15/07/2017
Much has been written about the Sexual Offences Act of 1967, which came into effect on July 27th, fifty years ago, and partially – very partially in fact – decriminalise homosexuality between males in England and Wales only. However, not many people know how the law came to change, assuming that it was the result of the Labour government of Harold Wilson. It was not. The reforms were actually the product of a flamboyant but very straight Welsh Jewish Labour MP called Leo Abse, who in turn took on the reforms from a Conservative MP who had lost his seat in thee 1966 General Election. This week, the Jewish Chronicle newspaper looks back at the career of Abse, and its many contradictions. Whilst Abse championed the decriminalisation, he felt that gay people were not sufficiently grateful enough for his efforts, particularly given the many limitations of the Reforms. The MP, who was described as the “Welsh Waffler” at one point, was liberal on issues such as the death penalty, but could not understand the new counter culture emergent in the sixties. He opposed the UK Tour of shock rocker Alice Cooper, for example. The feature on Abse is linked to at our website. https://www.thejc.com/news/news-features/leo-abse-1.441104
http://www.petertatchell.net/lgbt_rights/criminalisation_of_gays/1967%20...
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/aug/20/labour1
