Queer Political Activity on the Coastline.
It would not be until the 1950s, when sexuality became a signifier to one's identity, that these notions began to change.1 This more explicit political activity and expression of sexual identity might seem like a tangential point that isn’t directly addressing the seaside leisure entertainment but as Louise Pawley stated “Queer activism here often blurred the boundaries between politics and pleasure”2 and this was never more evident than when ‘Gay Lib’ (as it was referred to at the time) happened in coastal towns.
Again it is important to think about this from an intersectional view point, this queer political activity feeds into the working-class narratives linked with the trade union movement. This section aims to briefly highlight a few of those key moments.
Campaign for Homosexual Equality
The Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE) is a democratic voluntary organisation founded in 1964 with the aim of achieving full legal and social equality for LGBT people in England and Wales and held its first national conference 50 years ago in April 1973, on the pier in the seaside resort of Morecambe, Lancashire.
Correspondence from 1972 shows that CHE tried to get the town of Scarborough to accept a booking for its first conference. Scarborough refused to accept a booking from a homosexual organisation. Morecambe was happy to accept the business and Gay News reported on the pleasant reception they found in the seaside resort.3
Members of the National and Local Government Officers' Association (NALGO) march on the Isle of Man in 1983, where homosexuality was still criminal
LGBT+ Trade Unionism
The Birth of an LGBT+ Labour Movement - Trade unions have had LGBT+ members for as long as they have existed. But the first days of modern LGBT+ trade unionism as we know it can also be traced to 1972, to the establishment of gay and lesbian worker branches of the National and Local Government Officers’ Association, or NALGO.4
Sticker worn by lesbian and gay ‘zappers’ at the NAFTHE conference
Glad to be Gay in Scarborough (1980)
At the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE) Conference in Scarborough many delegates, particularly those in the unofficial gay group and a socialist group called Rank and File, decided to draw upon the customs and practices of the gay liberation movement and to zap the conference. Delegates were asked to wear stickers saying Glad To Be Gay In Scarborough and two thirds did so. The Scarborough News reported our actions under a front page headline: ‘Gays are people too’.5
Gay Liberation Front (GLF)
The GLF wasn’t about changing the law – it was about changing society and changing themselves. They quickly drew up a list of demands. They wanted freedom for all oppressed people which included action against discrimination in the workplace, in education, and by the medical establishment, and to be free to display gay affection in public.6
A photo of the demonstration, taken by Clive Stevens, was used on the cover of A Queer Tribe, Issue 3, September–October 1989
Section 28 or Clause 28[a] was a legislative designation for a series of laws across Britain that prohibited the "promotion of homosexuality" by local authorities. Introduced by Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government, it was in effect from 1988 to 2000 in Scotland and from 1988 to 2003 in England and Wales.
News of the World encouraging people to come for the ‘gay bash’
In 1992, Brighton Area Against Section 28 organised a Queer on the Pier event as part of Pride. The pier was notoriously rough at that time, not made any better by the News of The World whipping people into a frenzy about the “11-day gay bash,” in a none-too-subtle call to action.7
Endnotes
1. Smith, H (2015). Masculinity, Class and Same-Sex Desire in Industrial England, 1895-1957, Palgrave Macmillan UK
1. Smith, H (2015). Masculinity, Class and Same-Sex Desire in Industrial England, 1895-1957, Palgrave Macmillan UK