Homosexual Law Reform Society
Encyclopedia
The Homosexual Law Reform Society was an organisation that campaigned in the United Kingdom
for changes in the laws that criminalised homosexual
relations between men.
government set up a Departmental Committee to look into aspects of British sex laws. The resulting report, the Wolfenden Report
, was published on 3 September 1957.
On 5 March 1958, the academic A.E. (Tony) Dyson
wrote a letter to The Times
calling for reform of the law by the implementation of the Wolfenden Committee's recommendations and was signed by many distinguished people including
Clement Attlee
,
A. J. Ayer
,
Isaiah Berlin
,
Trevor Huddleston
,
Julian Huxley
,
J. B. Priestley
,
Bertrand Russell
,
Donald Soper
,
Angus Wilson
and
Barbara Wootton.
The correspondence that this letter generated helped bring together supporters of the Wolfenden Report and this led to the Homosexual Law Reform Society being founded on 12 May 1958 with members including Victor Gollancz
, Stephen Spender
, and MP Kenneth Younger
. Most of the founders were not homosexual.
Advertisements inviting people who supported the Wolfenden Report to contact the Homosexual Law Reform Society resulted in Tony Dyson being joined by Antony Grey
, businessman Nigel Bryant and architect Duncan Wright
.
In May 1958 the related charity the Albany Trust
was set up.
In October 1958 the Albany Trust opened an office and the HLRS was able to use these facilities for its campaigning work.
The pamphlet Homosexuals and the Law was sent to MPs in preparation for their first debate on the Wolfenden Report.
The first parliamentary debate was initiated on 4 December 1957 by Frank Pakenham (Baron Pakenham, later known as Lord Longford).
However, it had become clear that the government had shelved the report and was not planning to implement any reform. The Lord Chancellor
, Viscount Kilmuir, had said "I am not going down in history as the man who made sodomy legal."
On 12 May 1960 over 1000 people attended the first HLRS public meeting in Caxton Hall
in central London.
In 1962 Antony Grey became acting secretary of the HLRS. In the spring of 1963 this became a full appointment. Some people questioned the appropriateness of this appointment since Grey was a gay man who was living with another man; there was concern that he might be subject to the same type of police attention that the organisation was campaigning against.
The HLRS was most active during the campaign which led to the passing of the Sexual Offences Act 1967
. For example, they provided advice and support to the Dorian Society
of New Zealand
.
However, many (in particular the Campaign for Homosexual Equality
and the Gay Liberation Front
) considered that the new law did not go far enough and blamed the HLRS for what they saw as a weakening of the Wolfenden Committee's proposals, calling the HLRS/Albany Trust a conformist outfit of "Uncle Tom
s".
In March 1970 the HLRS became the Sexual Law Reform Society (SLRS) in order to campaign for further legal changes, particularly relating to the age of consent. In 1974 it produced a report for the Criminal Law Revision Committee on lowering the age of consent.
Professor A. J. Ayer
was President of the HLRS for a time; he remarked that 'as a notorious heterosexual I could never be accused of feathering my own nest'.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
for changes in the laws that criminalised homosexual
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
relations between men.
History
In 1954 the ConservativeConservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
government set up a Departmental Committee to look into aspects of British sex laws. The resulting report, the Wolfenden Report
Wolfenden report
The Report of the Departmental Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution was published in Britain on 4 September 1957 after a succession of well-known men, including Lord Montagu, Michael Pitt-Rivers and Peter Wildeblood, were convicted of homosexual offences.-The committee:The...
, was published on 3 September 1957.
On 5 March 1958, the academic A.E. (Tony) Dyson
Anthony Edward Dyson
Anthony Edward Dyson, aka Tony Dyson was a British literary critic, university lecturer, educational activist and gay rights campaigner.-Biography:...
wrote a letter to The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
calling for reform of the law by the implementation of the Wolfenden Committee's recommendations and was signed by many distinguished people including
Clement Attlee
Clement Attlee
Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS was a British Labour politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955...
,
A. J. Ayer
Alfred Ayer
Sir Alfred Jules "Freddie" Ayer was a British philosopher known for his promotion of logical positivism, particularly in his books Language, Truth, and Logic and The Problem of Knowledge ....
,
Isaiah Berlin
Isaiah Berlin
Sir Isaiah Berlin OM, FBA was a British social and political theorist, philosopher and historian of ideas of Russian-Jewish origin, regarded as one of the leading thinkers of the twentieth century and a dominant liberal scholar of his generation...
,
Trevor Huddleston
Trevor Huddleston
Ernest Urban Trevor Huddleston CR, KCMG was an English Anglican bishop. He was most well known for his anti-apartheid activism and his 'Prayer for Africa'...
,
Julian Huxley
Julian Huxley
Sir Julian Sorell Huxley FRS was an English evolutionary biologist, humanist and internationalist. He was a proponent of natural selection, and a leading figure in the mid-twentieth century evolutionary synthesis...
,
J. B. Priestley
J. B. Priestley
John Boynton Priestley, OM , known as J. B. Priestley, was an English novelist, playwright and broadcaster. He published 26 novels, notably The Good Companions , as well as numerous dramas such as An Inspector Calls...
,
Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, and social critic. At various points in his life he considered himself a liberal, a socialist, and a pacifist, but he also admitted that he had never been any of these things...
,
Donald Soper
Donald Soper
Donald Oliver Soper, Baron Soper was a prominent Methodist minister, socialist and pacifist.Soper was born at 36 Knoll Road, Wandsworth, London, the first son and first child of the three children of Ernest Frankham Soper , an average adjuster in marine insurance, the son of a tailor, and his...
,
Angus Wilson
Angus Wilson
Sir Angus Frank Johnstone Wilson, CBE was an English novelist and short story writer. He was awarded the 1958 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for The Middle Age of Mrs Eliot and later received a knighthood for his services to literature.-Biography:Wilson was born in Bexhill, Sussex, England, to...
and
Barbara Wootton.
The correspondence that this letter generated helped bring together supporters of the Wolfenden Report and this led to the Homosexual Law Reform Society being founded on 12 May 1958 with members including Victor Gollancz
Victor Gollancz
Sir Victor Gollancz was a British publisher, socialist, and humanitarian.-Early life:Born in Maida Vale, London, he was the son of a wholesale jeweller and nephew of Rabbi Professor Sir Hermann Gollancz and Professor Sir Israel Gollancz; after being educated at St Paul's School, London and taking...
, Stephen Spender
Stephen Spender
Sir Stephen Harold Spender CBE was an English poet, novelist and essayist who concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle in his work...
, and MP Kenneth Younger
Kenneth Younger
Sir Kenneth Gilmour Younger KBE was a British Labour politician and barrister who served in junior government posts during the Attlee government and was an opposition spokesman under Hugh Gaitskell but retired from Parliament early, disillusioned by party politics.-Family:Younger was the son of...
. Most of the founders were not homosexual.
Advertisements inviting people who supported the Wolfenden Report to contact the Homosexual Law Reform Society resulted in Tony Dyson being joined by Antony Grey
Antony Grey
Antony Grey was a leading English lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights activist. He lived with his partner, Eric Thompson, for 50 years after first meeting in 1960...
, businessman Nigel Bryant and architect Duncan Wright
Duncan Wright
Duncan Wright Duncan Wright Duncan Wright (born 28 August 1940 is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the first part of the 1960s....
.
In May 1958 the related charity the Albany Trust
Albany Trust
The Albany Trust was founded in the United Kingdom as a registered charity in May 1958 to complement the Homosexual Law Reform Society . It takes its name from The Albany, in Piccadilly, London, where J.B...
was set up.
In October 1958 the Albany Trust opened an office and the HLRS was able to use these facilities for its campaigning work.
The pamphlet Homosexuals and the Law was sent to MPs in preparation for their first debate on the Wolfenden Report.
The first parliamentary debate was initiated on 4 December 1957 by Frank Pakenham (Baron Pakenham, later known as Lord Longford).
However, it had become clear that the government had shelved the report and was not planning to implement any reform. The Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
, Viscount Kilmuir, had said "I am not going down in history as the man who made sodomy legal."
On 12 May 1960 over 1000 people attended the first HLRS public meeting in Caxton Hall
Caxton Hall
Caxton Hall is a building on the corner of Caxton Street and Palmer Street, in Westminster, London, England. It is a Grade II listed building primarily for its historical associations...
in central London.
In 1962 Antony Grey became acting secretary of the HLRS. In the spring of 1963 this became a full appointment. Some people questioned the appropriateness of this appointment since Grey was a gay man who was living with another man; there was concern that he might be subject to the same type of police attention that the organisation was campaigning against.
The HLRS was most active during the campaign which led to the passing of the Sexual Offences Act 1967
Sexual Offences Act 1967
The Sexual Offences Act 1967 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom . It decriminalised homosexual acts in private between two men, both of whom had to have attained the age of 21. The Act applied only to England and Wales and did not cover the Merchant Navy or the Armed Forces...
. For example, they provided advice and support to the Dorian Society
Dorian Society
The Dorian Society was the first New Zealand organisation for homosexual men. It was primarily a social club and avoided political action. In 1963 it took the first steps towards law reform by forming a legal subcommittee that collected books and other resources. It also provided legal advice to...
of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
However, many (in particular the Campaign for Homosexual Equality
Campaign for Homosexual Equality
The Campaign for Homosexual Equality is one of the oldest gay rights organisations in the United Kingdom. It is a membership organisation which aims to promote legal and social equality for lesbians, gay men and bisexuals in England and Wales...
and the Gay Liberation Front
Gay Liberation Front
Gay Liberation Front was the name of a number of Gay Liberation groups, the first of which was formed in New York City in 1969, immediately after the Stonewall riots, in which police clashed with gay demonstrators.-The Gay Liberation Front:...
) considered that the new law did not go far enough and blamed the HLRS for what they saw as a weakening of the Wolfenden Committee's proposals, calling the HLRS/Albany Trust a conformist outfit of "Uncle Tom
Uncle Tom
Uncle Tom is a derogatory term for a person who perceives themselves to be of low status, and is excessively subservient to perceived authority figures; particularly a black person who behaves in a subservient manner to white people....
s".
In March 1970 the HLRS became the Sexual Law Reform Society (SLRS) in order to campaign for further legal changes, particularly relating to the age of consent. In 1974 it produced a report for the Criminal Law Revision Committee on lowering the age of consent.
Professor A. J. Ayer
Alfred Ayer
Sir Alfred Jules "Freddie" Ayer was a British philosopher known for his promotion of logical positivism, particularly in his books Language, Truth, and Logic and The Problem of Knowledge ....
was President of the HLRS for a time; he remarked that 'as a notorious heterosexual I could never be accused of feathering my own nest'.
See also
- LGBT rights in the United Kingdom
- List of LGBT rights organisations
Further reading
- Grey, Antony: Quest for Justice: Towards Homosexual Emancipation, Sinclair-Stevenson, London, 1992; ISBN 1-85619-136-2
- Grey, Antony: Speaking Out: Sex, Law, Politics and Society 1954-95, (September 11, 1997); ISBN 0-304-33340-9
- Montagu, Edward (3rd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu); "Wheels Within Wheels: An Unconventional Life" (September 28, 2000); ISBN 0-297-81739-6.
External links
- Catalogue of the Antony Grey papers at the Archives Division of the London School of EconomicsLondon School of EconomicsThe London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
.