¿Cuán seguro es ser gay en el Reino Unido?
TV preview, Is it Safe to be Gay in the UK? (BBC2, Tuesday 9pm): The short answer is – not really
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The Independent Culture
Even after the partial decriminalisation of gay sex in 1967, for decades the only representations of “gayness” on British television were stock camp characters such as Mr Humphies (John Inman) in Are You Being Served?, closeted camp personalities such as Kenneth Williams, Larry Grayson and Frankie Howerd, stand-up comedians telling their audiences that they had “got three kids – one of each” and the odd nervous documentary about the love that dare not broadcast its name, featuring footage of men dancing uneasily with other men in fuggy private clubs.
How times change, and I hope for the better. The breakthroughs were probably John Hurt starring as the magnificent Quentin Crisp (self-described as “one of the stately homos of England”) in The Naked Civil Servant in 1975: and the television advertising campaign about Aids in the 1980s – “don’t die of ignorance”, which meant for once that society had to take gay sex seriously and the medical emergency meant it couldn’t be ignored. Successive changes in the law and public attitudes, all the way through to gay marriage and adoption, have also changed the acceptability of homosexual themes in the media. (I’m sorry if my language sounds a bit old-fashioned there, as my views are not.)
Anyway, all through the half-century celebrations of the Sexual Offences Act we’ve had gay sex rammed down our throats, as the critics used to say, and, so far as I can tell, most of it has been excellent and compelling viewing. These seasons continue, and there are more highlights next week. Is It Safe to be Gay in the UK? may shatter a few illusions for a start, for those of us who think “queer bashing” is a thing of the past. What we now identify as homophobic attacks and bullying is still going on.
Queers, a sort of historical/gay version of Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads monologues, is another excellent watch, showcasing the fine talents of Ben Whishaw, Fionn Whitehead, Rebecca Front, Ian Gelder, Kadiff Kirwan, Gemma Whelan and Alan Cumming and Russell Tovey, with writing from Jackie Clune, Matthew Baldwin and Jon Bradfield, among others.
If all that’s not gay enough for you, then you can indulge in Storyville: Queerama, and Prejudice and Pride: the People’s History of LGBTQ Britain for yet more historical perspectives, Queer as Art and Does God Hate Queers?, a question I’d rather not have to answer, but if I did the only safe response would be “depends on your God”.
How times change, and I hope for the better. The breakthroughs were probably John Hurt starring as the magnificent Quentin Crisp (self-described as “one of the stately homos of England”) in The Naked Civil Servant in 1975: and the television advertising campaign about Aids in the 1980s – “don’t die of ignorance”, which meant for once that society had to take gay sex seriously and the medical emergency meant it couldn’t be ignored. Successive changes in the law and public attitudes, all the way through to gay marriage and adoption, have also changed the acceptability of homosexual themes in the media. (I’m sorry if my language sounds a bit old-fashioned there, as my views are not.)
Anyway, all through the half-century celebrations of the Sexual Offences Act we’ve had gay sex rammed down our throats, as the critics used to say, and, so far as I can tell, most of it has been excellent and compelling viewing. These seasons continue, and there are more highlights next week. Is It Safe to be Gay in the UK? may shatter a few illusions for a start, for those of us who think “queer bashing” is a thing of the past. What we now identify as homophobic attacks and bullying is still going on.
Queers, a sort of historical/gay version of Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads monologues, is another excellent watch, showcasing the fine talents of Ben Whishaw, Fionn Whitehead, Rebecca Front, Ian Gelder, Kadiff Kirwan, Gemma Whelan and Alan Cumming and Russell Tovey, with writing from Jackie Clune, Matthew Baldwin and Jon Bradfield, among others.
If all that’s not gay enough for you, then you can indulge in Storyville: Queerama, and Prejudice and Pride: the People’s History of LGBTQ Britain for yet more historical perspectives, Queer as Art and Does God Hate Queers?, a question I’d rather not have to answer, but if I did the only safe response would be “depends on your God”.
(BBC2, Tuesday 9pm): The short answer is – not really
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