‘True equality took longer’: gay people on the Sexual Offences Act … – The Guardian

I dont remember being overwhelmed with a feeling of liberation in 67, just that I felt at last a little justice had been done. In some respects at least, I was no longer regarded as a criminal.

Colin Livetts memory of 27 July 1967 when the Sexual Offences Act 1967 received royal assent, 50 years ago this week is indicative of the many responses we received from gay people who lived through the moment often described as the legalisation of homosexuality in the UK.

Guardian readers who responded to our callout said the act could never be described as anything other than a partial decriminalisation. Some described it as a time of joy and liberation, but said it was just a small landmark towards equality that would not truly exist until many years later.

I was 12 when I realised I was gay. It was Wednesday 7 June 1967 before the act was passed and I was sat with my parents, watching a BBC2 documentary preceeding it. It portrayed gay men as victims of a cruel twist of nature, with stories of suicide, physical assault and loneliness, but had no representations of happy gay people or relationships. At last I had a name for the sexual attraction I felt to an older boy at school, but this made me feel dreadfully embarrassed and shamed.

At the end of the programme, my mother said to my father: It must be dreadful to have a homosexual child. I didnt come out to them for another 16 years. When I did, they were supportive, although they urged me to be cautious about sharing my feelings.

The main shift in perception I think occurred in 1967 was that homosexual men were seen as victims of a probably incurable mental disability rather than as proselytising sinners or predatory, perverted criminals.

Its important to remember the act only partially decriminalised homosexuality. I had my first physical relationship with another man in 1974, when we were both 19. We had therefore committed criminal offences, in that we were below the age of consent and the places where we made love were not private as defined and required by the act.

At university, members of the Gay Soc, one of the first in the UK, were constantly scrutinised by college authorities and two gay men under 21 were sent down having been found in bed together. I believe this reinforced my sense of shame, culminating in problems with anxiety, depression and alcohol.

At times, the past 50 years of my life have been a struggle, but as part of my recovery I decided to focus my energies on campaigning vigorously for gay rights. Much has been achieved, especially in the new millennium in my view, equality was only achieved in 2014 when the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 officially came into force. So although the 1967 act did not provide liberation for gay men, it was a necessary milestone on the road to gay equality.

I rejoiced when the act was passed. Gay people like me felt elated at our new-found freedom to be ourselves. Although it had never inhibited my behaviour, the previous law penalised what were victimless crimes and was just plain nasty.

Gay life previously had been covert and potentially shameful in London, where I lived, there was wide acceptance of gay people, but of course there was still discrimination against us. It was difficult for a gay couple to rent a flat or get a mortgage, for example (we did, but lesbians were expected to find a guarantor and for us it still seemed necessary to find a gay-friendly solicitor). I can only remember one person who said he was gay but felt he couldnt have sex because it was illegal life just carried on but of course we all knew there was the risk of being found out.

So though it didnt change my day-to-day life, 1967 was a very important step towards equality during a period of liberation and hope.

True equality took longer. The age of consent was still 21, so sex with or between young people was still illegal and was indeed prosecuted avidly. For me the true public turning point wouldnt come until decades later, when Tony Blair appointed Chris Smith and four other openly gay people as cabinet ministers in 1997.

Things actually got a great deal worse in the two or three years after the act because of its restrictions fundamentally that although under extremely limited circumstances it was now legal to have sex with a lover, it was illegal to try to meet anyone, with convictions for such crimes as importuning for an immoral purpose. How dare they make judgment that my love was an immoral purpose?

I dont remember being overwhelmed with a feeling of liberation in 67, just that I felt at last a little justice had been done. In some respects at least, I was no longer regarded as a criminal.

But the police had a field day and became the enemy for many: there were incidents of gay bashing and blackmail. Convictions increased see the lyrics of Tom Robinsons Glad to Be Gay for details. [So sit back and watch as they close all our clubs / Arrest us for meeting and raid all our pubs / Make sure your boyfriends at least 21 / So only your friends and your brothers get done] Many other gay people and their families went on to suffer for decades the government should do more to apologise for the terrors imposed on them. To simply pardon people is an insult.

The 1967 act had deficiencies, then, but the many campaigning groups that these prompted have brought so many advances. We should celebrate the advances, but its been proved that you cannot partially make people equal. They will want more. We still do.

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'True equality took longer': gay people on the Sexual Offences Act ... - The Guardian