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Partial decriminalisation of homosexuality

2017 marked 50 years since the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality which some might regard as a blip within the timeline of LGBT+ history in the United Kingdom which can be traced back to Roman times.

Depending which decade you were born into, it's likely you will view the 50th milestone differently. Some are 'grateful, others 'remembered' while others still 'marked' and 'celebrated'. However, Owen Jones's piece "Hatred of LGBTQ people still infects society. It's no time to celebrate" is also on point.

On the back of legal equality, an equal age of consent for sex, civil partnerships, and gay marriage it's not difficult to think that the battles have been won. They are not and, without throwing the non-binary baby out with the bath water, we would do well to remember this.

"Anger, searing fury, not gratitude: that’s how the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales should be marked. That we are no longer legally persecuted in this country – and that we are less hated and judged than we were – is not something to be thankful for. Gaining treatment others take for granted is not some special gift: equality is not a privilege.

Gratitude implies that the state eventually buckling to the demands of LGBTQ people represented some sort of sacrifice on the part of our persecutors. Legal rights were won by LGBTQ people who were spat at, reviled by the press, demonised by large swaths of the public, persecuted by the law, incarcerated, chemically castrated and driven to suicide."

Hatred of LGBTQ people still infects society. It's no time to celebrate | Owen Jones | The Guardian | 27 Jul 2017

History of LGBT rights in the UK: A long road to equality | Kings College London | 28 Jul 2017 | 2m 11s

Sexual Offences Act 1967 | Wikipedia
LGBT rights in the United Kingdom | Wikipedia

Decriminalisation of homosexuality: History of gay rights in the UK | BBC
Buggery, bribery and a committee: the story of how gay sex was decriminalised in Britain | The Conversation | 20 Dec 2017
Homosexuality was decriminalised 50 years ago. But what happened next?  | The Guardian | 27 Jul 2017
Hatred of LGBTQ people still infects society. It's no time to celebrate | The Guardian | 27 Jul 2017
Out on the screen: 50 years of queer cinema in Britain | The Conversation | 26 Jul 2017
Fifty years of gay rights but some in the British media are peddling the same homophobia | The Conversation | 25 Jul 2017

Timeline of LGBT history in the United Kingdom | Wikipedia
Wolfenden Report | The National Archives
Sexual Offences Act 1967 | The National Archives