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Today marks the 20th anniversary of the equalisation of the gay male age of consent.
In 1993, @ralphwilde, @WillParry5 and I took the British government to the European Court of Human Rights, backed by @stonewalluk
@Openly @TRF_Stories
In 1993, @ralphwilde, @WillParry5 and I took the British government to the European Court of Human Rights, backed by @stonewalluk
@Openly @TRF_Stories
2/20) ...and Will and I shot a documentary for Channel 4 about the campaign.
https://vimeo.com/120489293
Do watch the full video, but here are the highlights:
https://vimeo.com/120489293
Do watch the full video, but here are the highlights:
"I'm sorry, madam, I don't want to see this in front of the House of Commons. I find this personally offensive." The campaign starts and Will and I get told by a policeman to stop snogging for a @BoyzMagazine photoshoot outside parliament.
The court case is launched....
..at the Cadogan Hotel, scene of Oscar Wilde's arrest for gross indecency in 1895 (with @IanMcKellen )
We meet with Stonewall to discuss our involvement in the campaign...
Will and I travel to my hometown, Exeter, to interview Dr Adrian Rogers....fundamentally opposed to equalising the age of consent (and much else)...
"I do believe that homosexuality is an aberration..."
"I do believe that homosexuality is an aberration..."
...but find ourselves queerbashed at a fair in Edinburgh in the meantime...
...whilst politicians, such as the then shadow Home Secretary Tony Blair ( @InstituteGC) come out in support of equality...
"I believe [the current age of consent] to be absurd."
![...whilst politicians, such as the then shadow Home Secretary Tony Blair ( @InstituteGC) come out in support of equality..."I believe [the current age of consent] to be absurd."](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ErPMUswW4AIm0eC.jpg "...whilst politicians, such as the then shadow Home Secretary Tony Blair ( @InstituteGC) come out in support of equality...\"I believe [the current age of consent] to be absurd.\"")
"I believe [the current age of consent] to be absurd."
...but Dr Adrian Rogers came back to haunt us. After I admitted on a Radio 4 show that Will and I had a sexual relationship, he brought a private prosecution and Will and I were interviewed by the police...
We were advised to say no comment, but Will (very, very bravely) - who would have gained a much heavier sentence - told police that, yes, we did have a sexual relationship...
...the police declined to prosecute....
And back we went on the campaign trail. Helped by @stephenfry
"For the first 17 or 18 years of my life, I was under enormous pressure not to be a bottomite. But it did not make the blindest bit of difference. They might as well have tried to talk a foreskin onto my penis..."
"For the first 17 or 18 years of my life, I was under enormous pressure not to be a bottomite. But it did not make the blindest bit of difference. They might as well have tried to talk a foreskin onto my penis..."
...and the campaign went on. Helmed by Angela Mason, then CEO of @stonewalluk, with active daily help from @mcashmanCBE and @IanMcKellen - and the much missed Douglas Slater
And, but of course, @JoannaLumleyUK...
But it should be stressed, there were always three of us involved from the very beginning, including @ralphwilde - here slightly panicked (sorry Ralph!) to realise that he could be the only one not to have memorised his speech on stage at the Stonewall Equality Show....
...not something that @JulianClary could ever be accused of:
JC to @RossKemp: "Why is it inadvisable to have sex with a man under the age of 21?"
Ross: "Because it's supposedly against the law?"
JC: "Because there's too much smegma involved..."
JC to @RossKemp: "Why is it inadvisable to have sex with a man under the age of 21?"
Ross: "Because it's supposedly against the law?"
JC: "Because there's too much smegma involved..."
We hear that the government will allow a free vote in the House of Commons, thanks to the lobbying efforts of Stonewall and @Edwina_Currie (with huge thanks/credit also due to the deputy head of Stonewall at the time, Anya Palmer @anyabike)
And the lobbying efforts begin to pay off. @EuanSutherland, who would go on after our campaign to launch a further ECHR case and see equality achieved at 16, meeting with @kinnockite4...
...and @PeterTatchell playing a key role in the campaign as well...
... @dawnfrenchfans comes out in support:
"If the government is to be believed and most of you gay men between the ages of 16 and 21 don't know about your sexuality yet and are undecided, I am available for shagging practice to help you make your minds up..."
"If the government is to be believed and most of you gay men between the ages of 16 and 21 don't know about your sexuality yet and are undecided, I am available for shagging practice to help you make your minds up..."
...and we lose a personal hero of mine, Derek Jarman, on the night of the vote...
... @Edwina_Currie is just superb:
"The taboo of silence which has denied the sexuality of young gay men has been decisively broken. It is no longer a minority issue but one of human rights that touches us all."
"The taboo of silence which has denied the sexuality of young gay men has been decisively broken. It is no longer a minority issue but one of human rights that touches us all."
But - sigh - to finish, we lost the vote that night. MPs rejecting 16 by a majority of 27, voting instead by 427 to 162 to reduce the age of consent to 18.
It would take seven more years to achieve equality...
It would take seven more years to achieve equality...
