Gay in 80s

On a personal level, we experienced immense loss as well as increased physical and verbal abuse. It was this mentality that informed responses on a political level. The equal-opportunities battle began in earnest, and almost by accident, with the election of gay activist Richard McCance as a Labour City Councillor in Then, four days after his election, Labour lost the previously safe South London seat of Bermondsey in a by-election where the sexuality of their candidate, Peter Tatchell, had dominated the campaign.

Meanwhile, his political opponents happily bought into the witch hunt.

Gay in the 80s: From Fighting for Our Rights to Fighting for Our Lives

Gay days after the Bermondsey defeat, Richard McCance attended his first Forest Fields branch meeting as a candidate. And, despite the local Labour manifesto clearly committing the party to equal opportunities for lesbians and gay men, calls for him to keep quiet about his sexuality began immediately. These intensified 80s few days later, when surveys suggested that the Forest Ward might actually be winnable for Labour.

The resolution was defeated by a very narrow majority, but the election gay promptly resigned in protest. The objective of this compromise is not entirely clear, but it was sufficient to bring the election agent back to the fold and allow campaigning to continue. What happened next more than vindicated McCance.

He and his running mate, John Taylor, converted a Conservative majority of into a Labour majority of Elsewhere across the city, Labour lost five seats and retained control of the council with the slimmest majority of one. Lesbian and gay activists then pushed Labour to honour its manifesto commitment to equal rights.

This led to a council-sponsored, one-day conference at the International Community Centre on 3 December. We were on our way. Or so it seemed. Sadly, was significant for another, more negative reason. It was the year that AIDS hit the headlines. Even though the first 80s AIDS diagnosis had been recorded in Decemberthe media had shown little interest then or throughout The effect on UK media coverage was instantaneous.

AIDS references in the national press increased by a factor of 25 between April and June, and this increase was sustained in subsequent months. And Nottingham was not spared such responses. A neighbour had complained that it would drive customers away from his business. The fact that he rarely brought customers to his office was irrelevant; he clearly felt he needed to join the throng of righteous indignation.

Inwhen the council considered a proposal for designated sessions for gay men at council-run swimming pools, a full-scale moral panic ensued. There was absolutely no risk of AIDS transmission, but there was too much political mileage to be had by suggesting otherwise, and it was another opportunity to portray a Labour council as loony lefties.

So do Labour education authorities telling children that homosexuals living together are as stable as married couples.