It all started with this man
The Criminal Law Amendment Act went a step further, making any male homosexual act illegal – whether or not a witness was present – meaning that even acts committed in private could be prosecuted
The Buggery Act was passed during the reign of Henry VIII outlawing homosexuality and introduced the death penalty in the UK
1861 1533
1895 1885
The death penalty was abolished for homosexual acts, with 8,921 men convicted and 56 executed
Oscar Wilde sentenced to 2 years in prison with hard labour after being convicted of gross indecency over relationship with Lord Douglas
Over 100,000 men were arrested and sentenced to a range of punishments, from concentration camps and horrific medical experiments by the Nazis
London’s first gay pub, The Cave of the Golden Calf opened off Regent Street
1912
1939–1945
It is estimated that over 250,000 gay and bisexual men served in the British Army in World War 2
1939–1945
Spitfire Pilot Roberta Cowell is the first known British trans woman to undergo reassignment surgery
The Nullity of Marriage Act was passed, explicitly banning same-sex marriages in England and Wales
The Sexual Offences Act 1967 decriminalises sex between two men over 21 and ‘in private’
1952 1951
1969 1967
The US passes a law banning lesbian and gay foreigners from entering the country
Sex between two men over the age of 21 ‘in private’ is decriminalised in Scotland
1972 1971
Stonewall riots in America trigger the modern LGBT+ liberation movement
1980
the first London Pride attracts 2,000 participants
A landmark court case finds that Northern Ireland’s criminilisation of same-sex acts violated the European Convention on Human Rights, resulting in the law being changed the following year
Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners campaign is launched in support of workers in the miners’ strikes in 1984 and 1985, a story told in the 2014 film Pride
1983 1981
Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 introduced stating that local authorities “shall not intentionally promote homosexuality”
1987 1984
Men who have sex with men are asked not to donate to UK blood banks amid the AIDS crisis
1988 Delta Airlines apologised for arguing in plane crash litigation that it should pay less in compensation for the life of a gay passenger than for a heterosexual one because he may have had AIDS