A very brief history of LGBTQ+ people and UK law

LGBTQ+ people are a minority, which makes participating in our democracy even more important. There aren’t a lot of us, so if we don’t speak up, then our voices can easily be lost or ignored. 

Fewer LGBTQ+ people means fewer votes and fewer people to advocate for our community. If we don’t vote, then other people choose our MPs who then create laws in which we have zero input. 

Recent strides in LGBTQ+ rights in the UK have often been supported, if not achieved, through legislation.  Our democratic voices have powered this process. The UK’s long history of lawmaking has, until recently, been hostile to LGBTQ+ people. Using your vote, campaigning, or protesting are just some of the ways we can, as a community, prevent backsliding into these more dangerous waters. 

Below is a short list of some landmark legal changes for LGBTQ+ people in the last few hundred years. Knowing this history is key to understanding how far we’ve come, and how important it is that we keep engaged with our democracy going forward. 

LGBTQ+ laws in the UK have a long and complicated history. Here is a very brief overview of key moments for the LGBTQ+ community of how the introduction and amendments of laws have impacted us. 

1533: Introduction of the Buggery Act. The Act stated that buggery (anal sexual intercourse) was an unnatural sexual act against the will of God and Man. Same sex sexual activity was punishable by death under the law. 

1828: A simplification of the Buggery Act was established as part of Section 15 of the Offences Against the Person Act. Anal sexual intercourse (buggery) remained punishable by death. Two men, James Pratt and John Smith, were hanged in London for having sex. 

1868: The law was amended so the death penalty for anal sex was removed and punishment was lifetime imprisonment or a sentence no less than ten years. 

1885: Section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act was used to target gay men under the guise of gross indecency, usually where anal sexual intercourse couldn’t be proved. 

1954: High profile men were convicted of “homosexual offences”. Journalist Peter Wildeblood, politician Lord Montagu of Baeaulieu and a West Country landowner Michael Pitt Rivers were all convicted.  

1955: The UK introduced an Act to ban homosexuality in the army and air force, called the Army and Air Force Acts. 

1957: A committee was formed – the Wolfenden Committee - agreeing that “homosexual behaviour between consenting adults in private” will no longer be criminalised.  

1967: The Sexual Offences Act completely decriminalised sex between men (sex between women never had the same legal restrictions). 

1982: The Homosexual Offences Order in Northern Ireland decriminalised homosexual acts between consenting adults in the country.  

1988: Section 28 was introduced, as part of the Local Government Act. The Act dictated that Local Authorities could not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality. This included the promotion of homosexuality or the acceptability of homosexuality in schools. 

1989: LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall was created as a response to the introduction of Section 28.  

1994: The age of consent for gay men was reduced from 21 to 18 years of age, as part of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act. Part of this Act also included “homosexual acts” as grounds for discharging a member of Her Majesty’s armed forces from the service.