GAY DECADE
Sunday 9 January 2005 1am-1.30am (Saturday night)
The Sixties are remembered as the decade when homosexuality came out of the national closet - but what was life actually like for Britain's gay population?
Featuring a combination of interviews and TV archive, this film paints a picture of gay life both before and after the Sexual Offences Act of 1967.
Sixties Snapshots
1960: More than 1,000 people attend the first public meeting of the Homosexual Law Reform Society
1960: Private Members Bill to reform laws on homosexuality defeated 215 to 101 in the Commons
1961: Influential film Victim released starring Dirk Bogarde as a gay barrister being blackmailed over his sexuality
1962: MI6 use a gay honeytrap to catch John Vassal passing state secrets to the Russians
1963: The Sunday Pictorial carries 'How to Spot a Homo' article: "They are everywhere, they can be anybody"
1964: The Daily Telegraph publishes editorial criticising anti-homosexual laws
1964: Formation of North West Homosexual Law Reform Committee (later Campaign for Homosexual Equality) - the first grassroots gay rights organisation in Britain
1965: Lesbian support group Kenric is set up in London
1966: Gay contact ads published for first time in International Times magazine. It is later prosecuted
1967: Sexual Offences Bill passed, legalising gay sex in private for consenting adults over the age of 21
1968: Judy Garland appears at Talk of the Town in London attracting a large gay audience
1969: Modern gay rights movement born following the Stonewall Riots in New York City
