The demonising of being LGBT+

And why it has to stop

Last night, I started watching the docu-drama series Alexander on Netflix. The opening scenes explained the well-researched evidence that in Ancient Greece (Macedonia), there was no understanding of the idea of homosexuality or heterosexuality or any terms to define sexuality - there was just sexuality. Alexander is documented as having male lovers and this is clearly depicted in the first episode. Who you were attracted to in Ancient Greece and in other ancient cultures, was of little consequence, as long as no harm was done. Expression of gender fluidity was also common. So what changed? In a word, religion.

With the expansion of the big three monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) came new doctrines that urged the people to move away from the old ways. New scriptures laid down the law about what was and wasn't acceptable. Eager to encourage their flock to pro-create, Christian religious leaders in Europe declared that any waste of the male seed was sinful, and by medieval times, same sex love-making was seen as unholy as it was against the so-called "natural law." The first anti-LGBT+ state law in the UK was introduced by Henry VIII, shortly after declaring himself Head of the new Church of England as well of course as being Head of State. Under his rule, the 1533 Buggery Act made anal sex illegal between anyone. In 1828, the Offences Against the Person Act made it illegal only for gay men to have anal sex; anal sex between men and women was de-criminalised. It took until 1967 to de-criminalise anal sex between consenting men over the age of 21, and until the year 2000 to finally give gay men equal rights, when the age of consent was lowered to sixteen, the same as it was for everyone else. That's this century.

But of course, the entrenched attitudes caused by two thousand years of discrimination on the grounds of religious belief would not disappear just because the law had changed. And they still haven't. In many countries, being gay is still a crime, and laws are being passed to take away the rights of LGBT+ people. In addition, young people are still being taught that being different is wrong.

Sadly, we know that conversion therapy continues to this day, as highlighted in a 2021 UK government study. Claiming that same-sex sexual attraction and transgender identities are disorders, addictions or spiritual problems, people offer various “treatments” including spiritual methods (like prayer, healing, exorcisms and pastoral counselling) and psychological methods (like talking therapy). Many of the approaches are described in the study as pseudo-scientific, and there is no evidence that they work. On the contrary, there is evidence that these “therapies” can be harmful, particularly in relation to poor mental health outcomes. The Royal College of Psychiatrists issued a position statement on sexual orientation in 2014, saying that people have a right to protection from these conversion therapies that they confirm are potentially damaging, and yet the practice is still legal. As I began to write my book a year ago, the UK government confirmed that it would publish a draft conversion therapy ban to protect everyone, including gay people and trans people (trans people had been missed out in the original plans). However, by the time we finished the final edit in the autumn, it looked like those plans were being shelved. And lo and behold, there was no mention of them in the King's Speech.

The rise in hate speech and crimes against LGBT+ people here in the UK and across the world is extremely worrying, and unfortunately, some of our media outlets and influencers are compounding the problem. On BBC1’s Question Time in early 2023, a woman in the audience had this to say to a trans woman on the panel: “We don’t allow men into women-only places for a good reason. There are good men and there are predatory men. We should not allow trans [sic] into female spaces. There are trans and there are predatory trans and that’s a fact. Women have to be safe. Women and children have to be safe (Applause). There’s nothing on their head to say whether they’re predatory or not, same as looking at a man. In my opinion they are still men. In my opinion you can’t change sex. That’s my opinion (Applause).” When this profound level of ignorance goes unchallenged, I despair. Instead of an informed debate about how the needs of trans women can be met, we got that. This, like vox-pop and reality shows, where ill-informed personal bias wins out over intelligent, evidence-based discourse, is cheap and lazy programming, and it highlights that something dangerous is going on.

Gay bashing or queer bashing, sometimes resulting in the murder of people because of their perceived sexuality, is a phenomenon that many of my friends are familiar with. One of my friends was very close friends with Michael Boothe, who was attacked in 1990, after going out with friends in Earls Court one night, He was set upon by a group of young men around the corner from where my friend lived. The hospital rang my friend at about two in the morning because Michael had asked them to, but they advised him not to visit, because Michael was so badly beaten that he was unrecognisable. Michael never recovered and died the following day. A group of young men were arrested and questioned, but there was not enough evidence to connect them to the murder, and they were released without charge. The police issued a statement saying Boothe had been the victim of “an extraordinarily severe beating, of a merciless and savage nature.” In response to the murder, a march was organised, and OutRage! was set up by Peter Tatchell and others, to take peaceful direct action and speak out against violence towards gay people. In particular, they wanted to challenge the police’s approach. A 2007 Metropolitan Police Review analysed the police response to ten London murders of gay men, including the murder of Michael Boothe. The review concluded that there were issues with procedures, record keeping and attitudes, that homophobic language was used during investigations, and that police did not act in response to reports of attacks. Also, that there was a lack of trust in the police among the gay community and poor support from local politicians. And it goes on. Researching for my book, it was so disheartening to read about the number of hate crimes still happening. In news this week for example, is the horrific case of sixteen year old trans girl Brianna Ghey, murdered by two other sixteen year olds, whose names I won't mention because they don't deserve any notoriety.

I regularly hear people making comments that in their day, you never saw trans teenagers, and that teenagers never talked about sexuality. It's as if they think that teenage LGBT+ people are a new invention. No. There have always been teenagers coming to terms with their identity and their sexuality, but they were never encouraged to talk about it before. And not that long ago, in the 1980s and 90s, it was been illegal under Thatcher's Section 28 to encourage teenagers that homosexuality was acceptable. We know that societal attitudes can change, we've seen it throughout history. If those with power and influence (the law makers, the religious leaders, the police, the media, the educators etc.) would take the lead and truly advocate for equality and for an end to misplaced hatred based on archaic ideas, then that would be a great place to start. I know I am just a tiny voice, but I have to say what I believe: enough is enough. It's time to celebrate our young people and adults who still sometimes go through so much just to be able to be themselves. It's time to stop the hatred.

This blog is based partly on excerpts from my book Bent Is Not Broken. Buy the eBook (various platforms) or get the paperback on Amazon via:

www.books2read.com/BentIsNotBroken

To read more about LGBT+ culture and history, and find out more about the author, head to www.bentisnotbroken.com