What Happened When a Gay Communist Wrote to Stal

Contents:

• COMG OOT: THE FABULO HISTORY OF GAY STLAND
• STLAND TOPS LEAGUE FOR GAY RIGHTS
• ILLEGAL TO BE GAY - STLAND'S HISTORY
• NICE PLACE, UNLS YOU'RE GAY
• HOW THE MEDIA HAS HELPED CHANGE PUBLIC VIEWS ABOUT LBIAN AND GAY PEOPLE
• 5 SAFT PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2019 (AND THE MOST DANGERO)
• GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN ARE NOW ALLOWED TO DONATE BLOOD IN ENGLAND, STLAND AND WAL
• GAY GLASGOW
• WHAT HAPPENED WHEN A GAY COMMUNIST WROTE TO STAL

COMG OOT: THE FABULO HISTORY OF GAY STLAND

"He says homosexualy was somethg fai, relig stutns, the medil profsn and society at large all chose to source, Elae LivgstoneImage ptn, San (left) and Gerrie Douglas-Stt had Nila Sturgeon and Patrick Harvie as wns at their weddg"Growg up queer post-war Stland is sentially occupyg a social and sexual wilrns, " Dr Meek of male homosexualy had been outlawed for centuri and were ma stricter the late 19th Century but same-sex ntact between women had never been targeted law and was not illegal.

"Image source, Equaly Network/Same Love PhotographyImage ptn, Douglas Pretsell and Peter Gloster formalised their marriage SydneyPeople went to prison for sometim two years or were locked up psychiatric 1957, after a succsn of well-known men were nvicted of homosexual offenc, the Wolfenn report remend that "homosexual behavur between nsentg adults private should no longer be a crimal offence". But bee of Jam Adair, homosexualy Stland remaed illegal, classified as crimally-praved source, Getty ImagMany gay Sts had to rign themselv to a life the 1969, a brave group of gay Sts cid they uld not change their sexualy so they set out to change SMG (Sttish Mori Group) arranged diss and get-togethers for gay men and for lbian women. The SMG started to make money and leased property Broughton Street Edburgh where set up the Gay Informatn Centre and operated a telephone, historian and gay activist Bob Cant says: "I thk the Sttish Mori Group serv an enormo amount of cred.

STLAND TOPS LEAGUE FOR GAY RIGHTS

"Thirteen years after the law was reformed England, Labour MP Rob Cook lodged an amendment the Sttish Crimal Jtice Bill and homosexualy was fally crimalised Stland ptn, Leanne and Marie Banks were one of the first gay upl Stland to bee marriedThat saw an explosn of gay culture to the mastream. "Dpe the study relatg to dg addicts and the figur beg batable, homosexual sex was once aga portrayed as somethg to 1987 Margaret Thatcher's ernment went to war wh the gay source, Tged Memori / Equaly NetworkImage ptn, Joe Schofield (left) and partner Mallm Brown (right) were among the first to marry unr the new lawThe prime mister told the Tory nference: "Children who need to be tght the tradnal moral valu are beg tght that they have an alienable right to be gay. "There was outrage and protts across the untry at this rollg back of the rights of gay people but the law stayed place until the re-tablishment of the Sttish Parliament of s first acts was to repeal Sectn 28 but had a battle on s hands.

Journalist David Torrance says that spe beg very unpleasant at the time was a "thartic" experience that got Stland talkg about gay rights issu and fally swept away the old the Millennium, Sts attus to homosexualy have changed dramatilly.

ILLEGAL TO BE GAY - STLAND'S HISTORY

Surveys suggt that more than two thirds of Sts actively approve of gay marriage and is now homophobia that is 2005, civil partnerships were ma legal for gay upl and the followg year same-sex upl were able to year, as the Commonwealth Gam was beg shown around the world, Stland clared s new openns wh a kilted gay kiss as part of the openg year end wh gay marriage beg legal Stland and the lear of the Sttish Conservativ, a lbian, passnately supportg the move.

NICE PLACE, UNLS YOU'RE GAY

2019: Stland’s Makar Jackie Kay (who has wrten of how she realised she was gay at 17, but felt unable to al wh this for some years after) pos a poem about Mary Queen of Sts givg birth for the new Edburgh Castle d gui. This post has been amend to reflect more of Glasgow’s LGBT+ history, wh thanks to David Thomas, Former Director of Glasgow LGBT Centre, Lbian & Gay Swchboard and Wt of Stland LGBT Fom. Current statSce Jan 12, 2000Legal The Brish ary actively recs gay men and lbians, all three servic have ployed recg teams to gay pri events, and punish any stance of tolerance or bullyg.

The Royal Navy advertis for recs gay magaz and has allowed gay sailors to hold civil partnership ceremoni on board ships and, sce 2006, to march full naval uniform at a gay pri march.

HOW THE MEDIA HAS HELPED CHANGE PUBLIC VIEWS ABOUT LBIAN AND GAY PEOPLE

Brish Army and Royal Air Force personnel uld march but had to wear civilian cloth until 2008, now all ary personnel are permted to attend Gay Pri march donatns by MSMs Stland?

5 SAFT PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2019 (AND THE MOST DANGERO)

Gay and bisexual men and women were starved of acceptance and regnn and subjected to tense homophobia – as rerd a new BBC Stland/Hopstch Films documentary, Comg Oot: A Fabulo History of Gay Stland, for which I was a historil nsultant.

Durg the 1960s “Frankie” was sent to a child psychiatrist, only to be psychologilly srred by warngs of paedophilia, and the vastatn that homosexualy would wreak upon his life and reer. Image source, PAImage ptn, Gay Pri Edburgh 2016Stland pris self on beg one of the most progrsive untri Europe on issu of sexualy and genr inty but for gay men was not always such an open-md place. Nick explas his bsh wh the says: "I was so trated and lonely and isolated and all those thgs that sgle people go through, and more so when you feel you're outsi of society, that I did what many gay men have done and that is I ed to e toilets to try to fd some sort of ntact.

The Wolfenn Commtee Image ptn, Sir John Wolfenn on the BBC 1957Sir John Wolfenn was asked by the Home Office to form a mtee to advise on how laws around homosexualy might be reformed. Relig groups, legal reprentativ om the home natns, civic lears and legislators all gave evince to the Departmental Commtee on Homosexual Offenc and Prostutn Great Bra fally submted s report 1957. " Jam Adair - voice of dissent A Sttish voice who opposed crimalisatn of homosexualy Stland was Jam Adair OBE, a former Procurator Fisl of Glasgow and sat on the Wolfenn mtee and formed the only dissentg voice.

GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN ARE NOW ALLOWED TO DONATE BLOOD IN ENGLAND, STLAND AND WAL

21st Century StlandImage ptn, Marchg at Edburgh's gay pri para 2016Dr Davis says that, MPs such as Rob Cook were fluential motivatg change Stland through the 1970s and 1980s. However is an unfortable fact that Stland did lag behd other parts of the UK que substantially on s legal posn on homosexualy - a stance which the Sttish ernment now scrib as discrimatn.

"Image source, GPAImage ptn, Police Stland are the top twenty of Stonewall's equali x and march regularly gay pri events StlandThe Sttish ernment has plans to troduce a scheme which would allow some gay men to have historil nvictns, no longer nsired illegal, to be removed om crimal rerds.

GAY GLASGOW

In recent years, The ‘Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn’ (ILGA) have nsistently ranked Stland as one of the most progrsive untri Europe relatn to LGBTI+ rights. Introduced by Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative ernment, the Lol Government Act 1988, Sectn 28 stated that lol thori shall not “tentnally promote homosexualy or publish wh the tentn of promotg homosexualy”.

WHAT HAPPENED WHEN A GAY COMMUNIST WROTE TO STAL

The SMG’s work went far beyond s opposn to Sectn 28, tirelsly mpaigned for gay rights, wh methods such as wrg to fluential Sts askg for their support of petns such as a drive for a Charter Towards Homosexual Rights.