On 27 July 1967, a bill was passed in the House of Commons, legalizing homosexuality between two men, over the age of 21, in private, with the proviso that when in public, homosexual men should:
“Show their thanks by comporting themselves quietly and with dignity… any form of ostentatious behavior now or in the future or any form of public flaunting would be utterly distasteful… [And] make the sponsors of this bill regret that they had done what they had done” (Lord Arran)
Although the bill was greatly received by gay men in the UK, the fact that the age of consent was unequal to their heterosexual counterparts, gay men still encountered discrimination from their family, in the work place and on the streets if they were identified as being gay.
Since then, the road to equality has been long and slow but over the last few decades positive changes in the law have been made: from homosexuality no longer being classed as a mental illness, (May 1990), civil partnerships rights for gay men and lesbians (December 2005), same-sex couples given same adoption rights as heterosexuals, (June 2005), and most recently the passing of the equal age of consent, act to 16 for homosexual and heterosexuals (June 2008). Read more