The Obscene Publications Squad was a branch of the Metropolitan Police tasked with enforcing obscenity law, most notably the Obscene Publications Act 1959, which forbade the distribution of any article that " to deprave and corrupt" those who encountered it. That year, 30% of all convictions for sexual offences in England and Wales concerned consensual gay sex, with such prosecutions costing the government £12 million, and the resulting prison terms an estimated £5.5 million. An investigation by Gay Times found that police in England and Wales recorded 2,022 such offences in 1989, the highest rate since decriminalisation. Īlthough male homosexuality had been partially decriminalised in England and Wales in 1967, the offence of gross indecency was still widely used to criminalise sexual activity between men. In the years that followed, further legislation was proposed to discriminate against LGBT foster carers and to increase the penalties for cruising. The measure received broad support from Conservative MPs including Peter Bruinvels, who commented that "Clause 28 will help outlaw and the rest will be done by AIDS". In 1988, Section 28 of the Local Government Act prohibited local authorities from "intentionally promoting homosexuality". At that year's Conservative Party Conference, Thatcher warned that children were being taught "that they have an inalienable right to be gay". The Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher made opposition to LGBT education a pillar of its 1987 general election campaign, issuing posters accusing the Labour Party of promoting the book Young, Gay and Proud in British schools. Ĭonservative Party general election poster criticising the Labour Party's support for LGBT education, 1987
In 1996, Countdown on Spanner received the Large Nonprofit Organization of the Year award as part of the Pantheon of Leather Awards. It also spawned two activist organisations dedicated to promoting the rights of sadomasochists: Countdown on Spanner and The Sexual Freedom Coalition, and an annual SM Pride March through Central London. The case sparked a national conversation about the limits of consent and the role of government in sexual encounters between consenting adults. Ī resulting House of Lords judgement, R v Brown, ruled that consent was not a valid legal defence for actual bodily harm in Britain. The investigation culminated in a report naming 43 individuals, of whom the Director of Public Prosecutions chose to prosecute 16 men for assault occasioning actual bodily harm, unlawful wounding and other offences related to consensual, private sadomasochistic sex sessions held in various locations between 19. The investigation, led by the Obscene Publications Squad of the Metropolitan Police, began in 1987 and ran for three years, during which approximately 100 gay and bisexual men were questioned by police. Operation Spanner was a police investigation into same-sex male sadomasochism across the United Kingdom in the late 1980s. NI)īlood donation deferral 3 months (incl. MSM activity not grounds for military dischargeīlood donation deferral 3 months (excl. Nikki Sinclaire becomes first openly trans MEP Gay men allowed to donate blood (1 yr deferral) Incitement to homophobic hatred made a crime Same sex couples granted equal rights to adoptĮqualised access to IVF for lesbian couples MSM activity involving multiple men legal MSM activity made legal (England & Wales)Ĭhris Smith elected as first openly gay MPĪngela Eagle becomes first openly lesbian MP
Pitt-Rivers, Montagu, Wildeblood imprisoned
Plans to make lesbian activity illegal defeated Oscar Wilde found guilty of gross indecency Death penalty introduced for MSM activity