I will never forget my first London Pride. Twenty-five thousand people celebrating their sexuality by marching from central London to Kennington Park, followed by some forty-five thousand people partying the night away. It was 1991 and I was 19.
I had come out to my close friends and family two years earlier and this first Pride experience was exciting, exhilarating and incredibly liberating. I felt like the whole world was about to change. I was part of a huge political movement and clearly equality and freedom for all was just around the corner…
It would take another three annual Pride marches before it was legal for me to have consensual sex with another man (Criminal Justice and Public Order Act, 3 Nov 1994) and another nine marches before I was considered equal to my heterosexual friends (Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act, 30 Nov 2000.) And as for Clause 28…
Margaret Thatcher’s Section 28 series of laws prohibited the “promotion of homosexuality” by local authorities and forced many organisations such as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender student support groups to close or limit their activities or self-censor. This despicable piece of legislation lasted on the statue books for a scandalous 12 years until finally being repealed in 2003. (2000 for the luckier Scottish homosexuals.)
I count myself extremely fortunate that my sexually active life did not begin until the later part of the HIV/AIDS crisis. I thankfully missed those earlier terrifying years that devastated my community. The fear and ignorance towards HIV and AIDS sufferers spread around the world like its own hate fuelled pandemic as countless lives were tragically lost through inadequate funding and a lack of scientific research. 1991 was also the year that the international red ribbon symbol of AIDS awareness was adopted and it humbles me to reflect that the risks associated with the disease were still very much in the forefront of my young gay life whilst pounding those out and proud London streets.
Looking back on this time and remembering these events and dates in stark historical context, I am pleased to report that even under such political and societal storm clouds, my early years as a gay man were filled with love, friendship, joy, hope and many, many rainbows.
I would like to thank Tower Theatre for letting me direct these four amazing Queers monologues. This month the LGBTQ+ community commemorates the 50th anniversary of London Pride where millions of LGBTQ+ people and their friends will celebrate together. It feels so right to stage these plays. Plays that hold up a mirror to an important part of our Queer history; from World War I to the publication of the Wolfenden Report in 1957. This landmark report signalled the start of real legal change and can be followed all the way to 2022 with the Church of Scotland General Assembly voting in favour of ministers and deacons marrying same-sex couples.
Long may we remember. Long may the fight last in us. Long may we keep improving the lives of all LQBTQ+ individuals and pave the way for them to experience the freedom and equality that all people expect and deserve. And never forget…
“We’re HERE, we’re QUEER, get used to it!”
Queers is at The Tower Theatre, 29 June – 9 July 2022,
16 Northwold Road, London, N16 7HR
Consisting of four monologues which celebrate the first half century of evolving social attitudes and political milestones in British gay history.
Buy your tickets to Queers
Wednesday 6 July
For the Tower Theatre, Victor Craven has directed the new writing showcase Writers’ Room Live as well as The Norman Conquests, Way Upstream, Comic Potential, The Habit of Art, On Religion and Blackbird. He works regularly with the London Symphony Orchestra for whom he has directed The Disappearance of Doctor Copernicus, What Do You Do With An Idea? and Game Over at Barbican Hall and Voyager and How to Build an Orchestra at the Barbican Hall and the Granada Theater, Santa Barbara. He is also an experienced projection designer and will be bringing his projection design talents to this production.
