When I started Gay in the 80s on 6th March 2012 I really wasn’t sure where it would go or, indeed, how long it would last. So it gives me particular pleasure to find myself writing this, the 200th post!

It’s certainly been a fascinating two years – for both the blog and for LGBT history. I’ve been contacted by a number of people ranging from students and writers to a television company researching ‘The Sexiest Song of the 80s’ (!?) and the BBC in relation to their forthcoming movie on Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners.

On the world stage we’ve seen positive developments such as the scrapping of the USA’s Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and the passage of equal marriage laws in various places including the UK and the USA (although, sadly, the Australian Government has just wrecked such legislation in the Australian Capital Territory).

We’ve also seen the election of a new Pope who’s currently sending out very mixed messages about LGBT people: one minute he’s quoted as saying ‘who am I to judge’, the next he’s excommunicating a pro-gay Catholic priest. I can’t say I’m optimistic about the likelihood of positive change in the Catholic Church’s centuries-old homophobia.

Similarly, the last year has seen a charm offensive on the part of the Salvation Army in relation to LGBT issues. This seems to have been prompted largely by reactions to an Australian Salvation Army spokesperson who stated during a radio interview that non-celibate LGBT people deserved to die. There’s now a pretty intense debate underway online.

Some LGBT people argue that the Salvation Army has changed its spots whilst others point to the organisation’s long legacy of homophobia and lobbying against LGBT rights – as recently as 2012 in relation to equal marriage, for example. I think it’s this recent activity that has me unconvinced as to the SA’s sincerity: I don’t believe there’s been a truly fundamental shift in their view of LGBT rights, it seems like they’re simply trying to ‘manage’ those issues that they feel have generated the worst publicity.

Meanwhile, in Eastern Europe, we’re seeing megalomaniacs like Vladimir Putin scapegoating LGBT people to divert attention from their corrupt and incompetent administrations.The violence being inflicted on LGBT people in these countries is bad enough but what makes it worse is the collusion of other governments, corporations and other global bodies such as the International Olympic Committee.

We should all be concerned about this: it seems that our current breed of ‘career politicians’ as well as the majority of global corporations will only support LGBT people in those Western countries where it’s safe and profitable to do so. Meanwhile they continue to do business with regimes that severely persecute LGBT people, without so much as a hint of criticism. This is both cynical and cowardly: LGBT rights are universal and unconditional and must not be dependent on public opinion polls or local market conditions.

Similarly, the International Olympic Committee’s decision to penalise athletes who criticise Russia’s oppressive laws during the Winter Olympics is absolutely shameful. Not only has the Olympic spirit of equality and participation been wholeheartedly abandoned but the very safety of LGBT participants is being jeopardised.

Sadly, HIV and AIDS remain with us and there are worrying signs that some gay men seem to think it’s a thing of the past. That’s far from true: the only real difference between now and the 80s are the levels of hysteria, homophobia and despair – all of which could reignite quite easily. There is still no cure for AIDS yet, given the evidence of increasing levels of unsafe sex, it seems that some gay men think that there is. It’s depressing to think that we seem to be slipping back to the 80s when it comes to HIV/AIDS.

In the UK, 2014 marks the 30th anniversary of the Miners Strike and this seems to be generating great interest in the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners group that existed during that period. The Sole Purpose theatre company has already developed and presented a play about this in Northern Ireland and is hoping to tour it around some parts of the UK in 2014.  But the major event, as I mentioned earlier, is likely to be the BBC/Pathe International movie ‘Pride‘. With big names such as Imelda Staunton and Bill Nighy among its cast, it’s scheduled for international release at some point in the coming year.

On another positive note, it’s encouraging to see so many initiatives being developed to tackle homophobia and homophobic bullying amongst young people. And, as I’m sure will be obvious from some of my previous posts, I’m hugely impressed by the work of the Harvey Milk Foundation and Harvey Milk’s nephew Stuart Milk, especially when it comes to making a stand against the vicious attacks on LGBT people in Eastern Europe.

All of which goes to show that we’ve come a long way since the 80s but we certainly can’t let our guard down for one moment. In practice I think that means that we mustn’t put our rights into the hands of career politicians, most of whom would sell us down the river at the first sign of electoral disapproval. Likewise, let’s measure these so-called LGBT-friendly corporations in terms of how much they genuinely support LGBT people living under repressive regimes.

As that great civil rights advocate, Martin Luther King, said: “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy.”

It’s always been my belief that the 80s was a pivotal period in LGBT history. And one reason for that was because we really came together in a time of major crisis for our communities. The victories we won, we won ourselves: few politicians – and even fewer corporations – stood beside us then. At least in the West, we developed a strong political voice and have used it to some effect. But there’s still a lot of things that we need to keep shouting about – so let’s not fall silent just yet.