Timeline of UK LGBT History

This is a timeline of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history in the United Kingdom throughout the centuries.

1st century BC

• 55 BC – Julius Caesar’s first invasion of Britain.

1st century AD

• AD 43 – Roman invasion and establishment of the province of Britannia.

2nd century

• 122 – Emperor Hadrian visits Britain.

3rd century

• 286 – Britain becomes independent from the Roman empire for ten years under Carausius and Allectus.

4th century

• 343 – the emperor Constans visits Britain.

5th century

• 410 – usual date for the end of Roman rule in Britannia.

6th century

• c.547 – Death of King Maelgwn of Gwynedd.
• 597 – St Augustine becomes first Archbishop of Canterbury.
• late 6th century – Findchán and Áid the Black cursed by St Columba.

7th century

• 670 – St Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury, prescribes fasts and penances for various homosexual acts.

8th century

9th century

• 804 – Death of Alcuin.
• 850s – a woman from Wimborne Minster was supposedly elected Pope Joan.

10th century

• 927 – England is united as a single kingdom by King Æthelstan of Wessex.

11th century

• 1066 – Battle of Hastings and Norman conquest of England.
• 1100 – Death of King William II.

12th century

• 1102 – Council of London condemns homosexuality.
• 1109 – Death of Saint Anselm
• 1120 – Death of William Atheling in the sinking of the White Ship.
• 1123 – Rahere founds St Bartholomew’s Hospital.
• 1125 – Hilarius writing around this time.
• 1167 – Death of Saint Aelred
• 1187 – Gerald of Wales describes the practice of same-sex marriage in Ireland.
• 1189 – William Longchamp, Bishop of Ely, appointed to rule England while Richard I is away on the crusades.
• 1199 – Death of King Richard I

13th century

• c.1290 – Publication of Fleta, first book to suggest a punishment (which was not enforced) for homosexuality in English law.

14th century

• 1327 – summary execution of Piers Gaveston.
• 1327 – Murder of King Edward II.
• 1376 – The Good Parliament petitions King Edward III to banish foreign traders for having introduced “the too horrible vice which is not to be named”.
• 1386 – Richard II makes Robert DeVere Duke of Ireland.
• 1391 – Death of Sir John Clanvowe and Richard Neville.
• 1395 – John Rykener arrested for cross-dressing.
• 1400 – Death of King Richard II

15th century

16th century

• 1533 – Buggery Act 1533 brings in the death penalty (hanging) for gay sex in England.
• 1540 – Sir Walter Hungerford executed for treason and buggery.
• 1541 – Nicholas Udall convicted of buggery and imprisoned.
• 1542 – The Laws in Wales Act 1542 extends English laws, including the Buggery Act 1533, to Wales.
• 1593 – Death of Christopher Marlowe in suspicious circumstances.

17th century

• 1603 – King James VI of Scotland becomes King of England as James I, uniting the two crowns but not yet the two countries.
• 1625 – Death of King James I.
• 1625 – Death of Francis Bacon (philosopher).
• 1628 – Assassination of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham.
  • – Jeremy Farrer found “abusing himself in a sodomitical manner” in a church.
• 1631 – Mervyn Tuchet beheaded for alleged sodomy with his page.
• 1660 – Foundation of the Royal Society by John Wilkins and others.
• 1664 – Death of Katherine Philips.
• 1678 – Titus Oates invents the “Popish Plot”.
• 1682 – Arabella Hunt’s marriage is dissolved as her husband is discovered to be a woman.
• 1688 – “Glorious Revolution” brings William III to power.

18th century

• 1702 – William III dies, succeeded by Queen Anne.
• 1703 – First performance of Tunbridge-Walks by Thomas Baker, containing a “molly” character.
• 1706 – Thomas Vaughan convicted of blackmail.
• 1707 – Act of Union unites England and Scotland as the Kingdom of Great Britain.
• 1726 – Three men convicted of sodomy following cases brought by Thomas Newton and raids on Mother Clap’s Molly House.
  • – Death of Sir Isaac Newton, Britain’s greatest scientist, sometimes considered to have been gay.
• 1727 – Charles Hitchen convicted of attempted sodomy.
• 1732 – Beggar’s Benison Club founded in Anstruther, Scotland.
• 1737 – Robert Thistlethwayte, Warden of Wadham College Oxford, flees to France to escape prosecution.
• 1742 – First performance of Handel’s Messiah.
• 1748 – Publication of Roderick Random by Tobias Smollett, including an explicitly gay character.
• 1749 – Publication of Fanny Hill by John Cleland, sometimes thought to have been a homoerotic work in disguise.
  • – Publication of a defence of homosexuality, Ancient & Modern Pederasty Investigated and Exemplify’d by Thomas Cannon.
• 1772 – Robert Jones publishes the first book on figure skating, but is convicted of sodomy.
• 1780 – The Ladies of Llangollen set up home together.
• 1781 – Edward Onslow forced to resign his seat in Parliament and flee to France.
• 1784 – William Beckford’s affair with William Courtenay is publicised, causing them both to flee the country.

19th century

• 1801 – Act of Union creates the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
• 1806 – Gay club discovered in Great Sankey, Cheshire.
• 1807 – Suicide of James Massey.
• 1810 – The White Swan, Vere Street raided.
• 1822 – Percy Jocelyn deposed as Bishop of Clogher for “Sodomitical practices”.
• 1824 – The Vagrancy Act 1824 limits cruising.
  • – Suicide of Lord Castlereagh.
• 1835 – James Pratt and John Smith were the last two men to be hanged for sodomy in England.
• 1859 – sudden resignation of Charles John Vaughan as Headmaster of Harrow School, for reasons not explained until the 1970s.
• 1861 – The Offences against the Person Act 1861 abolished the death sentence for gay sex.
• 1864 – Robert Browning’s poem “Sludge the Medium” denounces Daniel Dunglas Home.
• 1865 – James Barry, army surgeon, dies and is allegedly found to have been a woman.
• 1866 – The case of Hyde v Hyde and Woodmansee established the definition of marriage in English law.
• 1871 – “Fanny” and “Stella” (Ernest Boulton and Frederick Park‎) acquitted of sodomy and cross-dressing.
• 1873 – The painter Simeon Solomon fined for cottaging.
• 1880 – The police raid a drag ball in Manchester.
• 1883 – Publication of A problem in Greek ethics by John Addington Symonds, one of the first essays in defense of homosexuality in the English language.
• 1885 – Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 made “gross indecency” (homosexual acts, even in private) a crime. The “Labouchere Amendment” was known as the “Blackmailer’s Charter”.
• 1889 – the Cleveland Street scandal.
  • – Mary Mudge dies aged 85 and is found to have been a man.
• 1895 – Oscar Wilde convicted of gross indecency.
  • – Winston Churchill successfully sues for libel.
• 1897 – First English-language publication of Sexual Inversion by Havelock Ellis and John Addington Symonds, the first medical textbook about homosexuality.
• 1898 – Birth in Hull of Elsa Gidlow, Canadian/American lesbian poet.
• 1899 – Public Morality Council formed.
• 1900 – Death of Oscar Wilde.
  • – Death of Samuel Butler

20th century

• 1909 – Death of Renée Vivien.
• 1912 – Birth in Worthing of Harry Hay, later a leading gay activist in the United States.
• 1914 – Henry Scott Tuke elected to the Royal Academy.
• 1916 – Execution of Sir Roger Casement.
• 1921 – Parliament rejects an attempt in the Criminal Law Amendment Bill 1921 to ban sex between women.
• 1924 – Death of Marie Corelli
• 1927 – Trial of Bobby Britt and others for tippling, whoring, using obscene language, indecently exposing their private naked parts and behaving in a lewd obscene and disorderly and riotous manner at a house in Fitzroy Square London.
• 1928 – Publication of lesbian novel The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall.
• 1929 – Death of Edward Carpenter.
• 1933 – A court in London heard of “disgusting behaviour” at Selina Hopps’ dance club.
• 1936 – Death of Hugh Lygon.
• 1936 – Oliver Baldwin appointed Governor of the Leeward Islands.
• 1938 – Sigmund Freud flees from Austria and takes up residence in Hampstead
• 1943 – Ethel Walker, painter, made a Dame.
• 1946 – Sir George Mowbray convicted of importuning.
  • – Sir Alec Guinness said to have been fined for cottaging.
• 1947 – Lord Mountbatten presides over the independence and partition of India.
• 1950 – Harry Hay helps found the Mattachine Society in the USA.
• 1951 – Roberta Cowell has sex-change surgery.
• 1952 – Alan Turing convicted of gross indecency.
  • – Publication of Society and the Homosexual by Gordon Westwood (Michael Schofield)
• 1953 – Sir John Gielgud convicted of importuning.
  • – Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean flee to Moscow.
  • – European Convention on Human Rights comes into force.
• 1954 – Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, Peter Wildeblood and Michael Pitt-Rivers convicted of gay offences at Winchester Assizes.
  • – Suicide of Alan Turing
• 1955 – Publication of Homosexuality by D J West.
• 1956 – Knighthoods awarded to Anthony Blunt (cancelled in 1979) and John Wolfenden
• 1957 – Wolfenden Report recommends decriminalisation of homosexuality.
• 1958 – Albany Trust and Homosexual Law Reform Society formed.
  • – Ian Harvey MP arrested in St James’s Park.
• 1959 – Screening on ITV of South, thought to be the first gay-related drama on British television.
• 1960 – Georgina Turtle (previously George Turtle) has her birth certificate changed from male to female.
• 1961 – Release of the film Victim.
• 1962 – John Vassall arrested and charged with spying.
• 1963 – Founding of lesbian magazine Arena Three.
• 1964 – Death of Nancy Spain in an air crash.
  • – North Western Homosexual Law Reform Committee formed, later to be re-founded as CHE.
  • – Ellis Powell dropped from Mrs Dale’s Diary.
• 1965 – Founding of lesbian organisation Kenric.
• 1966 – Founding of trans organisation the Beaumont Society.
  • – publication of trans-related book I want what I want.
  • – Humphry Berkeley’s Sexual Offences Bill passes its second reading but is lost when Parliament is dissolved; Berkeley loses his seat at the election.
• 1967 – Sexual Offences Act 1967 partially decriminalises sex between men in England and Wales.
  • – Joe Orton murdered by his partner.
• 1968 – the Home Secretary confirms that Sir Ewan Forbes is male and can succeed to the baronetcy, despite having been registered and originally brought up as female.
  • – Rose Robertson founds Parents Enquiry.
  • – SK, probably the first gay social group in the country set up after partial decriminialisation, is founded at the Royal Foundation of St Katharine in Limehouse.
• 1969 – the Stonewall riots in New York.
  • – founding of the Scottish Minorities Group.
• 1970 – First GLF meeting.
  • – Death of E M Forster.
  • – Integroup founded in Catford.
  • – publication of two books about the Uranians:
    • – Love in Earnest by Timothy d’Arch Smith
    • – Sexual Heretics by Brian Reade.
• 1971 – the Corbett v Corbett case, involving April Ashley, established the precedent that a person’s sex could not legally be changed from what it was at birth.
  • – London Friend formed.
  • – CHE London Group Seven (later Croydon Area Gay Society) founded.
  • – GLF Gay March: first London Gay March took place protesting against the unequal age of consent for men.
• 1972 – release of trans-related film, I want what I want.
  • – Allegro Music Group formed.
  • – Gay News first published.
  • – first London Pride march and carnival: about 200 take part
• 1973 – Death of Sir Noël Coward.
• 1974 – London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard launched.
  • – CHE Law Reform demonstration in Trafalgar Square on 2 November- estimate of up to 2,500 attended.
• 1975 – Brighton and Hove LGBT Switchboard launched.
  • – Gay Sweatshop theatre company founded.
  • – On Sunday 23 November several hundred people marched from Marble Arch to attend a rally in Trafalgar Square London calling for homosexual law reform.
• 1976 – John Curry wins a gold medal for skating at the Winter Olympics.
  • – Death of composer Benjamin Britten.
  • – London Gay Teenage Group set up; possibly the first gay teenage group launched in the world.
• 1977 – Death of Sir Terence Rattigan
  • – Peter Mitchell stands as “Westminster Campaign for Homosexual Civil Rights” candidate in the Cities of London and Westminster South by-election.
• 1978 – Tom Robinson releases the song “Glad to be Gay”.
  • – the film Nighthawks is released.
• 1979 – CHE moves its office to London.
  • – Jeremy Thorpe acquitted of conspiracy to murder.
  • – Gay Humanist Group founded (now GALHA).
  • – Murder of Peter Wells.
  • – Gay’s the Word bookshop opens in London.
• 1980 – Heaven, the first all-week gay nightclub, opens in London.
  • – Scotland decriminalises male homosexuality.
  • – Gay Youth Movement set up following a summer conference in London.
• 1981 – London Bi Group forms, the first bi-specific social/support group.
  • – The London Pride march was moved to Huddersfield, and followed by the South Bank Gay People’s Festival.
• 1982 – Terrence Higgins Trust the HIV/AIDs charity formed.
• 1983 – Long Yang Club founded for gay Asians and non-Asians.
  • – Northern Ireland decriminalises male homosexuality.
• 1984 – Chris Smith MP, Culture Secretary, becomes first MP to come out as gay whilst in office. In 2005, he was the first politician to disclose he was HIV positive.
  • – First BiCon bisexuality conference.
  • – Silver Moon women’s bookshop founded.
  • – Drew Griffiths, playwright, murdered by a pickup.
• 1985 – Goslings Swimming Club founded.
• 1986 – GLC and metropolitan county councils abolished.
  • – Death of Sir Peter Pears.
  • – London Gay Symphony Orchestra founded.
• 1987 – Gay men convicted for S&M sex in Operation Spanner.
  • – Pink Paper founded.
• 1988 – Section 28 passed.
• 1989 – Stonewall (UK) launched.
  • – London Raiders LGBT Softball team begins.
  • – Quim magazine founded.
  • – Rose’s club founded.
• 1990 – UK-MOTSS founded.
• 1991 – Death of Freddie Mercury.
• 1992 – Death of Francis Bacon (artist).
  • – Europride held in London.
  • – Gay Men Fighting AIDS founded (later GMFA and HERO).
  • – Diversity Choir founded.
• 1993 – Back Pocket Guide to London first published.
  • – Colin Ireland, the “gay slayer”, murders five men he had met in the Coleherne.
  • – the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act, 1993 finally decriminalises gay sex in the Irish Republic.
• 1994 – Age of consent for gay men reduced to 18.
• 1995 – Adonis Art Gallery founded.
  • – Bi Community News magazine launches.
  • – Mermaids founded for children with gender dysphoria.
  • – Launch of South London Gays.
  • – Better Dead Than Gay, Channel 4 documentary on the suicide of 26-year-old Simon Harvey (unable to reconcile being a Christian and being gay).
• 1996 – Derek Rawcliffe banned from acting as an assistant bishop in the Ripon diocese.
• 1997 – Angela Eagle is first sitting MP to come out as lesbian.
• 1998 – LGBT Consortium founded.
  • – The Bolton Seven convicted for consensual sex.
  • – Queer Notions mental health group founded in Liverpool.
• 1999 – Admiral Duncan pub bombed (30 April).
  • – Last SLAGO Conference.
  • – Soho Masses begin.
  • – Michael Cashman elected to European Parliament.
• 2000 – Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 repeals Section 28 in Scotland.
  • – Removal of ban on gay people serving in the Armed Forces.
  • – “ADT” is awarded compensation for being convicted for private group sex.
  • – Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000 equalises the age of consent.

21st century

• 2001 – Croydon Friend closed.
• 2002 – First Cake Awards presented.
• 2003 – Section 28 repealed in England and Wales.
  • – Rev Jeffrey John rejected as Bishop of Reading.
  • – Europride held in Manchester.
  • – Discrimination at Work on the grounds of sexual orientation becomes illegal.
• 2004 – Civil Partnership Act 2004 gives legal equal rights to lesbian and gay couples.
  • – Gender Recognition Act 2004 allows people to legally change gender.
  • – Gay and Lesbian Arts and Media closes.
  • – Lesbian and Gay Employment Rights closes.
  • – James Clark is appointed British Ambassador to Luxembourg.
• 2005 – Murder of Jody Dobrowski.
  • – First Civil partnerships performed.
• 2006 – Europride held in London.
  • – Alegri founded.
• 2007 – Sexual Offences (Jersey) Law 2007 lowers the Age of consent in Jersey to 16.
  • – Publication of the Yogyakarta Principles on the Application of International Law in Relation to Issues of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.
  • – Death of Paul Wilde
• 2008 – Age of consent lowered to 16 in Northern Ireland.
• 2009 – First Derek Oyston Film Award.
  • – Grindr launched.
  • – London AIDS Memorial Campaign launched.
• 2010 – LGBT London website set up.
  • – Death of Antony Grey.
  • – Death of Griffith Vaughan Williams.
  • – Ian Campbell becomes Britain’s first openly gay mayor.
• 2011 – LGBT History Project website set up.
  • – Diversity Role Models launched.
  • – First Out Café London, closes after 25 years.
  • – Civil partnership ceremonies permitted on religious premises.
• 2012 – Europride held in London.
  • – Death of Allan Horsfall.
  • – Michael Peacock acquitted on obscenity charges.
• 2013 – Government introduces Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill; it becomes law as the Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Act 2013.
  • – Death of Ray Gosling
  • – Death of Georgina Somerset and discovery that Roberta Cowell died two years before.
  • – Jo Swinson MP is the first government minister to send a message of support for Bi Visibility Day.
  • – Posthumous royal pardon for Alan Turing.
• 2015 – the 2015 general election brings an unprecedented number of LGBT people into Parliament, including Mhairi Black, the youngest MP since the nineteenth century.
• 2017 – Goldsmiths College, University of London run M.A. course in Queer History-the first degree level course in that field.
• 2019 – Marriage and Civil Partnership equality legislated for Northern Ireland, coming into effect in 2020.
• 2020 – Layla Moran is the first MP to come out as pansexual.
• 2021 – Numerous organisations leave the Stonewall Equality Limited Diversity Champions Scheme. LGBAlliance hold its first National Conference.
• 2022– Health Secretary Sajid Javid announces a review of gender treatment services for children in England.
• 2023– Gender Wars documentary with Kathleen Stock broadcast on Channel 4.
• 2023– In December Government issue ‘Gender Questioning Children’ Guidance for schools to try and assist schools in dealing with increasing number of children identifying as trans. The guidance had been delayed.
• 2024– Dr Hilary Cass report on gender identity services published: Cass Review.
• 2024– Guidance written for care homes to support inclusive care practice for older LGBTQ+ people.
• 2025-Supreme Court (UK) rules that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex.
• 2025-Government reaffirms commitment to Free Speech in universities.