Our LGBTQ+ Masters course was particularly rewarding when we came across hopeful stories
It’s no secret that LGBTQ+ history can be grim.
Discrimination has been a fact for centuries; in some countries, it is still a reality. But when you look at the development of LGBTQ+ rights in more detail, you also come across some stories that stand out: little nuggets that shine a light in the darkness.
This is what I discovered when I was setting up a Masters course on LGBTQ+ rights at Edinburgh University. The new course, ‘LGBT Rights: A Legal Perspective’ appears to be the first of its kind in Scotland.
When I taught it – together with my colleague Sean Becker – we realised how fascinated students were by our topics: discrimination, criminalisation and decriminalisation of homosexuality, same-sex marriage, transgender rights, the rights of intersex people, laws against conversion ‘therapy’ and the attitudes of courts to LGBTQ+ issues.
It was particularly rewarding when we came across little-known historical acts of resistance to homophobia and transphobia – events that often challenged students’ views. And ours too.
Here are some of my favourites.
1810: The diary of a Yorkshire farmer
This was only unearthed in 2020 by Eamonn O’Keeffe, an Oxford PhD student (Picture: YouTube/University of Oxford)
He was not a politician, or a philosopher, or a journalist. He was a Yorkshire farmer, and his name was Matthew Tomlinson.
He lived in 1810, a time which – for male homosexuals – was very different from the present. The death penalty was still imposed on homosexual conduct – a naval surgeon had just been executed for this.
But Tomlinson was puzzled about the law. In a diary entry from 14 January 1810, he expressed his understanding that men who feel such ‘passion’ do so as part of ‘their nature from childhood’. It ‘seems cruel’ to him to punish this with death.
This passage of the diary was only unearthed in 2020 by Eamonn O’Keeffe, an Oxford PhD student.
Some of my students told me later that it was this story that had impressed them most
And it is fascinating. All too often, society simply accepts what the law says, even if this leads to the discrimination of people who just want to live their lives. But here is someone who is not willing to support laws he considers unjust.
What is more: when you read the entry, you get the impression that he had probably talked this over with friends. He may not have been the only one who had some understanding for LGBTQ+ people.
Some of my students told me later that it was this story that had impressed them most. I can understand that.
There are still countries in which being gay or transgender can mean a prison sentence and other forms of discrimination. It is hopeful that even then, not everybody agrees with those laws: sometimes, society can be a motor for change.
1935: A letter by Sigmund Freud
Homosexuality, Freud said, was ‘nothing to be ashamed of, no vice, no degradation (Picture: Authenticated News/Getty Images)
Some 90 years ago, the mother of …read more
Source:: Metro
