0:00:02 > 0:00:05WHISTLING
0:00:07 > 0:00:09DOOR SLAMS SHUT
0:00:15 > 0:00:18Any man who takes a criminal path...
0:00:24 > 0:00:27..should be mindful of the consequences.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40My name is Peter Wildeblood.
0:00:40 > 0:00:42CHEERING
0:00:42 > 0:00:45Order! Order!
0:00:45 > 0:00:48May I ask the Right Honourable Home Secretary
0:00:48 > 0:00:52the number of cases involving male perversion
0:00:52 > 0:00:57this year, and how he intends to deal with this evil?
0:00:57 > 0:01:00Much of my private life has already been made public
0:01:00 > 0:01:05by the newspapers. So I have nothing left to hide.
0:01:06 > 0:01:11Roughly 5,500 offences have been recorded
0:01:11 > 0:01:14and over 600 offenders
0:01:14 > 0:01:16sent to prison.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23I don't pity myself and I do not ask for pity.
0:01:24 > 0:01:26But I am speaking out...
0:01:29 > 0:01:33..to give some hope and courage to other men like myself,
0:01:33 > 0:01:35and to the rest of the world some...
0:01:38 > 0:01:40..understanding.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47I am...a homosexual.
0:01:53 > 0:01:58So as long as I hold office, I shall give no countenance to
0:01:58 > 0:02:03the view that they should not be prevented from being such a danger.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31MUFFLED MUSIC AND CHATTER
0:02:41 > 0:02:43CHATTER AND LAUGHTER
0:02:44 > 0:02:46Whisky, please.
0:02:53 > 0:02:54Thank you.
0:03:01 > 0:03:03INDISTINCT CHATTER
0:03:28 > 0:03:31TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS
0:03:31 > 0:03:34INDISTINCT RAILWAY ANNOUNCEMENT
0:03:47 > 0:03:50I wonder, could I buy you a drink?
0:03:51 > 0:03:53Doesn't work that way, darling.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56Unless you're willing to play the part.
0:03:58 > 0:03:59Oh, no.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04So you're not a queen, then?
0:04:04 > 0:04:07It's a pity, you're quite pretty, really.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10Not a rough, either.
0:04:10 > 0:04:11I'm a homosexual.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13A what?
0:04:13 > 0:04:14A homosexual.
0:04:14 > 0:04:16Homosexual?
0:04:16 > 0:04:18I see.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22I thought that was just something doctors called us.
0:04:22 > 0:04:24Do all the queens use this word now?
0:04:24 > 0:04:26I don't know.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28I'm not sure I like it.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30Come along, Fanny dear.
0:04:30 > 0:04:31See you later, dear heart.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33Coming, Ducky.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37DOOR CLOSES
0:04:51 > 0:04:52- VOICEOVER:- At that particular time
0:04:52 > 0:04:55there was a, you might call it a purge,
0:04:55 > 0:04:57on people who were gay.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00We were considered sick.
0:05:00 > 0:05:05We were considered, er, you know, child molesters.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09The police went out of their way to catch you and...and...
0:05:09 > 0:05:13and the Members of Parliament, "This filth and this...
0:05:13 > 0:05:16"This is going to ruin the nation, we must...we must stub it out."
0:05:16 > 0:05:18I can't remember the name of the, erm,
0:05:18 > 0:05:21the Home Secretary at the time, but he was one of the worst.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24David Maxwell Fyfe, Sir David Maxwell Fyfe,
0:05:24 > 0:05:27later Viscount Kilmuir.
0:05:29 > 0:05:37Well, he embodied all the worst attitudes
0:05:37 > 0:05:39of the British Establishment.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43You could be arrested for just looking at somebody...
0:05:44 > 0:05:48..in the street, you know, winking at them or smiling at them.
0:05:49 > 0:05:54And, er, I thought this is mad, this world has gone a bit potty.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57I have to say it made it even more exciting
0:05:57 > 0:06:03because, you know, it is exciting, er, avoiding the police,
0:06:03 > 0:06:10keeping a look out. It's like being a member of an underground sect,
0:06:10 > 0:06:14or something, er, and you get a great kick out of it.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17Wherever you went was liable to be raided...
0:06:19 > 0:06:24..um, whether it was a pub or it was a private drinking club
0:06:24 > 0:06:27or it was a private party.
0:06:28 > 0:06:33And you would have your name and address printed in the paper.
0:06:46 > 0:06:50Oh! Oh, I'm sorry! Oh.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52It's... It's fine.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01Um, do you need directions?
0:07:01 > 0:07:03No.
0:07:03 > 0:07:08No, I'm, erm... I'm just... I'm down off leave from Ely.
0:07:10 > 0:07:14And, er, it's going to rain again.
0:07:14 > 0:07:16Any minute.
0:07:34 > 0:07:39So, um, if you want to stay, there's a sofa,
0:07:39 > 0:07:42which should be perfectly comfortable.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it should.
0:07:46 > 0:07:48Yeah, it's a bit small.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57And besides...
0:08:01 > 0:08:06..you and I could, er, fuck here.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10Live a little.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38HE CHUCKLES
0:09:40 > 0:09:41What?
0:09:42 > 0:09:45"You and I could fuck maybe?"
0:09:47 > 0:09:48What?
0:09:50 > 0:09:52The romance of it.
0:09:53 > 0:09:55Dead romantic.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57That's one of my best lines.
0:10:09 > 0:10:11You heading back to Ely?
0:10:11 > 0:10:12In two days, yep.
0:10:15 > 0:10:16So what do you do?
0:10:16 > 0:10:19I'm a journalist.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21Oh, right. Which paper?
0:10:21 > 0:10:23The Mail.
0:10:23 > 0:10:24Nice.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28Not really. It's... Well, it's quite dull, actually.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45Well, it was nice meeting you.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49I'll, erm, you know?
0:10:49 > 0:10:52Keep in touch. I mean it.
0:10:54 > 0:10:55Do you want me to?
0:11:00 > 0:11:02- Well, yes. I...- All right, then.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31Being a gay was a very tricky business.
0:11:31 > 0:11:37It was frowned upon by society, it was punishable
0:11:37 > 0:11:44by imprisonment, it was illegal, it was everything you could mention.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47I mean, you couldn't even talk about it. Erm...
0:11:47 > 0:11:51I felt very uncomfortable about it. Certainly.
0:11:51 > 0:11:56If heterosexuals had been subject to the force of law for being
0:11:56 > 0:12:01heterosexual, if their relations had been frowned upon, it's most
0:12:01 > 0:12:04unlikely that they would have settled into long-term marriages.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08They had public opinion and the law behind them.
0:12:08 > 0:12:10In the case of homosexuals, the law
0:12:10 > 0:12:14and public opinion were very distinctly against them, so I think
0:12:14 > 0:12:20the whole climate was opposed to the building of relationships.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24In fact, I think many gay people half believed, because they were
0:12:24 > 0:12:29told so often, that if you were gay you couldn't have a relationship.
0:12:31 > 0:12:35It was a no-no, so I had to be on my own.
0:12:36 > 0:12:41And, erm, so I've been used to it, since...since childhood,
0:12:41 > 0:12:47being a loner. Never enjoyed it, I can tell you, it was awful.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49But that's the way it is.
0:12:55 > 0:12:57KNOCK ON DOOR
0:13:01 > 0:13:04Well, would you look at that. He meant what he said.
0:13:27 > 0:13:29Fancy a kickaround?
0:13:29 > 0:13:31You're joking.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33Not physical, then?
0:13:35 > 0:13:36Not even at school?
0:13:36 > 0:13:41Football? I was useless, always the last to get picked.
0:13:41 > 0:13:43I can imagine, actually.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46I used to just gather with all the other outcasts.
0:13:49 > 0:13:51Teachers despised us for it.
0:13:53 > 0:13:57One of them said, "Oh, yes, there they are.
0:13:59 > 0:14:05"The sops. Sops of a feather flock together."
0:14:15 > 0:14:17Come on.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36- Is that you?- Oh, stop it!
0:14:41 > 0:14:44We have to be a lot more careful than that.
0:14:44 > 0:14:46I know, I know, I'm...unschooled.
0:14:46 > 0:14:48You're telling me.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52Am I the only poof you know?
0:14:52 > 0:14:56No. I know Edward, Lord Montagu, through my work.
0:14:59 > 0:15:04Smile all you like, Mr Inverted Snob, he is very nice.
0:15:10 > 0:15:12So it's love, then?
0:15:12 > 0:15:15To be honest, I never thought you'd come out of your shell far enough.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17Neither did I.
0:15:17 > 0:15:19What's his appeal?
0:15:22 > 0:15:25He's...confident...
0:15:27 > 0:15:29..physical,
0:15:29 > 0:15:32a bit...dim, sort of.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38I suppose I always thought...
0:15:41 > 0:15:43Go on.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47I thought I'd meet a boy like him
0:15:47 > 0:15:53and he would make me brave, and in return...
0:15:55 > 0:15:57..I would make him wise.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00You're blushing.
0:16:00 > 0:16:04All right, it's stupid, you know, it's comradeship.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09Plato wrote something along those lines, do you know it?
0:16:09 > 0:16:15Two men, very different strengths, but when they come together...
0:16:17 > 0:16:20..an army of such lovers could conquer the world.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26Bring him down to Beaulieu.
0:16:26 > 0:16:28When did you last have a holiday?
0:16:28 > 0:16:31Oh, God. Three, four years ago.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33Bring him down to Beaulieu.
0:16:34 > 0:16:35Hmm.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51Just a small party...
0:16:53 > 0:16:55God, you are such a...
0:16:57 > 0:16:59Live a little.
0:16:59 > 0:17:01Yes?
0:17:06 > 0:17:08MUSIC PLAYS
0:17:11 > 0:17:14INDISTINCT CHATTER
0:17:18 > 0:17:21Well, I think this party is really rather...
0:17:21 > 0:17:24Boring? Boring as fuck?
0:17:24 > 0:17:26Yes. That's about the size of it.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31I thought the aristocracy knew how to let its hair down.
0:17:31 > 0:17:33Uh-uh. You thought wrong.
0:17:56 > 0:17:58What happened to "be careful"?
0:17:58 > 0:18:01No-one about, you daft ape.
0:18:03 > 0:18:10# You took the part that once was my heart
0:18:10 > 0:18:14# So why not take all of me? #
0:18:14 > 0:18:16- Three weeks.- I know.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27# ..All of me
0:18:27 > 0:18:32# Why not take all of me?
0:18:32 > 0:18:35# Can't you see... #
0:18:35 > 0:18:38You're blossoming, Mr Wildeblood.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40# ..I'm no good without you?
0:18:42 > 0:18:45# Take my lips
0:18:45 > 0:18:49# I want to lose them... #
0:18:49 > 0:18:51TRAIN RUMBLES PAST
0:18:51 > 0:18:53# ..Take my arms
0:18:53 > 0:18:58# I'll never use them
0:19:00 > 0:19:03# Your goodbye
0:19:03 > 0:19:07# Left me with eyes that cry
0:19:09 > 0:19:15# How can I go on, dear, without you? #
0:19:15 > 0:19:21My dearest, darling Eddie, I love you so much.
0:19:21 > 0:19:26# ..You took the best Why not take the rest? #
0:19:26 > 0:19:29There, I've said it.
0:19:29 > 0:19:34# ..Baby, take all of me... #
0:19:39 > 0:19:42In the '50s, homosexuals, erm, were in...
0:19:42 > 0:19:47were in a kind of secret world of their own. It was, erm...
0:19:47 > 0:19:53They were on another, rather delightful planet, in a way.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57It was fabulous, I was doing whatever young people do,
0:19:57 > 0:20:01I wanted to dance, I wanted to have beautiful clothes,
0:20:01 > 0:20:05I wanted to have lots of sex, I wanted somebody to love me.
0:20:05 > 0:20:10It was a world in which there was no class difference at all and
0:20:10 > 0:20:14that, I think, was one of the things which made it very, very attractive.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17Members of the upper classes have always fancied
0:20:17 > 0:20:19members of the lower classes.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22I was never actually particularly attracted to posh boys,
0:20:22 > 0:20:25but I did sometimes meet them if they looked right.
0:20:25 > 0:20:30And...and so I did find myself in the situation
0:20:30 > 0:20:37of mixing with a much wider range of social classes,
0:20:37 > 0:20:41I think, than straight boys of my background would have done.
0:20:41 > 0:20:48There was this strong sense of community within the gay world,
0:20:48 > 0:20:53and that rendered us not impervious
0:20:53 > 0:20:58but able to resist these awful...
0:20:58 > 0:21:04this, how shall I say, this constant barrage of propaganda,
0:21:04 > 0:21:08of depiction of us as being evil.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11THUNDER RUMBLES
0:21:16 > 0:21:18PHONE RINGS
0:21:18 > 0:21:19Wildeblood.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21Peter, it's Edward.
0:21:21 > 0:21:23Oh, hello, Edward.
0:21:23 > 0:21:24Are you alone?
0:21:26 > 0:21:28Yes.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31I'm at the police station.
0:21:31 > 0:21:35I called them about a camera that went missing at my place.
0:21:36 > 0:21:40I was - am - fairly sure it was one of the Boy Scouts
0:21:40 > 0:21:43we have showing the public round on open days.
0:21:43 > 0:21:45That's terrible.
0:21:49 > 0:21:55The Boy Scout made certain... allegations against me.
0:21:55 > 0:21:57False, of course.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04I'm a public figure, Peter. They're trying to make an example of me.
0:22:07 > 0:22:09Well, I thought you should know.
0:22:10 > 0:22:12Yes, thank you, Edward.
0:22:15 > 0:22:16Good luck.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29- NEWS REPORT:- At Winchester Assizes, the trial of Lord Montagu continues.
0:22:29 > 0:22:33He stands accused of indecently assaulting...
0:22:35 > 0:22:37- NEWS REPORT:- He took the stand to claim his innocence
0:22:37 > 0:22:40and said he was the victim of a police witch-hunt...
0:22:47 > 0:22:51- NEWS REPORT:- The news at five o'clock. Lord Montagu of Beaulieu
0:22:51 > 0:22:55was today acquitted of several counts of indecent assault.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59The jury's decision was unanimous and brings to an end
0:22:59 > 0:23:03an acrimonious trial in which Lord Montagu claimed
0:23:03 > 0:23:05to be the victim of a smear campaign.
0:23:11 > 0:23:13When the trial collapsed
0:23:13 > 0:23:17and the public realised that it was all manufactured evidence,
0:23:17 > 0:23:24the general public, erm, did find that, erm, distasteful.
0:23:24 > 0:23:29It made me feel angry, really. I mean, I look back on it
0:23:29 > 0:23:33and thought, yeah, I was quite angry about this rubbish, you know?
0:23:33 > 0:23:35I got quite worked up about it.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38I mean, all gay men throughout...
0:23:38 > 0:23:42throughout the country felt that, and not only gay men
0:23:42 > 0:23:45but the general public, luckily, were feeling that.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51Why is Montagu being harassed like this?
0:23:51 > 0:23:54You know, what is the point?
0:23:54 > 0:23:57It seemed to me, it did turn public opinion against
0:23:57 > 0:23:59all that was going on.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05But, on the other hand, I think there was a kind of feeling among
0:24:05 > 0:24:10the police force that would get him in the end.
0:24:20 > 0:24:21Thank you.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28DOOR CLOSES
0:24:32 > 0:24:34Mm-hm. Oh...
0:24:34 > 0:24:36Mm?
0:24:37 > 0:24:40These letters - who wrote them?
0:24:44 > 0:24:46You know who wrote them.
0:24:46 > 0:24:48I want to hear it from you.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53Give me the dirt on Montagu and his two pals.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58Look, you might lose your job but I'll keep you out of prison.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03KNOCK ON DOOR
0:25:06 > 0:25:08Are you Peter Wildeblood?
0:25:08 > 0:25:09Yes.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12I'm arresting you on charges of gross indecency
0:25:12 > 0:25:14and buggery with certain other male persons.
0:25:14 > 0:25:16Where do you sleep?
0:25:16 > 0:25:18My bedroom is upstairs.
0:25:18 > 0:25:19Anyone up there?
0:25:19 > 0:25:20No.
0:25:25 > 0:25:27Don't you have a warrant?
0:25:38 > 0:25:39Sit down.
0:25:48 > 0:25:50You were in Beaulieu this summer?
0:25:51 > 0:25:53Yes.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56Are these your parents?
0:25:57 > 0:25:59Yes.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02And this one is Edward McNally?
0:26:11 > 0:26:12Is this your handwriting?
0:26:16 > 0:26:18Yes.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00This could go very badly for you.
0:27:00 > 0:27:01Very badly indeed.
0:27:11 > 0:27:13What you should do is make a statement
0:27:13 > 0:27:17and you just get bound over, make a clean breast of things.
0:27:17 > 0:27:21Tell me about Montagu and his chum Pitt-Rivers and all of them,
0:27:21 > 0:27:25- then I think you... - No. No, I couldn't do that.
0:27:25 > 0:27:26And why not?
0:27:26 > 0:27:28Because...
0:27:35 > 0:27:36Because....
0:27:39 > 0:27:41..sops of a feather flock together.
0:27:43 > 0:27:45Hadn't you heard?
0:28:45 > 0:28:48The ones, for example, who had previous convictions,
0:28:48 > 0:28:54it would be a fair cop, very sorry, plead guilty.
0:28:54 > 0:29:00Those who had never experienced the police intruding would be
0:29:00 > 0:29:03very upset and they were the more likely ones who would plead
0:29:03 > 0:29:06not guilty and challenge every aspect of the observations.
0:29:08 > 0:29:13I still say it was an inherent weakness, and still is.
0:29:15 > 0:29:21They went into these practices knowing that there's a great
0:29:21 > 0:29:25element of risk of being arrested, being exposed,
0:29:25 > 0:29:27if you'll pardon the expression.
0:29:27 > 0:29:33Three or four weeks after I met Lee, I realised without doubt
0:29:33 > 0:29:37that he was the one person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.
0:29:37 > 0:29:41I wrote him a long letter telling him of my feelings for him
0:29:41 > 0:29:44and my hopes for us. I thought
0:29:44 > 0:29:47he'd be so pleased about this letter and I couldn't believe it,
0:29:47 > 0:29:50he was so angry. I said, "What's the matter?" He said,
0:29:50 > 0:29:53"Well, the letter you sent to me
0:29:53 > 0:29:56"could have landed us both in prison."
0:29:58 > 0:30:02I was 14 years old and I had a boyfriend
0:30:02 > 0:30:07and he had written me a letter, very stupidly,
0:30:07 > 0:30:09and I had dropped the letter
0:30:09 > 0:30:13and my father said, "What's this?"
0:30:13 > 0:30:14I can remember him now,
0:30:14 > 0:30:16God bless him,
0:30:16 > 0:30:21"I'm having no son of mine a queer, you're going to the doctor."
0:30:21 > 0:30:27So I was taken down to the doctor, who said, "You've got a disease."
0:30:27 > 0:30:30This is great. "You've got a disease."
0:30:30 > 0:30:34I never accepted that I had an illness.
0:30:34 > 0:30:36I accepted that I preferred
0:30:36 > 0:30:42to go to bed with a man rather than a woman. I didn't see that
0:30:42 > 0:30:46as an illness, but I did see it as something that you kept to yourself,
0:30:46 > 0:30:49because of... because of the implications,
0:30:49 > 0:30:52because of the consequences if you didn't.
0:30:57 > 0:31:01You are each charged with gross indecency,
0:31:01 > 0:31:06buggery, attempted buggery, aiding and abetting buggery,
0:31:06 > 0:31:10procuring male persons for acts of gross indecency,
0:31:10 > 0:31:15and conspiracy to incite male persons to commit gross indecency.
0:31:17 > 0:31:21To each of these charges, how do you, Edward Montagu, plead?
0:31:21 > 0:31:24Not guilty.
0:31:24 > 0:31:27To each of these charges, how do you, Michael Pitt-Rivers, plead?
0:31:27 > 0:31:29Not guilty.
0:31:29 > 0:31:34And to each of these charges, how do you, Peter Wildeblood, plead?
0:31:34 > 0:31:35Not guilty.
0:31:40 > 0:31:42KEY RATTLES IN LOCK
0:31:54 > 0:31:55All right?
0:31:56 > 0:31:57I've been better.
0:31:59 > 0:32:00Right.
0:32:00 > 0:32:03The form is, basically we deny everything,
0:32:03 > 0:32:05none of us are queer,
0:32:05 > 0:32:08we've never dabbled, never even been tempted.
0:32:08 > 0:32:09Right?
0:32:09 > 0:32:12It's very hard to prove.
0:32:12 > 0:32:16Love on a page means nothing.
0:32:20 > 0:32:22I thought we'd be all right.
0:32:23 > 0:32:25We were discreet.
0:32:27 > 0:32:30- Why are they doing this? - Just stay calm, Peter.
0:32:41 > 0:32:44The case for the prosecution begins with Wildeblood.
0:32:44 > 0:32:49In March 1952, Wildeblood met an RAF corporal in Piccadilly.
0:32:49 > 0:32:53His name is McNally and he'll be called as a witness.
0:32:53 > 0:32:57McNally is a pervert. Wildeblood took him back to his flat
0:32:57 > 0:33:02and there committed an offence, namely buggery, with this McNally.
0:33:02 > 0:33:05McNally had a friend called John Reynolds, also a queer.
0:33:05 > 0:33:08You've probably heard of that term.
0:33:10 > 0:33:14Wildeblood was a friend of Lord Montagu.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17Mention was made to Lord Montagu of this John Reynolds,
0:33:17 > 0:33:21introductions were arranged, offences against Reynolds
0:33:21 > 0:33:25were committed by Montagu at Wildeblood's flat in London,
0:33:25 > 0:33:29and on a trip to Beaulieu, joined by Michael Pitt-Rivers,
0:33:29 > 0:33:31an orgy took place.
0:33:33 > 0:33:37McNally and Reynolds are men of the lowest possible moral character.
0:33:39 > 0:33:44Taken under the seductive influence of lavish hospitality of
0:33:44 > 0:33:48these three men so infinitely their social superiors,
0:33:48 > 0:33:51they were willing parties to unnatural acts.
0:33:51 > 0:33:55It would be dangerous to convict any of the defendants
0:33:55 > 0:33:58purely on the evidence of men such as McNally and Reynolds.
0:33:58 > 0:34:00We hope to satisfy you by letters,
0:34:00 > 0:34:04and other documents, that there is copious confirmation that
0:34:04 > 0:34:09the story these men, Reynolds and McNally, are telling is true.
0:34:19 > 0:34:21And on that date in December,
0:34:21 > 0:34:24when you attended his property, did you see Wildeblood?
0:34:24 > 0:34:26He came to the door.
0:34:26 > 0:34:27Where did you go with him?
0:34:27 > 0:34:29To the living room.
0:34:29 > 0:34:31Did you suggest to him that he write a statement?
0:34:31 > 0:34:32No, sir.
0:34:32 > 0:34:36Did you promise him that if he write a statement he'd just be bound over?
0:34:36 > 0:34:39- I did not. - And the letters you showed him,
0:34:39 > 0:34:43he recognised these as letters written by himself and McNally?
0:34:43 > 0:34:45Indeed he did, sir.
0:34:49 > 0:34:52I didn't think this could happen in Britain.
0:34:52 > 0:34:53I didn't think the police...
0:34:53 > 0:34:55Well, now you know.
0:34:56 > 0:34:59The rotten apples aren't the odd ones out, Peter.
0:35:04 > 0:35:07They're bastards. Jesus.
0:35:07 > 0:35:08Try to stay calm.
0:35:18 > 0:35:19You're next, McNally.
0:35:23 > 0:35:25Call Edward McNally.
0:35:51 > 0:35:54You are Edward McNally?
0:35:54 > 0:35:55Yes.
0:35:55 > 0:35:59- Do you know the accused, Peter Wildeblood?- Yes.
0:35:59 > 0:36:03Look at the accused and confirm that he is the man known to you.
0:36:05 > 0:36:09When you spent the night at his flat, where did you sleep?
0:36:09 > 0:36:11In the bedroom with Wildeblood.
0:36:11 > 0:36:13Did anything occur between you?
0:36:15 > 0:36:18We committed buggery with each other.
0:36:19 > 0:36:23Did you write this letter to him, exhibit 44?
0:36:27 > 0:36:29Yes.
0:36:29 > 0:36:33"Dearest Peter, I've really got it bad, sweetheart.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36"In fact, I haven't felt so happy for a long time.
0:36:36 > 0:36:39"Just to let you know, I haven't forgotten you
0:36:39 > 0:36:43"and I never will." Did you mean those words?
0:36:44 > 0:36:46I thought I did, sir.
0:36:46 > 0:36:50Were you what you would describe as "in love" with Peter Wildeblood?
0:36:53 > 0:36:55Yes, sir.
0:36:55 > 0:36:58Did you receive this letter from him, exhibit 45?
0:37:02 > 0:37:04Yes.
0:37:04 > 0:37:07"You are so much a part of my life that I do not think
0:37:07 > 0:37:09"I could ever do without you.
0:37:09 > 0:37:11"I love you as much now as I did
0:37:11 > 0:37:14"when we spent our lovely holiday together.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17"The happiest time..."
0:37:22 > 0:37:24Did you believe those words?
0:37:24 > 0:37:26I suppose so, sir.
0:37:26 > 0:37:30Did you believe Peter Wildeblood to be in love with you?
0:37:32 > 0:37:34Yes, sir.
0:37:48 > 0:37:50Why did he do this to me?
0:37:52 > 0:37:55Why did Eddie do this?
0:37:55 > 0:37:56You know why he did it.
0:37:58 > 0:38:00To save his own skin.
0:38:04 > 0:38:06Forget him.
0:38:24 > 0:38:27I joined the Navy ten days before my 17th birthday.
0:38:30 > 0:38:34It was on HMS Reggio that I was,
0:38:34 > 0:38:40um, er, to put it...crudely...
0:38:40 > 0:38:42caught in the act.
0:38:42 > 0:38:46I was, er, court martialled, charged with
0:38:46 > 0:38:52buggery and gross indecency, then I was asked to give
0:38:52 > 0:38:55the names of the people with whom I had slept
0:38:55 > 0:39:02or had anything to do with, and was told, "If you tell us their names,
0:39:02 > 0:39:05"you're looking at 12 months.
0:39:05 > 0:39:10"If you don't tell us their names, you're looking at five years."
0:39:12 > 0:39:16I gave them the name of an Army officer with whom
0:39:16 > 0:39:19I had spent a night ashore.
0:39:23 > 0:39:29They found him, and one day the warder, screw,
0:39:29 > 0:39:32came in and said, "The chap's blown his brains out."
0:39:34 > 0:39:39And that is something which I've had to live with...
0:39:41 > 0:39:44..for over 60 years.
0:39:47 > 0:39:50Erm, it is still...
0:39:52 > 0:39:54I hate myself for it...
0:39:55 > 0:39:57..but it was just one of those things.
0:40:05 > 0:40:07Call Peter Wildeblood.
0:40:07 > 0:40:09DOOR OPENS
0:40:25 > 0:40:27Place your right hand on the Bible,
0:40:27 > 0:40:30take the card in your other hand and read the statement.
0:40:30 > 0:40:32"I swear to tell the truth,
0:40:32 > 0:40:35"the whole truth and nothing but the truth."
0:40:40 > 0:40:42Counsel for the defence.
0:40:44 > 0:40:48- Is your name Peter Wildeblood? - Yes.
0:40:49 > 0:40:52Are you a homosexual, Mr Wildeblood?
0:40:54 > 0:40:56Yes, I am.
0:41:00 > 0:41:03Thinking back to July 1952,
0:41:03 > 0:41:08how would you describe your relationship with Edward McNally?
0:41:09 > 0:41:12I'd become fond of him.
0:41:14 > 0:41:18He is not educated but he is intelligent.
0:41:18 > 0:41:23My work made me live in a kind of way I didn't much enjoy
0:41:23 > 0:41:27and I liked to be able to relax with someone who is quite simple,
0:41:27 > 0:41:30unpretentious and fond of me.
0:41:30 > 0:41:34What kind of letters was he writing to you?
0:41:34 > 0:41:36They were emotional letters.
0:41:36 > 0:41:39They contained endearments of an unusual kind
0:41:39 > 0:41:41for two men to exchange.
0:41:41 > 0:41:44And you wrote similar letters to him?
0:41:44 > 0:41:47I was extremely lonely at that time.
0:41:48 > 0:41:51You are familiar with what happened to Oscar Wilde?
0:41:51 > 0:41:54Oscar Wilde was accused of gross indecency.
0:41:54 > 0:41:59I have never committed gross indecency nor buggery with anybody.
0:41:59 > 0:42:03- You never committed these offences with Edward McNally?- No.
0:42:11 > 0:42:13Mr Wildeblood, when you went into this box,
0:42:13 > 0:42:16- you took the oath in solemn form, you realise that?- Yes.
0:42:16 > 0:42:20To tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
0:42:20 > 0:42:21Yes.
0:42:21 > 0:42:23You know that we've heard McNally,
0:42:23 > 0:42:26your friend of some 21 months, describe in detail
0:42:26 > 0:42:30what took place between you and him. You've heard the letters
0:42:30 > 0:42:33sent by you to him during this time read out in this court.
0:42:33 > 0:42:37- Do you still say you've told the whole truth?- I do.
0:42:39 > 0:42:43Have you any suggestion, then, as to why McNally would tell such
0:42:43 > 0:42:45wicked lies about you?
0:42:45 > 0:42:49Well, I should have thought his motive was perfectly obvious.
0:42:49 > 0:42:51He did it to save his own skin.
0:42:51 > 0:42:54Were you attracted to McNally?
0:42:54 > 0:42:56I was not physically attracted to him.
0:42:56 > 0:42:59How do you say you were attracted to him, then?
0:42:59 > 0:43:01- Emotionally.- Emotionally?
0:43:02 > 0:43:07This McNally was very much your social inferior. Why then...
0:43:07 > 0:43:11During the war, I fought alongside men from many different backgrounds.
0:43:11 > 0:43:13I don't recall anyone objecting then.
0:43:13 > 0:43:17Before God, I entirely commend that sentiment, Mr Wildeblood,
0:43:17 > 0:43:19but what the jury may wish to know is this.
0:43:20 > 0:43:26Why would you, a highly intelligent man, a beautiful writer,
0:43:26 > 0:43:28want to spend 21 months
0:43:28 > 0:43:34of his life with an uneducated RAF corporal from the pits of Glasgow?
0:43:37 > 0:43:41That night in Piccadilly when you met, did you smile at each other?
0:43:44 > 0:43:46I cannot remember.
0:43:46 > 0:43:49When you got into conversation, did a smile pass between you?
0:43:49 > 0:43:50I should think possibly, yes.
0:43:50 > 0:43:53- And you took him back to your flat? - He had nowhere to go.
0:43:53 > 0:43:54- Resisted all temptation?- Yes.
0:43:54 > 0:43:56Didn't even kiss him?
0:43:56 > 0:43:57No, I did not.
0:43:59 > 0:44:04You never felt the need for physical expression of a healthy,
0:44:04 > 0:44:06emotional young man?
0:44:06 > 0:44:09I was incapable of sexual expression.
0:44:09 > 0:44:11Incapable?
0:44:14 > 0:44:16- Have you consulted a doctor?- No.
0:44:18 > 0:44:21"Dearest Peter, I've really got it bad, sweetheart."
0:44:21 > 0:44:23What had he got bad? Love, was it not?
0:44:23 > 0:44:25I don't accept for a moment...
0:44:25 > 0:44:27"In fact, I haven't felt so happy for a long time."
0:44:27 > 0:44:30Because of his friendship with you, yes?
0:44:31 > 0:44:35Because of his friendship with you? Yes?
0:44:35 > 0:44:36Yes.
0:44:40 > 0:44:42"This is being written in bed.
0:44:42 > 0:44:46"Wish you were here. But the RAF have definite views on such things."
0:44:49 > 0:44:53Would a young man write those words to you if you
0:44:53 > 0:44:55and he had not been intimate?
0:44:55 > 0:44:57Well, this young man would.
0:44:57 > 0:45:00"My dearest, darling Eddie,
0:45:00 > 0:45:03"oh, how relieved I was to hear from you at last.
0:45:03 > 0:45:07"You are so much a part of my life that I do not think
0:45:07 > 0:45:09"I could ever do without you." Is that right?
0:45:11 > 0:45:13He was a part of my life.
0:45:13 > 0:45:15"I love you as much now as I did
0:45:15 > 0:45:17"when we spent our lovely holiday together."
0:45:17 > 0:45:20On this holiday, you spent that whole time resisting temptation?
0:45:20 > 0:45:23- Yes.- What, then, made it so happy for you?
0:45:23 > 0:45:27The friendship, you know, the... the conversation, the...
0:45:29 > 0:45:31..the bathing.
0:45:31 > 0:45:33The weather?
0:45:35 > 0:45:38"All the love I've ever known, P."
0:45:44 > 0:45:47That was all the love I have ever known.
0:45:48 > 0:45:51The arrest must have placed a considerable burden on you?
0:46:02 > 0:46:04If you're born a sexual invert you will always have
0:46:04 > 0:46:07a burden on your soul.
0:46:07 > 0:46:09If there was any way of getting rid of it
0:46:09 > 0:46:12I should only be too pleased
0:46:12 > 0:46:14because it has been a handicap to me
0:46:14 > 0:46:17and led to nothing but loneliness and unhappiness.
0:46:19 > 0:46:21I have no further questions.
0:46:22 > 0:46:24Witness is dismissed.
0:46:43 > 0:46:45To the charge of buggery, do you find
0:46:45 > 0:46:48the defendants guilty or not guilty?
0:46:50 > 0:46:52Guilty.
0:46:54 > 0:46:56To the charge of gross indecency,
0:46:56 > 0:47:00do you find the defendants guilty or not guilty?
0:47:00 > 0:47:02Guilty.
0:47:03 > 0:47:06To the charge of conspiracy to incite male persons to commit
0:47:06 > 0:47:11gross indecency, do you find the defendants guilty or not guilty?
0:47:11 > 0:47:13Guilty.
0:47:14 > 0:47:18To the charge of procuring male persons for acts of gross indecency,
0:47:18 > 0:47:21do you find the defendants guilty or not guilty?
0:47:21 > 0:47:23SPEECH FADES
0:47:52 > 0:47:54- NEWS REPORT:- The Montagu trial ended today
0:47:54 > 0:47:57with jail terms for all three accused.
0:47:57 > 0:48:00Mr Justice Ormerod passed sentences of 12 months'
0:48:00 > 0:48:01imprisonment on Lord Montagu,
0:48:01 > 0:48:05and 18 months each on Michael Pitt-Rivers and Peter Wildeblood.
0:48:13 > 0:48:17I'd read all about it in the newspapers
0:48:17 > 0:48:19and I thought, "Good God, it's awful."
0:48:19 > 0:48:23They were determined to get verdicts of guilty on the three men
0:48:23 > 0:48:27involved - Montagu, Wildeblood and Michael Pitt-Rivers -
0:48:27 > 0:48:32and they were sent to prison of course, and the two airmen
0:48:32 > 0:48:35who testified against them were given immunity.
0:48:35 > 0:48:38I didn't know how Peter Wildeblood, how he was...
0:48:38 > 0:48:41how the judiciary and the police behaved.
0:48:41 > 0:48:43I didn't understand that and when...
0:48:43 > 0:48:46I mean, when I read it, I was filled with terror.
0:48:46 > 0:48:49This is the kind of stuff that was reality, it was real,
0:48:49 > 0:48:52this is what happened to you if you were gay.
0:48:52 > 0:48:59It was pretty heavy duty, erm, I don't know how it didn't
0:48:59 > 0:49:02deter me completely and, of course, it did deter lots of people.
0:49:02 > 0:49:06There were lots of very unhappy gay people
0:49:06 > 0:49:09really trying hard to be straight.
0:49:09 > 0:49:14Gradually, people were talking. Whereas this had been a taboo,
0:49:14 > 0:49:17now it was a taboo that was being discussed.
0:49:17 > 0:49:20That gave me an edge of hope,
0:49:20 > 0:49:23when I didn't have very much of that around me.
0:50:20 > 0:50:22DOOR SLAMS SHUT
0:50:49 > 0:50:51KNOCKING
0:51:13 > 0:51:14Wildeblood!
0:51:38 > 0:51:41INDISTINCT CHATTER
0:52:04 > 0:52:07I seen you come in.
0:52:10 > 0:52:13You look better in real life than you did in the papers.
0:52:13 > 0:52:15Oh...
0:52:16 > 0:52:17Thank you.
0:52:19 > 0:52:22It looked like you was dead, or something.
0:52:27 > 0:52:28How's your porridge going?
0:52:29 > 0:52:32It's, er, OK, it's going.
0:52:34 > 0:52:35Yours?
0:52:37 > 0:52:39All right.
0:52:40 > 0:52:41Two more years.
0:52:44 > 0:52:47That RAF lad stitched you up proper, didn't he?
0:52:50 > 0:52:53Not on, what he did to you.
0:52:56 > 0:52:57Form up!
0:53:02 > 0:53:03Be seeing you.
0:53:05 > 0:53:06Be seeing you.
0:53:48 > 0:53:518505, Wildeblood, sir.
0:53:51 > 0:53:53Wildeblood, yes.
0:53:53 > 0:53:55Have you given any thought to what you might do
0:53:55 > 0:53:58when you've finished your sentence?
0:53:58 > 0:54:00I plan to carry on as before, sir.
0:54:00 > 0:54:03Well, you'll certainly be returning to an institution like this
0:54:03 > 0:54:05if you do.
0:54:05 > 0:54:08I meant I shall go on writing.
0:54:08 > 0:54:11I suspect you'll find that rather harder than you imagine.
0:54:13 > 0:54:15Do you know someone called Iris?
0:54:16 > 0:54:18Why, yes, sir.
0:54:18 > 0:54:21Quite a common name in your...circles.
0:54:23 > 0:54:25Iris is a woman, sir.
0:54:26 > 0:54:30Are you willing to undergo medical treatment for your condition?
0:54:30 > 0:54:32Yes, sir.
0:54:32 > 0:54:35And you'll see the psychiatrist in due course.
0:54:35 > 0:54:36That will be all.
0:54:47 > 0:54:49TYPEWRITER KEYS CLACK
0:54:49 > 0:54:52All the things that wants to find me as a man have evaporated...
0:54:56 > 0:55:00..distilled down to a revolting caricature of homosexual man.
0:55:10 > 0:55:12INDISTINCT CHATTER
0:55:29 > 0:55:31Hello again.
0:55:31 > 0:55:33Hello.
0:55:33 > 0:55:35It's rotten how they did you.
0:55:35 > 0:55:38There but for the grace of God, you know.
0:55:40 > 0:55:44- I'm sorry?- It's people who have a little queer streak of their own
0:55:44 > 0:55:47that does the most damage, if you ask me.
0:55:48 > 0:55:51On the plus side, this place is packed with queers.
0:55:51 > 0:55:52Receiving, mostly.
0:55:52 > 0:55:55MEN LAUGH
0:55:55 > 0:55:57DOOR SLAMS SHUT
0:56:03 > 0:56:07I arrived there with a couple of other prisoners, I think.
0:56:09 > 0:56:11Er, it really did frighten me.
0:56:11 > 0:56:15You had the openly gay people who didn't seem to care
0:56:15 > 0:56:17if anyone knew they were gay.
0:56:17 > 0:56:21They flaunted round in groups, were quite outrageous, effeminate,
0:56:21 > 0:56:23girlie names all the time.
0:56:23 > 0:56:24On the other hand,
0:56:24 > 0:56:28there were the "undercover Marys", as we liked to refer to them.
0:56:28 > 0:56:30Those who had, for one reason or another,
0:56:30 > 0:56:33good reason not to be blatantly gay,
0:56:33 > 0:56:37and there was certainly a certain tension between them.
0:56:37 > 0:56:42The governor said, "We know why you're here, erm...
0:56:44 > 0:56:50"..and I want nothing of a homosexual nature for you
0:56:50 > 0:56:54"to try and take because if you do, you'll be here for ever."
0:56:54 > 0:56:59Being homosexual was such an aberration, terrible,
0:56:59 > 0:57:03worse than anything, worse than a murderer. Much, much worse.
0:57:03 > 0:57:06There were times when one thought,
0:57:06 > 0:57:11will they ever understand that there's nothing unnatural, erm,
0:57:11 > 0:57:13about us at all?
0:57:13 > 0:57:16We're perfectly natural human beings
0:57:16 > 0:57:19with a natural desire for love,
0:57:19 > 0:57:24and it increased one's sense
0:57:24 > 0:57:28of alienation from society as a whole.
0:57:28 > 0:57:35I mean it just destroyed my... my...my...my personality, really.
0:57:37 > 0:57:42I couldn't let my... I couldn't be who I was, so I had nothing.
0:57:48 > 0:57:50BANGING
0:57:58 > 0:58:00TYPEWRITER KEYS CLATTER
0:58:04 > 0:58:08I now know what it is like to be a criminal.
0:58:11 > 0:58:15To know that everything you do will be misunderstood
0:58:15 > 0:58:18or used as evidence against you.
0:58:18 > 0:58:20BANGING
0:58:25 > 0:58:30It makes me fearful of my future, and fear is a terrible emotion.
0:58:32 > 0:58:34It's like a black frost,
0:58:34 > 0:58:38which blights and stunts all the other qualities of a man.
0:59:07 > 0:59:10- Dan, that's really... - Pick it up, then.
0:59:17 > 0:59:19Got to keep your strength up.
0:59:34 > 0:59:36Pinched it out the garden.
0:59:38 > 0:59:41Make your cell feel a bit more like home.
1:01:00 > 1:01:02RETCHING AND COUGHING
1:01:10 > 1:01:12KNOCK ON DOOR
1:01:12 > 1:01:13Come in.
1:01:16 > 1:01:17Sit down.
1:01:21 > 1:01:23Wildeblood, isn't it?
1:01:23 > 1:01:24Yes, sir.
1:01:26 > 1:01:29Openly homosexual.
1:01:31 > 1:01:33Do you attend the orgies?
1:01:35 > 1:01:36Orgies?
1:01:36 > 1:01:41Yes. In Chelsea and other places?
1:01:42 > 1:01:47Male homosexuals gather together and engage in unnatural practices.
1:01:47 > 1:01:48Really?
1:01:48 > 1:01:50So I'm told.
1:01:51 > 1:01:54I haven't heard of this, sir.
1:01:55 > 1:02:00Does not attend the orgies.
1:02:04 > 1:02:07- You want to be cured?- Yes, sir.
1:02:07 > 1:02:09Well, there are a number of options.
1:02:09 > 1:02:14I understood that glandular injections or hormone treatment...
1:02:14 > 1:02:17We've tried oestrogen injections on a couple of cases here
1:02:17 > 1:02:20but with no great degree of success.
1:02:20 > 1:02:26One man underwent physical changes of a...a somewhat alarming nature.
1:02:27 > 1:02:30We use aversion therapy.
1:02:30 > 1:02:32How does that...
1:02:32 > 1:02:34Electrical aversion.
1:02:34 > 1:02:38Electrodes fixed to the wrists, calves, feet.
1:02:38 > 1:02:41You'd be told to fantasise,
1:02:41 > 1:02:46watch pictures of men in various states of undress, receive shocks.
1:02:48 > 1:02:52Does it leave...marks?
1:02:52 > 1:02:55They fade after a while.
1:02:55 > 1:02:58Or chemical aversion -
1:02:58 > 1:03:03apomorphine injections - produces nausea, you'll vomit
1:03:03 > 1:03:05then you lie in it,
1:03:05 > 1:03:09no cleaning up allowed. Essential part of the therapy.
1:03:11 > 1:03:13For how long?
1:03:14 > 1:03:17Two days, sometimes three, it depends.
1:03:24 > 1:03:26I shouldn't be here.
1:03:28 > 1:03:30This shouldn't be happening to me.
1:03:30 > 1:03:32You broke the law, Wildeblood.
1:03:32 > 1:03:35Then the law is wrong.
1:03:58 > 1:04:03The two treatments, the kindest one was that you would do...
1:04:03 > 1:04:07you would go to a counsellor, erm, psychologist.
1:04:11 > 1:04:16The, erm, worst one, the worst option, was that you would
1:04:16 > 1:04:19have aversion therapy,
1:04:19 > 1:04:24and aversion therapy, um,
1:04:24 > 1:04:27was probably
1:04:27 > 1:04:33the three worst days of my 67 years on this Earth as a nurse.
1:04:33 > 1:04:37They gave me an injection and I don't know to this day what it was -
1:04:37 > 1:04:41I have been told but I can't remember now - which made me
1:04:41 > 1:04:46feel very queasy and really started to react with inside me,
1:04:46 > 1:04:50and, er, pretty horrendous, and I said, "Excuse me,
1:04:50 > 1:04:53"I think I'm going to be sick."
1:04:53 > 1:04:56He said, "That's fine, just be sick," so I said,
1:04:56 > 1:05:00"Well, could I have a bucket or something or a bowl?"
1:05:00 > 1:05:02"No, just be sick."
1:05:02 > 1:05:05And then started feeling queasy down below and I said,
1:05:05 > 1:05:07"I've got to go to the toilet."
1:05:07 > 1:05:08"Don't worry about it, just do it."
1:05:08 > 1:05:13There was no talk about... about your...what you thought,
1:05:13 > 1:05:16what modern therapy would go into,
1:05:16 > 1:05:19no dialogue between the therapist and you
1:05:19 > 1:05:21with regard to your feelings and so on.
1:05:21 > 1:05:24There was no opportunity to express yourself.
1:05:24 > 1:05:28It was simply...it was simply medical treatments with tablets that
1:05:28 > 1:05:29tried to damp you down.
1:05:29 > 1:05:35And for 72 hours, I... Well, I had nothing left, there was
1:05:35 > 1:05:41no sick coming up, there was no poo coming out, there was nothing.
1:05:41 > 1:05:45There was no water coming out of my penis, there was nothing.
1:05:45 > 1:05:50I was a mental wreck, and this nurse was embarrassed,
1:05:50 > 1:05:56and I can see his face now, just didn't know what to say to me
1:05:56 > 1:05:59and I certainly didn't know what to say to him.
1:05:59 > 1:06:00I can only say to you
1:06:01 > 1:06:04and all those who have had this dreadful treatment,
1:06:04 > 1:06:10as a nurse, I'm sorry that I was complicit in it.
1:06:11 > 1:06:15I can't do any more, I can't undo what's been done.
1:06:17 > 1:06:19I can only say I'm sorry.
1:06:23 > 1:06:26SHRIEKS AND EXCITED CHATTER
1:06:26 > 1:06:30I thought he was going to my bottom off, or something!
1:06:30 > 1:06:32CHATTER AND LAUGHTER CONTINUES
1:06:36 > 1:06:38Absolutely beastly thing!
1:06:38 > 1:06:40I was scarred for life.
1:06:40 > 1:06:43Anyway, I forgot my soap, and I turned round and bent down
1:06:43 > 1:06:47and said, "I can't. She'll go for me right in the derriere!"
1:07:06 > 1:07:08You landed on your feet there, girl.
1:07:08 > 1:07:13He's a lovely bit of stuff. Get right in there.
1:07:18 > 1:07:19Sorry.
1:07:19 > 1:07:22Touched a nerve?
1:07:22 > 1:07:24Your business, I'm sure.
1:07:27 > 1:07:28Seen this?
1:07:35 > 1:07:38- Wolfenden.- A committee.
1:07:38 > 1:07:41See if they might want to change the law against queers.
1:07:41 > 1:07:44They want people to come forward, have their say.
1:07:44 > 1:07:48There's a few things I could tell them.
1:07:48 > 1:07:51We should all do it, don't you think? Band together.
1:07:51 > 1:07:54No!
1:07:54 > 1:07:56No, we're not the same, you and I!
1:08:37 > 1:08:39I am a homosexual.
1:08:42 > 1:08:47For many years I kept this a secret from my family and friends
1:08:47 > 1:08:50and tried privately to resolve my struggle in a way
1:08:50 > 1:08:53as consistent as possible with moral law.
1:08:56 > 1:08:59I do not believe I ever did any harm to anyone.
1:09:03 > 1:09:07If any harm has been done, the fault lies not with me
1:09:07 > 1:09:11but with those who dragged into the merciless light of publicity
1:09:11 > 1:09:15things which would have been better left in darkness.
1:09:18 > 1:09:21If there is bitterness in my words,
1:09:21 > 1:09:27I hope it will be the bitterness of medicine, not of poison.
1:09:35 > 1:09:39Just before he was imprisoned, he had just bought a house
1:09:39 > 1:09:41not far away from our flat.
1:09:44 > 1:09:47When he came out of prison, his neighbours had put up
1:09:47 > 1:09:50a big notice - "welcome home" -
1:09:50 > 1:09:53and I think that that more than anything
1:09:53 > 1:09:56erm, gave Peter a tremendous encouragement -
1:09:56 > 1:10:02these ordinary local people were accepting him for what he was.
1:10:09 > 1:10:10I must have my say.
1:10:12 > 1:10:15Wolfenden needs to hear the truth.
1:10:35 > 1:10:38I'm trying to get through to Malcolm Starr.
1:10:38 > 1:10:39The Home Office.
1:10:42 > 1:10:43Yes, I can wait.
1:10:55 > 1:10:58I realised, with the setting up of Wolfenden,
1:10:58 > 1:11:01and even before, that there was a change in the air.
1:11:05 > 1:11:11It was the first indication that the law against homosexuality
1:11:11 > 1:11:17might at least be reconsidered, the first glimmer of hope,
1:11:17 > 1:11:20and so we all knew about it, straights and gays.
1:11:32 > 1:11:36May I say, Mr Wildeblood, how very grateful we are to you
1:11:36 > 1:11:41- for finding time to talk to us this afternoon.- Not at all.
1:11:41 > 1:11:46But I was particularly aware of it because it so happened
1:11:46 > 1:11:50I was having an affair at the time with Jeremy Wolfenden, who was
1:11:50 > 1:11:54the son of Sir John Wolfenden, who was head of the committee.
1:11:59 > 1:12:04You say there are three distinct types of homosexual.
1:12:04 > 1:12:09Yes, the men who regard themselves as women
1:12:09 > 1:12:13through glandular or psychological maladjustment.
1:12:13 > 1:12:14Group A?
1:12:14 > 1:12:19Yes. Group B, pederasts.
1:12:21 > 1:12:24I cannot speak on their behalf.
1:12:24 > 1:12:28I regard them the same way a normal man might regard those
1:12:28 > 1:12:30pederasts who pray on young girls.
1:12:30 > 1:12:35And Group C? Men...like yourself.
1:12:35 > 1:12:38Homosexuals in the strictest sense.
1:12:39 > 1:12:43Adult men who are attracted to other adult men.
1:12:45 > 1:12:51Men who desire to lead their lives with discretion and decency,
1:12:51 > 1:12:54neither corrupting others
1:12:54 > 1:12:56nor publically flaunting their condition.
1:12:59 > 1:13:02We are by far the largest group of homosexuals.
1:13:02 > 1:13:04The discreet homosexual?
1:13:04 > 1:13:06Yes, my lord.
1:13:06 > 1:13:10We seek to find another of our own kind and...
1:13:12 > 1:13:18..if possible, form a permanent attachment in private.
1:13:19 > 1:13:23But the law, as it stands, makes this kind of arrangement
1:13:23 > 1:13:25fraught with risk.
1:13:25 > 1:13:30A promiscuous and temporary liaison is far less likely to provide
1:13:30 > 1:13:33corroborative evidence, letters, that kind of thing, in court
1:13:33 > 1:13:39than an association in which genuine trust and fidelity play a part.
1:13:41 > 1:13:42I see.
1:13:43 > 1:13:45Yes.
1:13:45 > 1:13:49I was going to ask a little more about Group A,
1:13:49 > 1:13:52the glandular category.
1:13:52 > 1:13:54They're known as "pansies".
1:13:59 > 1:14:02People of that kind are born like that.
1:14:04 > 1:14:08To that extent, I suppose they're not responsible.
1:14:11 > 1:14:16What they are responsible for is their nuisance value.
1:14:16 > 1:14:18They cause a lot of bad public feeling
1:14:18 > 1:14:22towards the other, more discreet homosexuals.
1:14:28 > 1:14:33When I ask for tolerance, it is for men like us...
1:14:35 > 1:14:38..not the corrupters of youth,
1:14:38 > 1:14:42not the effeminate creatures making an exhibition of themselves.
1:14:46 > 1:14:52I speak for the men who, despite their tragic disability,
1:14:52 > 1:14:55try to lead their lives as decent citizens.
1:14:57 > 1:14:59There are many thousands of us.
1:15:00 > 1:15:02How many, we do not know.
1:15:04 > 1:15:07I believe that we would be better
1:15:07 > 1:15:10and more useful members of society if we were allowed to
1:15:10 > 1:15:15live in peace, instead of being condemned to live outside the law.
1:15:22 > 1:15:25What did you do that for? Stop it...
1:15:25 > 1:15:27HE GROANS
1:15:27 > 1:15:29You're a fucking homo!
1:15:36 > 1:15:38Thank you, Mr Wildeblood.
1:15:41 > 1:15:43You've been most helpful.
1:15:43 > 1:15:45Thank you, sir.
1:16:14 > 1:16:16MAN WHISTLES
1:16:26 > 1:16:30You know, I was very pleased with the recommendations made
1:16:30 > 1:16:32and I thought, well, the law will change, but it wasn't changed
1:16:32 > 1:16:36for another, what, nine years or ten years,
1:16:36 > 1:16:39and when it did change, you know,
1:16:39 > 1:16:41as I said earlier, I thought,
1:16:41 > 1:16:45"Oh, yeah, nice condescending thing to do."
1:16:45 > 1:16:47I was quite irritated by it.
1:16:47 > 1:16:48INTERVIEWER: Why was that?
1:16:48 > 1:16:52Yeah, because I thought, you know, all this consenting adults
1:16:52 > 1:16:56in private, and if you had a threesome, say, you know,
1:16:56 > 1:16:59you could be brought up... sent to prison -
1:16:59 > 1:17:02not that people...not that people wanted threesomes, but you know
1:17:02 > 1:17:06what I mean, and it had to be in private, in a house, and if there
1:17:06 > 1:17:10were other people in the house, you know, you were breaking the law.
1:17:10 > 1:17:14The change in the law that took place in 1967 I'm quite sure
1:17:14 > 1:17:18had an enormous effect on a huge number of gay people but, erm,
1:17:18 > 1:17:21the problem was, it was a minor change.
1:17:21 > 1:17:23They weren't going to turn around to their parents and say,
1:17:23 > 1:17:27"Oh, I'm gay and it's legal now so you can't do anything about it."
1:17:27 > 1:17:30They were still going to be hiding, hiding themselves. It would take a
1:17:30 > 1:17:34social change to bring real freedom to these people, not a legal change.
1:17:34 > 1:17:38That is not to minimise the benefit the legal change made,
1:17:38 > 1:17:41if nothing else, to stop people going to prison for something
1:17:41 > 1:17:44that was nobody's business but their own.
1:17:44 > 1:17:46My mother was saying,
1:17:46 > 1:17:49"I know what you're going to do.
1:17:49 > 1:17:51"Later on, when I go,
1:17:51 > 1:17:54"you'll marry a non-Jewish girl."
1:17:54 > 1:17:57I said, "Mum, I won't marry a girl at all."
1:18:02 > 1:18:05It must have been a shock to her...
1:18:07 > 1:18:09..but she just called me a dirty dog.
1:18:15 > 1:18:18I did hold back particularly
1:18:18 > 1:18:23because I knew my family would disown me pretty well,
1:18:23 > 1:18:28and here I am now, and, er, fortunately...
1:18:28 > 1:18:33I mean, it was only literally
1:18:33 > 1:18:38since September of last year,
1:18:38 > 1:18:43that I was able to come out to my family,
1:18:43 > 1:18:46well, to my sister, younger sister.
1:18:46 > 1:18:51Even now, I sometimes pinch myself and think, "Is it true?
1:18:51 > 1:18:52"Has it happened?"
1:18:52 > 1:18:56Erm, and I'm astonished.
1:18:56 > 1:19:02I would never have thought that the law would change,
1:19:02 > 1:19:05that public opinion would change.
1:19:07 > 1:19:09- Hello, darling.- Hello, darling.
1:19:09 > 1:19:11How are you?
1:19:11 > 1:19:12Not bad.
1:19:12 > 1:19:14- Oh, good.- And yourself?
1:19:14 > 1:19:16- All right, thank you.- Good.
1:19:16 > 1:19:19- You had a good time? - Very good time.- Oh, good.
1:19:19 > 1:19:24Well, we were the first couple in Westminster
1:19:24 > 1:19:31as well as in the country to actually form the civil partnership,
1:19:31 > 1:19:35which was very exciting, actually.
1:19:41 > 1:19:47Lee died two years ago and we'd been together 66 years, and I found
1:19:47 > 1:19:50that letter that I wrote to him amongst his effects,
1:19:50 > 1:19:54and the address, his name, my name had been cut out,
1:19:54 > 1:19:57so I folded the letter up
1:19:57 > 1:20:01and placed it in his coffin so that it went with him wherever he went.
1:20:01 > 1:20:03Yeah.
1:20:11 > 1:20:12Queer.
1:20:12 > 1:20:14Homosexual.
1:20:14 > 1:20:16Poofter.
1:20:16 > 1:20:18# Say it out loud it'll be OK
1:20:18 > 1:20:19# I will be your light
1:20:19 > 1:20:21# I will be your light
1:20:21 > 1:20:23# I will be your light
1:20:23 > 1:20:25# I will be your light
1:20:25 > 1:20:28# If there's something inside that you wanna say... #
1:20:28 > 1:20:29Shirt-lifter.
1:20:29 > 1:20:30LAUGHTER
1:20:30 > 1:20:32Flamer.
1:20:33 > 1:20:36Never heard that one. Slamer?
1:20:36 > 1:20:37Flamer, as in a flame.
1:20:37 > 1:20:39- Flame. Flamer.- Flamer.
1:20:39 > 1:20:41Not one I've ever heard of.
1:20:42 > 1:20:44I hadn't heard "brown hat".
1:20:46 > 1:20:48Nancy boy.
1:20:48 > 1:20:49Queen.
1:20:49 > 1:20:51Friend of Dorothy.
1:20:59 > 1:21:01- Faggot.- Bender.
1:21:01 > 1:21:03Batty boy.
1:21:11 > 1:21:13Fairy.
1:21:15 > 1:21:17You're very good at that?
1:21:18 > 1:21:20I've heard it once or twice!
1:21:20 > 1:21:22# ..Say it out loud, it'll be OK
1:21:22 > 1:21:23# I will be your light
1:21:23 > 1:21:25# I will be your light
1:21:25 > 1:21:26# I will be your light
1:21:26 > 1:21:28# I will be your light
1:21:28 > 1:21:31# If there's something inside that you wanna say
1:21:31 > 1:21:34# Say it out loud, it'll be OK
1:21:34 > 1:21:36# I will be your light
1:21:36 > 1:21:37# I will be your light
1:21:37 > 1:21:39# I will be your light
1:21:39 > 1:21:41# I will be your light. #