2005 – Civil Partnerships Begin
The Civil Partnership Act gave legal recognition to a relationship between two people of the same sex. The Sentinel, published articles about the first local Civil Partnerships in 2006.
1984 – Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners
Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) supported the National Union of Mineworkers during the year-long strike of 1984–1985. One of the two founder members was Mike Jackson who graduated from Keele University in 1980
The Wombourne 12
In December 1986 the Conservative leader of South Staffordshire Council, William Brownhill, made headline news by suggesting at a Council meeting that 90% of homosexuals should be gassed to halt the spread of AIDS. Labour Councillor, Jack Greenaway, agreed with him…
1928 – “The Well of Loneliness” A Lesbian Novel is banned
“The Well of Loneliness” is a novel by British author Radclyffe Hall first published in 1928. Shortly after the book’s publication, a British court judged it obscene because it defended “unnatural practices between women”
1972 – Police Target Keele Gay Lib Soc
In 1972 police targeted the Keele Gay Lib Soc as part of a wider campaign against local gay men. Over over the last eight months police had been compiling a dossier of all known gays in the Potteries.
1967 – Police Arrest Four Young Men
The first concerted police campaign against gay men under the new age of consent was in Staffordshire in the Autumn of 1967. Four youths were arrested and charged, one later committed suicide.
1921 – Proposal to Outlaw Gross Indecency Between Women
A new offence of gross indecency between women was drafted under amendments to the Criminal Law Amendment Bill 1921. Local MP Colonel Josiah Wedgwood opposed the amendment
1988 – Clause 28 Bans the “Promotion of Homosexuality”
In 1988 “Clause 28” banned the promotion of homosexuality. In this post we present local news reports including the “First Ever Gay Demonstration in the Potteries”
1835 – The Last Men Hanged for Buggery
In this post we explore local connections to James Pratt and John Smith who were the last two men to be hanged in England for the crime of ‘buggery’.
