A Brief History of the LGBT Community
Lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) history
The history of LGB people has in the past been hidden. LGB people have had to live with being seen as criminals for centuries, for example, between the period of 1533 to1867, the death penalty was a mandatory sentence in UK for sexual relations between two consenting males. As a result, many gay men were persecuted under such legislation. Perhaps a well-known case is that of Oscar Wilde, the famous Irish writer who was sent to prison for two years hard labour for having an affair with Lord Alfred Douglas. Interestingly, relationships between two women have never legally been outlawed and Queen Victoria is quoted as having commented that sex between two women was not possible.
During the last century many LGB people, due to their sexual orientation, were thought to be suffering from mental illness and as such attempts to ‘cure’ them medically were common. However attitudes began to change in the middle of the twentieth century. The Wolfenden report, published in 1957 recommended that sexual affairs between consenting adults of the same sex, in private, should no longer be a criminal offence. It took a further 10 years of debate for the Sexual Offence Act (1967) to be introduced to that effect and progress has been slow. LGB people have struggled to win equal rights under the law and campaigned hard to make their voices heard in the fight against hate crimes and homophobia.
Many positive changes are happening to secure equal rights for LGB people. The Human rights Act 1998 means that discrimination against LGB people can be challenged more easily in UK courts
Since the introduction of the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulation 2003, organisations cannot discriminate in employment on the grounds of someone’s actual or perceived sexual orientation. In addition, the Civil Partnership Act 2004 now gives legal rights and responsibilities to same sex couples, where they had no legal protection before.
Positive changes have taken place in the employment field and the Equalities Act will help reduce and eliminate discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender or gender identity.
Transgender and transsexual history
Transgender is an overarching term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviours and groups involving tendencies that diverge from the normative gender role (woman or man) commonly, but not always, assigned at birth, as well as the role traditionally held by society. One of the pioneers for transgender rights, Miles Delong, described transgender as;
“The state of one’s gender identity (self-identification as male, female, both or neither) not matching one’s assigned gender (identification by others as male or female based on physical/genetic sex).
The history and culture of the transgender community is as difficult to outline as it is to define. The various sub groups that are usually classified under transgender people makes it more difficult to ascertain a common culture acceptable to all.
Transgender was coined in the 1970s by Virginia Prince in the USA as a contrast with the term transsexual. Transgender referred to someone who does not require surgical intervention to change sex and or who believes that they fall between genders, not identifying fully/strictly, as either male or female. More recently the term has been used to describe anyone who does not strictly adhere to the gender norms of their peers, whether in terms of physiology or choice of fashion.
Transgender identity may include many overlapping sub-categories, such as transsexuals, transvestite cross dresser, inter sex people and drag.
Page updated: 15 Jun 2010
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