Alkarim Jivani
Autore di It's Not Unusual: A History of Lesbian and Gay Britain in the Twentieth Century
Opere di Alkarim Jivani
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Informazioni generali
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Utenti
Recensioni
Statistiche
- Opere
- 3
- Utenti
- 40
- Popolarità
- #370,100
- Voto
- 4.5
- Recensioni
- 1
- ISBN
- 5
Anyway, Alkarim Jivani's history of gay men and women in twentieth century Britain should open a few disbelieving eyes and ears to the social, political and of course sexual struggle that Freddie and others like him might have faced in decades past. In Noel Coward's day, 'gay men and lesbians in the public eye were tolerated as long as they didn't draw too much attention to their sexuality'. The end of the Second World War, however, became a kind of watershed when 'the number of arrests for homosexual offences suddenly shot up ... after pressure from the Americans' - threefold! The Wolfenden Report was published in 1957, recommending that sex between consenting men - over the age of 21 and in 'private'! - be decriminalised, but didn't become law until a decade later, and 'homosexuality was not taken off the register of psychiatric diseases until 1973'. Men faced 'treatment' including electroshock and chemical aversion therapy to 'cure' them of their desires. The testimonies of men who actually suffered this barbaric abuse are disturbing to read.
On the more positive side - although this book was published in 1997, before the age of consent was lowered, Clause 28 repealed, and civil partnership and gay marriage made possible - there are also a lot of heartening accounts from the men, women and groups who fought for lgbt equality. A definite must read.… (altro)