Being gay ..

[tinkerbell23]

In earlier years...

Programme im watching was just talking about 1960s and how the world "gay" didnt really refer to homosexuality but rather "gay" as in happy...

Said that if you were seen dancing with someone of the same sex you could be arrested in some states or have the light turned on at you in a disco!?

That is SO alien to me - i was born in 80s and have been aware of gay people for years and i am totaly fine with it!! I do remember once saying something about someone being gay and my gran saying how at my age she didnt even know anyone who was gay or what gay even was!!! X

[Maydup]

It was illegal to be gay up until 1967 tinks! People couldn't admit it when your Gran was young for fear of punishment and attack.

And only as recently as 2001 was the age of concent for gay sex reduced from 21 to 16. 2001!

[paddywak]

Trish and I have a very good friend who never use her first name except when in the company of family or very close friends. I mean these days it can be a bit funny meeting a bunch of strangers and introducing your self as " Hello I'm Gaye"

[cupid04]

I can remember my gran saying she felt queer rather than ill and being immature at the time it always made me giggle!

[jno]

homosexual activity between men was only decriminalised here in 1967 (but not if you were below 21... and not in a hotel room). As late as 1988, the Thatcher government banned local authorities from promoting homosexuality or presenting it as an acceptable family relationship, so you were probably alive then. It wasn't repealed until 2003 when Blair came to power.

So it's been less than 10 years, really

[tinkerbell23]

Lol ....obviously thats just soooo strange to me as people have been (quite rightly) out and proud!!!

1967 isnt that long ago - im amazed actually!! Were you shocked when u heard people "came out"....i know i can be shocked, or mabye have suspected...but i guess no-one would even suspect such a thing not so long ago!??

Imagine not being able to dance with same sex! Well it was guys only thean was chatting about? Im assuming it was ok for women to dance in groups!? Guys dance together all the time now x

[tinkerbell23]

Jno i was born in 1987.

It still amazes me 10yrs ago then! Not saying everyone my age will feel the same but im just shocked it was illegal etc ..xx

[beso]

Enid Blyton's Noddy was a "gay little fellow". Sometimes he would sleep with his best friend Big Ears and would wake up "feeling a little queer".

[tamborine]

In the sexy sixtys I never met any homosexuals tho I worked & partyed in London's West End. The first I recall was Rudolf Nureyev, ballet dancer of the 70s. We called such men effeminate rather than gay.

Gay was an adjective for happy & fun. I dont think all gays are gay; iykwimean.

[tinkerbell23]

Tambo did you just think they were feminine and not even imagine that they would be homosexual!?

Lol really beso!? Books and cartoons wrote some stuff sometimes didnt they!!!! Theres an episode of rainbow youve probobly seen thats a bit questionable x

[paddywak]

well, it might not be PC but we just called then queers

[tamborine]

yep, I never knew more than that and didn't think further.

[beso]

Young people often don't realise how much the western world has changed in the past half a century.

In Australia we had a referendum in 1967 to determine if aboriginal people would be granted status as citizens of the country. Before this they were not even counted on the census let alone being given any rights.

In many places their children were forcibly removed and adopted by white families if they were not comletely black. This went on until at least the late 1970s.

Women were routinely dismissed from their public service jobs if they married. Women had lower pay scales than men for the same jobs. Women were not allowed in public bars.

[tamborine]

If girls shared flats like we did we were called lesbians but that's cos the blokes couldn't have their wicked way :)

[Buenchico]

It's still illegal for consensual homosexual acts to occur in certain places which aren't legally considered 'private'. So if gay partners commit a crime together, and later share a prison cell, it's illegal for them to have sex in their cell.

Similarly, while gay bars are legal, it remains illegal for someone to actively seek a homosexual act with another person whom they might meet in such a bar.

While modern society is largely happy to accept 'intellectuals' like Stephen Fry being openly gay, it's not really so long ago that Oscar Wilde was sentenced to two years hard labour (for engaging in gay sex) in what the judge described as "the worst case I have ever tried" (only shortly after hearing a case relating to the murder of a child). Upon his release from prison, Wilde was refused permission to enter a Catholic retreat and forced into exile in France, from where he never returned.

[tinkerbell23]

Crazy! Not. PC paddy but no harm meant at the time x

[andy-hughes]

It is interesting to read the point of view of someone who has grown up with the idea that homosexuality is acceptable and normal - as against the attitudes when I grew up in the 1960's.

The media had to be very careful bout referring to a man's sexuality because libel actions were brought and sometimes successfully - the famously flamboyant American entertainer sued a UK national daily for inferring that he was homosexual, and he won a large amount in damages. For this reason, the media used the wonderfully coded phrase 'confirmed batchelor' which ranks right up there with 'tired and emotional' for someone who is smashed out of their mind - fabulous use of language.

If you get the chance, find a film called 'Victim' which was set in the 60's, and concerned the blackmailing of gay men for what was still a criminal and imprisonable offence. It was considered seriously groundbreaking in its day, not least because its star Dirk Bogarde was himself a gay man.

[tinkerbell23]

Andy id love to watch that! Ill look online! Simarly its amazing for me to read points of view about people who not even grew up against it....but it didnt even register or even imagine that it happened!!!

Obviously its as normal to me as a man and a woman but my granda just cannot understand it!! He isnt mean about it he simply cannot understand it x

[tamborine]

I was shocked over Rock Hudson dying of aids.....the handsomest men succumbed to homosexuality. But then, only a man knows what satisfies a man.

[tinkerbell23]

Have just realised the actual words to YMCA song!

Jeez oh i thought i was observant hahaha xx

[tamborine]

The furore when Lady Chatterleys Lover was released, we didn't dare tell when we saw the film; we'd have been sacked ! My dad would disown me too.