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However, Higgins is careful to point out that no other national newspaper was to follow the lead of the Sunday Pictorial at the time, they tended to prefer to just remain silent on the topic of homosexuality. Patrick Higgins in his book, The Heterosexual Dictatorship, refers to a process of demonization by the popular press in the 1950s. Depressingly, this was a commonly-held view at the time. In such comments, one can see the appalling modelling of homosexuality with paedophilia. Wharf stressed the importance of warning parents, talking about the corrupting dangers of the evil men who, in increasing numbers, pervert youngsters to their unnatural ways. Douglas Wharf, the author, asserts here that the numbers and percentage of known homosexuals in Britain has grown steeply since the war, and he continues, ‘few of them look obviously effeminate, and they can be found not only amongst dress designers and the theatre, but also among generals, admirals, fighter pilots, engine drivers, and boxers. So the Sunday Pictorial was a stable-mate of The Daily Mirror, and this was the first of three articles under the lurid heading, ‘Evil Men’, which the paper proclaimed, ‘broke the silence over the unnatural sex vice which is getting a dangerous grip on this country’. And this is how the Sunday Pictorial, a popular tabloid, dealt with the subjects of male homosexuality in 1952. So prior to 1967, homosexual activity between men was illegal.
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However, back in the 1950s, the climate for gay people living in Britain was very different. And of course, looking outside Britain, look at the terrible repression and torture of gay people in Chechnya and the anti-gay measure recently passed in Brunei.īut focusing on Britain, we’ve come a long way, and as a generalisation, the Britain of 2019 is a much more liberally-tolerant society than it used to be. Homophobic bullying remains a significant problem in schools, and there are still cases of horrific homophobic physical attacks on gay people. We are now one of the best countries in the world for gay equality.’īut I think Peter Tatchell would agree that not everything in the garden is rosy, of course. All the main anti-gay laws have been abolished. Compared to two decades ago, Britain is almost a different country. He said, ‘We have made fantastic progress. And here’s a quote from Peter Tatchell, gay rights campaigner, in 2017. In Britain in 2019, gay people can commit to each other through civil partnerships, and the age of consent is equal for gay men, lesbians, and heterosexuals at the age of 16. I’m going to talk to you about the scandalous case of John Vassall – sexuality, spying, and the civil service. It was recorded at The National Archives, Kew. This talk is called ‘The Scandalous Case of John Vassall’, presented by Mark Dunton on the 25th of April, 2019. Visit for details of more upcoming events. This podcast is part of the Cold War season, a programme of events to coincide with our exhibition, ‘Protect and Survive – Britain’s Cold War Revealed’.