An early scene Francis Lee’s but feature, which Romanian migrant worker Ghehe (Alec Sereanu) wash semi-naked the background while Johnny (Josh O’Connor), the moody gay son of a Yorkshire farmer, rists gazg at him, is a clear reference to an intilly amed scene Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mounta (2005). At one pot, a character hal the scent of another’s shirt, rellg the endg of Lee’s film. Fifty years after the Sexual Offenc Act partially legalised male homosexualy Bra, the parallels wh Brokeback Mounta show how far attus towards LGBT people have changed – the sensibily of God’s Own Country is cidly post-gay. Yet the explic referenc to Lee’s wtern are unnecsary – God’s Own Country is one of the most excg Brish buts of the past , and homag to better-known films threaten to distract om Lee’s powerful visn.
Contents:
- 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 200-YEAR-OLD DIARY THAT'S REWRG GAY HISTORY
- JOSH O’CONNOR AND PL ML TEAM UP FOR “POWERFUL” GAY ROMANCE FILM
- A GAY FARMER ON LOVE, ISOLATN, AND DISPTG THE MEAT INDTRY ATRALIA
- INTERNATNAL GAY CEMA: 33 LGBTQ MOVI TO SEE OM AROUND THE WORLD
- GOD’S OWN COUNTRY SHAR GAY FARM ROMANCE RURAL ENGLAND
NEW GAY FARMER FILM HERALD AS ‘BETTER THAN BROKEBACK MOUNTA’
God’s Own Country, a gay love story set Yorkshire, is beg lled ‘better than Brokeback Mounta'. * film about yorkshire gay farmer *
It is a measure of social progrs that cema has moved beyond jt portras of 'forbidn love' to a space where n openly explore rather than nont gay on a sheep farm is tough and lonely for Johnny (Josh O'Connor). He vents his anger and tratn dnken bg and rough furtive sex wh other gay men a village wary of anyone who is different.
Gay love story God’s Own Country is beg herald as ‘better than Brokeback Mounta’. Related: Jake Gyllenhaal thks Hollywood is gettg more gay-iendly. This film differs om Brokeback Mounta that Johnny and Ghehe’s love isn’t hibed by the character’s rpective wiv or cshg ternalised homophobia – Johnny is tablished as attracted to men om early on.
EXCLIVE: GAY FARMER FILM THAT’S ‘BETTER THAN BROKEBACK MOUNTA’ REVEALS BRILLIANT NEW POSTER
A Yorkshire farmer's journal om 1810 reveals surprisgly morn views on beg gay. * film about yorkshire gay farmer *
God’s Own Country film review: gay love story set the Yorkshire untrysi.
THE 200-YEAR-OLD DIARY THAT'S REWRG GAY HISTORY
Pl Ml and Josh O’Connor have signed on to star the new "powerful" gay romance film History of Sound. * film about yorkshire gay farmer *
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.
JOSH O’CONNOR AND PL ML TEAM UP FOR “POWERFUL” GAY ROMANCE FILM
In “Alone Out Here,” by Philip Bfield and Le Cornish, an Atralian rancher who is openly gay a nservative dtry fights to rce rbon emissns through his ttle farmg. * film about yorkshire gay farmer *
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.
"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.
A GAY FARMER ON LOVE, ISOLATN, AND DISPTG THE MEAT INDTRY ATRALIA
* film about yorkshire gay farmer *
"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.
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.
INTERNATNAL GAY CEMA: 33 LGBTQ MOVI TO SEE OM AROUND THE WORLD
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. 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. 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.
GOD’S OWN COUNTRY SHAR GAY FARM ROMANCE RURAL ENGLAND
“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. Pl Ml and Josh O’Connor have signed on to star the new gay romance film History of Sound.
O’Connor’s most notable role was the beloved gay romance film God’s Own Country as the closeted Yorkshire sheep farmer Johnny. [Interviewer] Hey, why don't we startwh you scribg the work you're 's been 22 years, I've been workg on this le of ttle that we've 've put this science on topof what we do that mak so we're dog somethg that nobody else rponsibily is to look after the landbut jt a shame, I missed out on a gay a small untry town, I gus, wh s biggt thg is the difficultyof havg a partner, meetg a mother passed away about 10, 12 years agoand my father's got Alzheimer'sand is the lol nursg I'm the big boy the hoe now, which is very sad.
[dramatic mic]As sorry, as I felt about myselfbeg a sgle gay, man the untry, the sorry was never strong enough to make me changeand go and do somethg as much as the torment 's jt pros and know, do you want the farm? Whether people know that I'm gayand whether that means people won't eand buy bulls om meor people know we're talkg about climate changeand they won't e and buy bulls om sends the market and the dtrythat you're workg and tryg to work out, is all right to say . And was this sort of eternal stggle, I gusto get to space where a might meet then if you didn't the prsn that me day that I me home and told my parentsthat I was gay at the age of 28and my mother jt asked all the right qutnsand did everythg betifullyand properly and my dad sort of sat there and didn't say much at 's hard father and sons workg togethern be really, really that's two people makg one cisnor old bull and young bull and all that sort of built the hoe that I now live created my whole world I gus.