<p><strong>Adam Wagner</strong>: Deputy lear of the Liberal Democrats' ments on gay marriage may be the end of a long and tortuo road for mpaigners</p>
Contents:
- A TIMELE OF GAY RIGHTS THE UK
- GAY RIGHTS 50 YEARS ON: 10 WAYS WHICH THE UK HAS CHANGED
- GETTG MARRIED THE UK GAY MARRIAGE LAWS UK
- MANY BRONS HAVE CHANGED THEIR MDS ON GAY MARRIAGE
- HAS THE TIME E FOR GAY MARRIAGE THE UK?
A TIMELE OF GAY RIGHTS THE UK
The prime mister hails an "important moment" for the untry as gay upl bee the first to wed unr a new law allowg same-sex marriag England and Wal. * uk law on gay marriage *
The act, which crimalised homosexual sex acts between nsentg men over the age of 21, opened the door to a slew of legal and social chang which would transform the way Brish society viewed same-sex relatnships over the next 50 are some of the key dat the history of gay rights the UK:1533: The Buggery Act, the first ever law to specifilly outlaw anal sex, was signed to English law. 1835: Jam Pratt and John Smh beme the last men Bra to be executed for homosexual acts. The same year Wilblood was the only openly gay man to ttify before Lord Wolfenn's quiry, which would ultimately remend the crimalisatn of homosexualy.
GAY RIGHTS 50 YEARS ON: 10 WAYS WHICH THE UK HAS CHANGED
Are you g to the UK to get married or to enter a civil partnership? Gay marriage laws the UK have changed - fd out what the legal requiremen * uk law on gay marriage *
1957: The Wolfenn mtee published s report, based on three years of ttimony om police, psychiatrists and gay men but one of the mtee's 15 members, drawn om the world of polics, law, medice and amia, agreed that homosexual acts between nsentg men over the age of legal majory - 21 at the time - should not be a matter for the law.
GETTG MARRIED THE UK GAY MARRIAGE LAWS UK
* uk law on gay marriage *
Dpe cross-party support for the Act, MPs were hardly lg up to accept homosexualy as a legimate orientatn. "Even those supportg crimalisatn lled homosexualy 'a disabily' and 'a great weight of shame', " says the Huffgton Post.
1972: By the early 1970s, "gay rights anisatns were sprgg up lolly and natnally, " says the Lbian and Gay Newsmedia Archive. In 1972, upwards of 2, 000 gay men and women marched London's first Pri para. 1988: Then-Prime Mister Margaret Thatcher troduced an amendment to the Lol Government Act 1988 banng state schools om teachg or promotg the "acceptabily of homosexualy as a pretend fay relatnship" notor "Sectn 28" ed wispread outrage and as the talyst for a massive surge gay activism, cludg the formatn of LGBT rights group Stonewall UK.
MANY BRONS HAVE CHANGED THEIR MDS ON GAY MARRIAGE
Several gay upl were wed at the stroke of midnight on 29 March 2014, when the law officially me to effect.
Stland legalised gay marriage December 2014. Gay marriage remas illegal Northern Ireland.
Image source, Getty ImagIt's 50 years sce the partial crimalisatn of homosexual sex England and Wal. Approval fell the 1980s when the Aids crisis and the troductn of sectn 28 - a law prohibg the promotn or teachg of homosexualy schools - uld have swayed public opn acrdg to NatCen, the thk tank which ns the a steady and rapid rise om the early 1990s reflects a wir trend of social liberalisatn, somethg also seen changg attus to pre-maral sex. Approval of pre-maral sex grew ially among the young - as they got olr they retaed that belief, and soon both old and young were more liberal on the same-sex relatnships the shift attu has been quicker - not only did young people wh liberal views get olr, but olr people changed their mds, might part be bee chang the law, such as the legalisatn of civil partnerships and then gay marriage, have a powerful fluence on people's views, a NatCen spokman suggts.
HAS THE TIME E FOR GAY MARRIAGE THE UK?
There have been a number of other key dat on the journey towards sexual and genr equaly, not jt for gay men but for the rt of the LGBT muny. For example, gay sex remaed illegal Stland and Northern Ireland until 1982 while transgenr people weren't protected equaly legislatn until 2010. 1967 - Sex between two men over 21 and " private" is crimalised1980 - Decrimalisatn Stland1982 - Decrimalisatn Northern Ireland1994 - The age of nsent for two male partners is lowered to 182000 - The ban on gay and bisexual people servg the armed forc is lifted; the age of nsent is equalised for same- and oppose-sex partners at 162002 - Same-sex upl are given equal rights when to adoptn2003 - Gross cency is removed as an offence2004 - A law allowg civil partnerships is passed2007 - Discrimatn on the basis of sexual orientatn is banned2010 - Genr reassignment is add as a protected characteristic equaly legislatn2014 - Gay marriage be legal England, Wal and Stland3.
Crimalisatn of gay people ntued to this centuryIn 1967, homosexualy was only partially crimalised.
Those keen to crimalise any public displays of nsensual homosexual activy still had tools to do so through the offence of "gross cency", which had a broad terpretatn. Prosecutns were far more mon until the 1990s but have tailed off sce, partly bee of social attus to gay relatnships, says Kate Goold, a solicor at Bdmans. Government has attempted to redrs this legacyGiven this legacy of crimalisatn, the ernment troduced a scheme October 2012 allowg those prosecuted unr funct gay-sex-related laws, to have their nvictns removed om police and urt Home Office timat that there were about 50, 000 such offenc rerd on the system om the 1950s until of the 50, 000, only an timated 16, 000 are for people who are still livg and so able to all of the 16, 000 offenc are eligible to be "disregard".