| 1997 |
|
| January |
Paul Stone claims he was the lover of Tory MP
Jerry Hayes
APN Northern gay magazine closes
Bid for first gay radio station beaten by Xfm |
| February |
Lesbian Avengers closes
Shadow Home Secretary Jack Straw says Labour would repeal Section 28 and allow gays in the
military
New combination drugs lead to the closure of two London HIV hospital wards
Spanner men appeal to European Court of Human Rights fails |
| March |
Police raid gay sauna in Gwent
Jewish L&G Group is 25 years old
There are 40-50 gay MPs claims lobbyist Ian Greer
Texaco stops testing recruits for HIV |
| April |
Ellen DeGeneres comes out in her US sit-com
Park rangers raid Hampstead Heath
British Airways launches gay package holidays |
| May |
Three out gay MPs - Ben Bradshaw, Chris Smith and
Stephen Twigg - win in General Election
BBC begin 'It's not unusual' gay documentary series
Action against foreign partners seeking immigration suspended
Gay spys are no longer a threat to national security
First Birmingham Pride attracts 15,000 |
| June |
Gaytime TV third series on BBC2
William Hague says he does not object to gay marriages
Tony Whitehead, President of THT, awarded MBE
EuroGames attracts 350 sports people to Paris
Europride attracts 300,000
World's First Lesbian Beauty contest |
| July |
'Shopping and Fucking' play posters banned by London
Underground
United Airlines sponsors Pride
Gianni Versace murdered outside his Miami home |
| August |
Appeal court judges call for change of law on tennants'
succession rights
Summer Rites attracts 53,000
Labout MP Gordon McMaster commits suicide after rumours he was gay and HIV-positive
Mardi Gras attracts 100,000 to Manchester
Diana, Princess of Wales, killed in car crash, before she could launch worldwide
fundraising project for AIDS research |
| September |
HIV charities attend Diana's funeral, Elton John sings
'Cangle in the Wind'
National AIDS Trust and Red Ribbon International place a red ribbon wreath at Kensington
Palace
Ellen DeGeneres wins an Emmy for her coming out episode
Angela Eagle, Labour MP comes out as Lesbian
Out-gay DJ Kevin Greening takes over Radio 1 breakfast show
Pink Paper celebrates 500 issues
Fifty US doctors volunteer to test live AIDS vaccine
'Making Links' is first major UK conference for HIV voluntary organisations |
| October |
Lisa Grant wins sex discrimination claim against South West
Trains after seeking equal partner benefits
Government confirms it will allow free vots on age of consent
Study finds teachers are confused about Section 28
Foreign partners of gay Britains given immigration equality for resident status
Pride announces debts of £160,000 and an uncertain future |
| November |
George Winchcole, former manager of Comptons, cleared
of sexual assault charges
Two hundred remember gay war dead at Cenotaph
Cruiders in Russell Square videoed by police having sex
First girls only 'Candy Bar' opens in Soho
Bill Clinton is first US President to address a gay rights meeting
Organisers of Manchester Mardi Gras to disband and 'regay the event'
Michael Portillo says he can see the day when we have a gay Prime Minister
Gay MP Ben Bradshaw invited to join the Marines parliamentary volunteers
Healthy Gay Scotland launched |
| December |
A third of new recruits to London Ambulance Service are
gay
Equal parenting rights awarded to non-biological mother of a child born to lesbian couple
Archives reveal Home Office gave hormones and electric shock treatment in tests on
prisoners in the 1950s
London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard named 'Charity of the Year' and wins Whitbread
Volunteer Action Award
Gay comedian Graham Norton wins best newcomer in ITV Comedy Awards
Paul O'Grady wins best entertainment programme for The Lily Savage Show' |
| 1998 |
|
| January |
Youthspeak group for young gay people formed.
Cayman Islands refuse permission for gay cruise ship to dock. Boycott organised. |
| February |
Trial of the Bolton Seven concludes without prison
sentances.
Lisa Grant and partner Jill Percey loose discrimination case at European Court of Justice. |
| March |
Sexuality is included as a human right in the Northern
Ireland 'Good Friday' agreement.
Crisis at London Lighthouse results in new focus for the HIV centre.
The TownHouse Club for A Queens opens in Mayfair. |
| April |
Peter Tatchell is arrested after disrupting the
Archbishop of Canterbury on Easter Sunday.
George Michael is caught red handed in a cottage in Los Angeles.
The Age of Consent Bill is proposed in the House of Commons by Ann Keen MP. |
| May |
Eurovision Song contest won by transsexual Dana.
Footballer Justin Fashanu commits suicide in a garage in London after he is alleged to
have made advances to a young man in Florida. |
| June |
Pride 98 cancelled after poor ticket sales (and after
the previous year's organisation had gone into liquidation). Many people do not get
refunds.
House of Commons votes in favour of an equal age of consent. Gordon Marsden MP comes out. |
| July |
The House of Lords defeats the bill which included an
equal age of consent.
Ann Keen MP is awarded the Brian Kennedy Award by the Gay Business Association. |
| August |
Summer Rites goers ahead at Brockwell park in appalling
weather.
Gay Games hosted and welcomed by the City of Amsterdam. Britain comes fourth. |
| September |
Gay DJ Kevin Greening sacked from Radio 1 breakfast
show. |
| October |
Matthew Shepherd is murdered in Wyoming in a homophic
attack.
Cabinet Minister Peter Mandelson's sexuality is revealed by Matthew Paris on Newsnight. |
| November |
Ron Davies MP is in trouble after an incident on Clapham
Common. Nick Brown MP, the Minister for Agriculture comes out, making four known gay
cabinet ministers.
The repeal of the hated Section 28 is not included in the Queens Speech.
Mo Mowlem receives a standing ovation at the Stonewall Equality Show at the Albert Hall.
She presents an award to Irish gay activists. |
| December |
George Michael talks to Michael Parkinson about his
exploits and his latest CD 'Ladies & Gentlemen'.
Peter Tatchell receives a fine of just £18.60, reflecting the year when the law under
which he was charged was passed. |
| 1999 |
|
| January |
The Ministry of Defence announced that homosexuals were no longer to be
considered a blackmail risk. But they still do not want gays or lesbians in the armed
forces. Outrage upped its demand for a gay age of consent from 14 to 16.
London Friend reported that it might have to close down in the new financial year
because of a funding crisis which was eventually resolved.
And Cambridge University published a study that revealed lesbians make good mums. |
| February |
The government announced that it is commissioning a wide ranging review
of sexual offences with gross indecency - an exclusiveIy gay male issue - being the first
to go. Channel 4 got its knuckles rapped for broadcasting a TV documentary on rent boys
in Glasgow that had been stage-managed.
Some £8 million earmarked by the National Health Service for HIV treatment and care
hadn't been spent on HIV services. |
| March |
Baroness Young was revealed in the Pink Paper as holding a computer list
on everyone who had lobbied her over the age of consent. And the Pink Paper reported
Tory MP Edward Leigh to the House of Commons Committee on Privileges and Standards for not
declaring on the Register of MPs Interests that the deputy director of the Christian
Institute was working in his parliamentary office. |
| April |
Baroness Young eventually managed to kill off Ann Keen's amendment to the
Crime and Disorder Bill that would have equalised the gay age of consent. The government
vowed to reintroduce it in the next session of parliament and invoke the Parliament Act. The
Pink Paper ran the headline 'Gays in fascist bomb alert' on the very day a bomb exploded
in the Admiral Duncan killing three people. A man is arrested and charged on three
accounts of murder and making bombs. A fascist-inspired gay hate mail campaign starts. |
| May |
People taking anti-HIV drugs are warned not to use the impotence wonder
drug Viagra. The drug becomes available in night clubs and over the internet. A leading
campaigner for lesbian rights fled from the South American country of Colombia for fear of
her life. She had been detained and raped by members of the country's security forces. |
| June |
The Pink Paper reports that the Welsh Office is planning to reform the
law around medical records and make it easier for the police to obtain details of
people'smedical history. The BritishMedical Association opposed the move. The Special
Branch investigated a Euro-election leaflet put out by an independent candidate, the Revd
Dave Braid, in the North-West of England.
Angela Mason of Stonewall is honoured with an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list.
Kofi Annan gives the first Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Lecture on AIDS at the
Bank of England, and organised by the National AIDS Trust. Over 34 million people in the
world are living with HIV and AIDS. |
| July |
The first ever London Mardi Gras took place in Finsbury Park. The
Admiral Duncan pub in Soho, scene of the April pub bombing, reopened its doors to coincide
with the event.
An insurance company offered £50,000 in legal cover to lesbians and gay men for a mere
£19.99 annual premium.
Getting It Right is the first conference for ten years specifically for people living
with HIV and AIDS. Health Minister Tessa Jowell listens to their needs. |
| August |
A row exploded after the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority stated
it wouldn't pay compensation to the Surviving partner of a gay man killed in the Admiral
Duncan pub blast. But a leading lawyer told the Pink Paper that he would be entitled to
the money. The CIA warned the World Bank that the spread of HIV in Africa could
undermine the entire economies of several African states.
And a gay couple in Scotland had to get a note from the local police chief stating they
were not convicted paedophiles when rumours began circulating about them. |
| September |
Shock Jock James Whale pulled the plug on a link-up between Talk Radio
and an American radio network when a guest in the New York studio lashed out against
homosexuality when claiming to have been cured of being gay. The European Court of Human
Rights decrees that the UK's ban on gays and lesbians in the military is illegal. The
Government announces an immediate freeze on Court Martials.
Former Tory MP Michael Portillo announces that he had casual gay experiences when he
was a student but is now happily married. His former boyfriend says that the relationship
of eight years was hardly casual. Portillo goes on to win the Kensington and Chelsea
Bye-Election.
And the Law Society called for the legal recognition of the relationships of same-sex
couples. |
| October |
Clone Zone scores a legal victory when it challenges the seizure of
erotic material by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise in the magistrates' court. Summer
Rites and Manchester Mardi Gras report problems donating money to a number of nominated
charities as the events failed to make money. Brighton Pride sees new organisers
appointed.
DameElizabeth Butler-Sloss, the highest ranking family law judge in the land, gives the
thumbs-up to gay parents. |
| November |
Outrage attempted a citizen's arrest on President Mugabe of Zimbabwe while
on a private shopping trip in London. But were themselves arrested for obstruction. Two
gay men from Essex are the fathers of twins born to their surrogate mother in the USA.
The new parliamentary session kicked-off with a government pledge to repeal Section 28
and equalise the gay age of consent. Opposition leader WilliamHague confirms the Tories
will fight to keep Section 28. |
| December |
The Pink Paper launched the Real Families Campaign to raise funds for the
Children's Society after a number of evangelical congregations withdrew their funding
after the society lifted its ban on gay and lesbian fosterers. Gay man Andrew Boff is
selected as a Tory candidate for London Mayor.
Baroness Young once again threatened to sabotage the government's repeal of Section 28
due for debate in January. The Pink Paper and Stonewall launch a major campaign to lobby
politicians. |
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