Gay bbc public

Playing Gay

Horror of Darkness

In John Hopkins’s Horror of Darkness, shown in the BBC’s acclaimed but controversial series The Wednesday Play, was a breakthrough in gay male representation. It is a psychological drama in which Robin Fletcher (Nicol Williamson), a unhappy, tortured soul disrupts the relationship between his friend Peter (Alfred Lynch) and Cathy (Glenda Jackson).

Robin’s declaration of his love for Peter is beautifully realised, and it is probably the first open expression of the love of one man for another in British television. However, Robin’s love for Peter is unrequited and, after Peter rejects him, Robin commits suicide. Hopkins, one of BBC television’s most acclaimed and respected writers, place together a complex and compelling participate that was appreciated by some viewers.

Public Reaction

In BBC1’s Duty Office Log for 10 March , viewer’s reactions to the play on the evening of the transmission ranged from the confused: “There are six of us watching this play. What is it all about? Perhaps you will ring back and tell me” to the outraged: “Disgusting stuff”, “

LGBTQ+ and the BBC

The first known discussion of LGBTQ+ issues on the BBC was in  ‘Homosexuality and Christianity’ was a radio discussion programme, and followed a reading of Dr. Sherwin Bailey's book ‘Homosexuality and the Western Christian Tradition’. This marked the start of the BBC’s understanding of its LGBTQ+ audience as BBC History discovers.

Homosexuality and Christianity, was broadcast at on a Tuesday evening on the BBC Third Programme, the modern morning equivalent of BBC Radio 3.

Although there may have been earlier examples, this appears to be the first programme on the BBC to directly address what was then generally thought of as the ‘problem’ of homosexuality.

The programme indicates an approach to serving the LGBTQ+ audience that was to last for some time.

Looking in

One of the earliest attempts on BBC TV to investigate LGBTQ+ lives was Man Alive, Consenting Adults 1: The Men.

The approach in this documentary was not to offer a platform for LGBTQ+ people to discuss their own lives, rather it ‘looks in’ and ‘comments on’ LGBTQ+ people from a h

Gay men 'afraid to hold hands in public', survey finds

More than half of gay men in Britain do not feel comfortable holding hands with a partner in the street, a survey of 5, LGBT people has revealed.

One in five lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender respondents to Stonewall's poll said they had experienced a hate crime in the past year.

They ranged from abuse to assault, but 81% of victims did not go to police.

The Home Office said all hate crime was "completely unacceptable" and "should be met with the full force of the law".

Stonewall said the UK had much to verb before all LGBT people "can sense safe, included and free to be themselves".

While hate crime was more effectively recorded than in the past, the charity said there had undoubtedly been "a genuine increase" in incidents since its last major survey in

The poll - timed to coincide with a major unused campaign, Come Out for LGBT - also found:

  • Overall, 21% of respondents had experienced a detest crime in the past 12 months, but the figure was 41%

    The Gay Rights Movement

    The latest collection on the BBC archive website charts the corporation’s coverage of gay rights issues. There are thirty segments from both radio and television that range from news reports to discussion programmes and documentaries. This rich and fascinating archive dates back to and the publication of the Wolfenden Report.

    The Report of the Departmental Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution recommended the decriminalisation of homosexuality on the grounds that the law should not manage the private acts of consensual individuals. It is fascinating to watch Sir John Wolfenden smoking away on a pipe and answering questions about the details of the report. He separates the law from the edicts of religion and the sway of trendy opinion and sets the groundwork for the civil liberties that eventually followed. Wolfenden calmly explains that just because one disapproves of something does not make it a criminal offence. That a 25 minute discussion of the report was aired at a moment when there was only one BBC television channel is a