1981. Film: Watch Out, There’s a Queer About!

Yes, it’s Jimmy Somerville in a scene from ‘Watch Out’ Jimmy was always an activist, even before he was famous. [Image from London Community Video Archive]
Thirteen years after the 1967 Sexual Offences Act decriminalised homosexual sex between consenting adults, police harassment of gay men was as entrenched and routine as ever. For example, when Dennis Lemon, the editor of Gay News, photographed police harassing customers at a London gay pub, he was arrested ‘on suspicion of having stolen the camera’!
The levels of police hostility came as no surprise to members of gay and lesbian communities at that time. However, the main message of Watch Out, There’s A Queer About was just how institutionalised it was. Whilst the 45-minute production was presented as a spoof police training film, the content was drawn from real police training manuals on dealing with the ‘problem’ of homosexuals.
Now, when I first wrote this post, back in 2012, I wrote, “Sadly, there appear to be no copies of ‘Watch Out’ in existence any more“. Even the guy who made it said he’d lost his copy. So now, in July 2020, I’m delighted to announce that it looks like a copy has been found! A new project – the London Community Video Archive – recently contacted me via my Instagram page. As well as the link to the Archive they also sent me the film stills I’m using here.
And even better – there’s actually a 7-minute clip from the film online and you can watch that below.
Now, I don’t know if LCVA have a copy of the entire 45-minute film. (At the time of writing I’m waiting to hear back from them.) But the 7-minutes will give you a good idea of what the film is about. It’s certainly better than nothing – but fingers crossed that they do have the entire film. Watch this space!
This was followed by the production of ‘Framed Youth: Revenge of the Teenage Perverts’ a film sponsored by Channel 4 and the Greater London Arts Association. ‘Framed Youth’ is available on You Tube. It features Jimmy Somerville and Richard Coles among others.
Does anyone remember the name of the director of ‘Watch Out’? I think the film had some connection with Brixton Faeries, from the presence of Julian Howes and Bill Thorneycroft as the Plod at the end [not Ron Grant as credited]. The director’s first name was Andy and I knew him in Oxford in the early 70s, but can’t remember his second name. He deserves credit.
It was Andy Lipman. He died in 1995 sadly. Journalist on City Limits and after television producer for channel 4