User:Lbitter/LGBT History

Homosexuality in Modern Great Britain

Following the codification of anti-sodomy laws with the Buggery Act of 1533, homosexual sex and relationships were greatly looked down upon civilly prosecuted. Although section 61 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 removed the death penalty for homosexuality, male homosexual acts remained illegal and were punishable by imprisonment.

In contrast, lesbian relationships were frequently overlooked and legal codes that targeted homosexuality often didn’t include sapphic love. In one Scottish court case, a judge deemed sexual relationships between two women imaginary. Only in cases where women broke gender roles and crossed into masculine realms were punished with public whippings and banishment, much less severe than their gay male counterparts. However, Ballads celebrating crossdressing female solders circulated during the Napoleonic wars, frequently depicting women donning male garb flirting with men and occasionally even “female husbands” would appear.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, male commentary, on lesbian relationships became more common and increasingly eroticized. The publication of Anne Lister’s diaries revealed that as early as 1820, educated women had covert sexual and romantic relationships with other women, often while married to men and presenting as close female friendships. During this same time period, a large body of same-sex love poetry was written by women.