On July 17th 1980, the BBC broadcast Coming Out – a documentary based around the  National Gay Pride March in London the previous summer. It’s an extraordinary timepiece of ‘the way we were’ (and can be viewed here).

As some 2-3,000 participants assemble, the commentator advises us that it is “the largest assembly of homosexual men and women Europe had ever seen”. (I think there were at least that many in the same pub as me after the 2012 World Pride March in London!)

And, as an indicator of the progress we’d made even by that time, he explains that, “Today they’re called ‘gays'” (then continues to refer to us as homosexuals for the duration of the programme!)

But despite this apparent ‘progress’ it’s still necessary to caution viewers that this is all still a bit risque. “Frank language is used throughout”, we’re warned. Again, a bit of a timepiece: I watched the whole programme and the only remotely ‘frank’ thing I heard was one guy saying that he enjoyed sodomy.

And as a reminder of just how brazen we’d become, we’re also advised of “the participation in this programme – full face – of five of the homosexual marchers”. Well! If the viewing public hadn’t got the smelling salts out by now they couldn’t say they hadn’t been warned!

But central to the programme’s theme was the message that, despite our apparent progress, we were still very much second class citizens. The 1967 legislation decriminalising homosexuality did not apply to Scotland, Northern Ireland or the Armed Forces. Police harassment was rife, as was discrimination in housing, employment and financial and social services.

Even when the five ‘full face’ participants were asked to invite their parents to participate in the programme, four of them refused point blank. The fifth did ask his mother and she consented – only to withdraw after pressure from other family members.

Of course we’ve not quite reached gay and lesbian Utopia just yet, but it’s clear from this documentary that we have come an awful long way. And it will be interesting to see what kind of documentary would be made about us in another thirty years time (assuming there’s still any form of life left on our beleaguered planet!)

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