Gay Life was a weekly, LGBT-specific current affairs series produced by London Weekend Television’s Minorities Unit.

It was the first LGBT television series to be broadcast in the UK (although it didn’t go out nationally; transmission was limited to the London Weekend Television region).

Perhaps because of it’s ‘contentious’ nature, it wasn’t shown until 11.30 p.m. on a Sunday night (or maybe that was just to give all the Saturday night disco queens the chance to get home in time!). Despite its late-night slot and its relatively limited geographic coverage, it’s estimated that it achieved weekly audiences of up to 350,000.

First broadcast on February 10th, 1980, it covered a variety of issues in the course of its eleven episodes:

• February 10th: Security Vetting and Gays in the Civil Service
• February 17th: Male Gay Lifestyles – Pubs, Discos, Drag Acts, Leather Scene etc
• February 24th: Child Custody and Adoption
• March 2nd: Police Harassment and Entrapment of Gay Men
• March 9th: Gay Relationships and Gay Weddings
• March 16th: Gay Teachers
• March 23rd: Gays in Heterosexual Marriages
• March 30th: Gays and Media Stereotyping
• April 20th: Young Lesbians
• April 27th: Gays in the Armed Forces
• May 4th: Gay Political Organisation

Despite the fact that it was a ground-breaking programme it wasn’t welcomed by all sections of our communities. Reviewing the programme in Gay News, John Russell Taylor said he was amazed at the number of hostile comments he had heard, including the suggestion that, “It would be better not to have such a programme if it’s going to show men in drag and men in leather”. This, it was argued, would give us a bad name.

Yup, that sounds like a typical community response alright!

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