We are pleased to invite you to the book launch of Queer Voices in Post-War Scotland: Male Homosexuality, Religion and Society by Jeffrey Meek on Thursday 17 September, 17:30 Lilybank House Seminar Room, Bute Gardens, University of Glasgow. Wine and nibbles will be available from 17.15. Please do come along! Professor Jeffrey Weeks will present…
In the recent film ‘Pride’ there is a scene in which Gethin of Gay’s the Word bookshop tries to encourage his partner Jonathan to participate in LGSM’s (Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners) initial attempts to raise money for the striking miners. Jonathan – some ten years or so older than the young campaigners –…
Scotland decriminalized homosexual acts between consenting male adults in private in 1980, 13 years after similar legislation in England and Wales. This begs the question: why was Scotland different? Queer Voices in Post-War Scotland charts the experiences of gay and bisexual men in Scotland who from within the shadows of criminality forged identities and relationships…
Claire Hayward’s recent blog post on ‘pardoning the past’ examined the meanings, motives and problems with the recent attempts to encourage pardons for the 49,000 men convicted of ‘gross indecency’ with males in Britain after the introduction of the 1885 Criminal Law Amendment Act. The petition has attracted over half a million signatories. Claire Hayward…
By the 1980s the personal ad was fast becoming a popular medium for Scots gay and bisexual men unsure, tired, or weary of the ‘gay scene’ to meet others. During the 1980s these short advertisements were relatively free of the acronyms that would come to dominate the medium and lead to much head-scratching and confusion. Knowing…
In a recent blogpost John D’Emilio argued that AIDS and its impact upon LGBT individuals and organisations, the militancy it provoked, and the heightened attention it drew to LGBT causes needs to be more fully documented and appreciated. This is certainly applicable to Scotland, and its responses, both social and medical, to the significant challenges…
By the mid 20th century Glasgow was home to a growing non-heterosexual population, and wherever such groups exist there are platforms for social engagement. When I interviewed 2 dozen gay and bisexual men in the mid 2000s, stories emerged which detailed the history and development of the queer scene in Glasgow. I have already produced…
I recently revisited some of the interviews I undertook with gay and bisexual men from Scotland while putting together a postgraduate seminar on masculinities. One theme emerging from these interviews related to masculinity and effeminacy. Some of the men I spoke to remarked on the powerful cultural concept of the ‘man’, of the ‘otherness’ associated…
Andrew King’s recent piece about older people and homophobia published on the website The Conversation got me thinking about my own research interviewees with gay and bisexual male (GBM) elders, which I undertook in the mid 2000s. One of the notable issues concerning the homosexual law reform movement in Scotland during the late 1960s and…
Masculine Women Feminine Men Which is the rooster which is the hen It’s hard to tell ’em apart today And say… You go and give your girl a kiss in the hall But instead you find you’re kissing her brother Paul Mama’s got a sweater up to her chin, Papa’s got a girdle holding him…
Some years ago, while undertaking research into sodomy cases in Scotland, I began using precognition and trial records, held at the National Archives of Scotland. Although there were significantly fewer prosecutions in Scotland than in England, for obvious reasons, these records provided information on the sexual exploits of men from all walks of life (with…
I recently spoke at the ‘A History of Working-Class Marriage in Scotland, 1855-1976’ Spring Workshop held at the University of Glasgow, in conjunction with the Centre for Gender History. The Workshop – ‘Beyond Tradition?: Non-traditional marriages, partnerships and families in Scotland: Past and Present’ – explored continuity, change and the multiple forms of partnerships and…
Gay History, Queer history, LGBT Hitsory
Putting the world to rights... At the kitchen table. Over tea and cake.
There's more to life than books you know, but not much more.
A blog about museums, heritage, stories and people
Matt Houlbrook: mobile historian; beard growing, head shaving; occasional cycling.
PhD History, University of Essex
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stories from a nineteenth-century prison
the bent bookish blog that's a reel waist of thyme...
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Fathers, Fatherhood and Families in Scotland, c.1970-1995
Research in Ontario's post-war labour, gay and lesbian movements
Detective policing and criminal justice in the Victorian capital
My Great Aunt Norah's wartime diaries, 1938-1948
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