Congratulations to the brave David Cameron and a cheery Now bugger off, please! to Britain's homophobes AND to the fretful allies who didn't want to attempt the marriage equality bill this year because it wasn't a sure thing. Look what happens when a leader actually leads and forces the issue. See also: Andrew Cuomo.
One perspective on how rapidly gay life has changed in England comes in Patrick Strudwick's short piece in the Independent, remembering 22 years ago when he was a scared 14 year-old coming out:
"I will not be able to have sex legally until I am 21. My teachers are not allowed to talk to me about being gay. Any business can refuse my custom. Future employers are free to fire me. Violence and hatred will stalk me, a prison for no wrongdoing. Aids could well bring a gasping, early death. I will never have children. I will never enjoy the family life I was raised within. I will never marry."
Farther back, the Wolfenden Report in 1957 recommended that consenting gay sex between adults should be decriminalized, which finally happened in 1967. The atrocious law Section 28, enacted under Thatcher in 1988, stated local authority "shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality" or "promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship" and was not repealed until 2003.
Same-sex weddings will begin by next summer. If you want to celebrate with some literary confetti, try William Corlett's light novel of a chic London gay couple transplanted to the country, Two Gentlemen Sharing.
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