimated agast for their sexualy.

NEW GAY FARMER FILM HERALD AS ‘BETTER THAN BROKEBACK MOUNTA’

"In this excg new disvery, we see a Yorkshire farmer argug that homosexualy is nate and somethg that shouldn't be punished by ath, " says Oxford rearcher Eamonn O' ptn, The diari were handwrten by Tomlson the farmhoe where he lived and workedThe historian had been examg Tomlson's handwrten diari, which have been stored Wakefield Library sce the thoands of pag of the private journals have never been transcribed and prevly ed by rearchers terted Tomlson's eye-wns acunts of electns Yorkshire and the Ludd smashg up O'Keeffe me across what seemed, for the era of Gee III, to be a rather startlg set of arguments about same-sex relatnships. Tomlson had been prompted by what had been a big sex sndal of the day - which a well-rpected naval surgeon had been found to be engagg homosexual ptn, Historian Eamonn O'Keeffe says the diari provi a rare sight to the views of "ordary people" the early 1800sA urt martial had orred him to be hanged - but Tomlson seemed unnvced by the cisn, qutng whether what the papers lled an "unnatural act" was really that unnatural. "It mt seem strange ed that God Almighty should make a beg wh such a nature, or such a fect nature; and at the same time make a cree that if that beg whom he had formed, should at any time follow the dictat of that Nature, wh which he was formed, he should be punished wh ath, " he wrote on January 14 there was an "clatn and propensy" for someone to be homosexual om an early age, he wrote, " mt then be nsired as natural, otherwise as a fect nature - and if natural, or a fect nature; seems cel to punish that fect wh ath" diarist mak reference to beg rmed by others that homosexualy is apparent om an early age - suggtg that Tomlson and his social circle had been talkg about this se and discsg somethg that was not unknown to this time, and also Wt Yorkshire, a lol landowner, Anne Lister, was wrg a d diary about her lbian relatnships - wh her story told the televisn seri, Gentleman knowg what "ordary people" really thought about such behavur is always difficult - not least bee the loust survivg voic are ually the wealthy and has exced amics is the chance to eavdrop on an everyday farmer thkg aloud his source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Tomlson was appalled by the levels of rptn durg electns"What's strikg is that he's an ordary guy, he's not a member of the bohemian circl or an tellectual, " says O'Keeffe, a doctoral stunt Oxford's history acceptance of homosexualy might have been exprsed privately aristocratic or philosophilly radil circl - but this was beg discsed by a ral worker.

EXCLIVE: GAY FARMER FILM THAT’S ‘BETTER THAN BROKEBACK MOUNTA’ REVEALS BRILLIANT NEW POSTER

O'Keeffe says shows ias were "perlatg through Brish society much earlier and more wily than we'd expect" - wh the diary workg through the bat that Tomlson might have been havg wh his the were still far om morn liberal views - and O'Keeffe says they n be extremely "jarrg" someone was homosexual by choice, rather than by nature, Tomlson was ready to nsir that they should still be punished - proposg stratn as a more morate optn than the ath ptn, Tomlson's former home was still there the 1930s (bottom left), but has sce disappeared beneath hog and a golf urseO'Keeffe says disverg evince of the kds of bate has both "enriched and plited" what we know about public opn this pre-Victorian diary is raisg ternatnal Fara Dabhoiwala, om Prceton Universy the US, an expert the history of attus towards sexualy, scrib as "vivid proof" that "historil attus to same-sex behavur uld be more sympathetic than is ually prumed". Instead of seeg homosexualy as a "horrible perversn", Prof Dabholwala says the rerd showed a farmer 1810 uld see as a "natural, dively ordaed human qualy" Norton, an expert gay history, said there had been earlier arguments fendg homosexualy as natural - but the were more likely to be om philosophers than farmers. An English farmer wrg more than 200 years ago had more morn and liberal views on homosexualy than many ernments do today, an entry a newly disvered diary shows.

THE 10 BEST YORKSHIRE GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS YORKSHIRE

Matthew Tomlson, a farmer om Wt Yorkshire Northern England, wrote January 1810 that homosexualy was nate and that punishg by ath was cel.

Rpondg to reports the media about a naval surgeon beg executed for sodomy – a typil punishment for homosexualy the 19th century – Tomlson reasoned that penalizg people for somethg that had been their “nature om childhood” was unfair. The fd has upend historians’ assumptns about historil attus to homosexualy, ntradictg the view that was unanimoly seen as abnormal and dangero at the time – and uld be nsired a more morn attu than those held by the 70 untri around the world that still crimalize homosexualy. In 1885, all homosexual acts were ma illegal, until homosexualy was eventually crimalized 1967.

As many as 12 untri still penalize homosexualy wh pal punishment, and is crimalized by 70 natns, acrdg to the LGBT monorg group ILGA.

GLOUCTERSHIRE GAY YOUNG FARMER SHAR HIS G-OUT STORY

Other figur om the era, cludg the philosopher Jeremy Bentham, also mooted relaxg the punishment of homosexualy – but ltle evince had prevly suggted that such views were monplace.

“It is extraordary to fd an ordary, sual observer 1810 serly nsirg the possibily that sexualy is nate and makg arguments for crimalisatn, ” add Rictor Norton, an Amerin expert on gay history. In a newly-disvered passage om a private diary, a Yorkshire farmer argu 1810 that homosexualy is nate and should not be punished by ath.

A GAY FARMER ON LOVE, ISOLATN, AND DISPTG THE MEAT INDTRY ATRALIA

The diary entry by Matthew Tomlson suggts that regnizably morn unrstandgs of homosexualy were beg discsed by ordary people earlier than is monly thought. Mr O'Keeffe said: "In this diary, we see a Yorkshire farmer argug that homosexualy is nate and somethg that should not be punished by ath.

Matthew Tomlson's diary illtrat that, by 1810, even an ordary Yorkshire farmer uld serly enterta the ia that homosexualy was not a horrible perversn that served the ath penalty, but simply a natural, dively ordaed human qualy. Rictor Norton, an expert on the history of homosexualy this perd, said "the view that homosexualy was a natural clatn was rarely so clearly exprsed" as Tomlson's wrgs.

"Tomlson's diary reflectns on homosexualy are unique for their time. Newspapers Bra and Ireland published acunts of the se, remdg rears of the dranian state penalti for homosexual behavr. Mr O'Keeffe add: "Contemporary media reportg on sodomy s, often uched the language of moral panic, both reflected and rerced social stigma agast same-sex timacy, but Tomlson's wrgs suggt that not all rears uncrilly accepted the homophobic assumptns they enuntered the prs.

THE SECRET LIV OF GAY FARMERS

Although the diarist serly nsired the proposn that sexual orientatn was nate, he nohels allowed for the possibily that homosexualy might be a choice and therefore ( his view) servg of punishment.