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WHISTLING | 0:00:02 | 0:00:05 | |
DOOR SLAMS SHUT | 0:00:07 | 0:00:09 | |
Any man who takes a criminal path... | 0:00:15 | 0:00:18 | |
..should be mindful of the consequences. | 0:00:24 | 0:00:27 | |
My name is Peter Wildeblood. | 0:00:37 | 0:00:40 | |
CHEERING | 0:00:40 | 0:00:42 | |
Order! Order! | 0:00:42 | 0:00:45 | |
May I ask the Right Honourable Home Secretary | 0:00:45 | 0:00:48 | |
the number of cases involving male perversion | 0:00:48 | 0:00:52 | |
this year, and how he intends to deal with this evil? | 0:00:52 | 0:00:57 | |
Much of my private life has already been made public | 0:00:57 | 0:01:00 | |
by the newspapers. So I have nothing left to hide. | 0:01:00 | 0:01:05 | |
Roughly 5,500 offences have been recorded | 0:01:06 | 0:01:11 | |
and over 600 offenders | 0:01:11 | 0:01:14 | |
sent to prison. | 0:01:14 | 0:01:16 | |
I don't pity myself and I do not ask for pity. | 0:01:19 | 0:01:23 | |
But I am speaking out... | 0:01:24 | 0:01:26 | |
..to give some hope and courage to other men like myself, | 0:01:29 | 0:01:33 | |
and to the rest of the world some... | 0:01:33 | 0:01:35 | |
..understanding. | 0:01:38 | 0:01:40 | |
I am...a homosexual. | 0:01:44 | 0:01:47 | |
So as long as I hold office, I shall give no countenance to | 0:01:53 | 0:01:58 | |
the view that they should not be prevented from being such a danger. | 0:01:58 | 0:02:03 | |
MUFFLED MUSIC AND CHATTER | 0:02:28 | 0:02:31 | |
CHATTER AND LAUGHTER | 0:02:41 | 0:02:43 | |
Whisky, please. | 0:02:44 | 0:02:46 | |
Thank you. | 0:02:53 | 0:02:54 | |
INDISTINCT CHATTER | 0:03:01 | 0:03:03 | |
TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS | 0:03:28 | 0:03:31 | |
INDISTINCT RAILWAY ANNOUNCEMENT | 0:03:31 | 0:03:34 | |
I wonder, could I buy you a drink? | 0:03:47 | 0:03:50 | |
Doesn't work that way, darling. | 0:03:51 | 0:03:53 | |
Unless you're willing to play the part. | 0:03:53 | 0:03:56 | |
Oh, no. | 0:03:58 | 0:03:59 | |
So you're not a queen, then? | 0:04:01 | 0:04:04 | |
It's a pity, you're quite pretty, really. | 0:04:04 | 0:04:07 | |
Not a rough, either. | 0:04:08 | 0:04:10 | |
I'm a homosexual. | 0:04:10 | 0:04:11 | |
A what? | 0:04:11 | 0:04:13 | |
A homosexual. | 0:04:13 | 0:04:14 | |
Homosexual? | 0:04:14 | 0:04:16 | |
I see. | 0:04:16 | 0:04:18 | |
I thought that was just something doctors called us. | 0:04:18 | 0:04:22 | |
Do all the queens use this word now? | 0:04:22 | 0:04:24 | |
I don't know. | 0:04:24 | 0:04:26 | |
I'm not sure I like it. | 0:04:26 | 0:04:28 | |
Come along, Fanny dear. | 0:04:28 | 0:04:30 | |
See you later, dear heart. | 0:04:30 | 0:04:31 | |
Coming, Ducky. | 0:04:31 | 0:04:33 | |
DOOR CLOSES | 0:04:35 | 0:04:37 | |
-VOICEOVER: -At that particular time | 0:04:51 | 0:04:52 | |
there was a, you might call it a purge, | 0:04:52 | 0:04:55 | |
on people who were gay. | 0:04:55 | 0:04:57 | |
We were considered sick. | 0:04:57 | 0:05:00 | |
We were considered, er, you know, child molesters. | 0:05:00 | 0:05:05 | |
The police went out of their way to catch you and...and... | 0:05:05 | 0:05:09 | |
and the Members of Parliament, "This filth and this... | 0:05:09 | 0:05:13 | |
"This is going to ruin the nation, we must...we must stub it out." | 0:05:13 | 0:05:16 | |
I can't remember the name of the, erm, | 0:05:16 | 0:05:18 | |
the Home Secretary at the time, but he was one of the worst. | 0:05:18 | 0:05:21 | |
David Maxwell Fyfe, Sir David Maxwell Fyfe, | 0:05:21 | 0:05:24 | |
later Viscount Kilmuir. | 0:05:24 | 0:05:27 | |
Well, he embodied all the worst attitudes | 0:05:29 | 0:05:37 | |
of the British Establishment. | 0:05:37 | 0:05:39 | |
You could be arrested for just looking at somebody... | 0:05:39 | 0:05:43 | |
..in the street, you know, winking at them or smiling at them. | 0:05:44 | 0:05:48 | |
And, er, I thought this is mad, this world has gone a bit potty. | 0:05:49 | 0:05:54 | |
I have to say it made it even more exciting | 0:05:54 | 0:05:57 | |
because, you know, it is exciting, er, avoiding the police, | 0:05:57 | 0:06:03 | |
keeping a look out. It's like being a member of an underground sect, | 0:06:03 | 0:06:10 | |
or something, er, and you get a great kick out of it. | 0:06:10 | 0:06:14 | |
Wherever you went was liable to be raided... | 0:06:14 | 0:06:17 | |
..um, whether it was a pub or it was a private drinking club | 0:06:19 | 0:06:24 | |
or it was a private party. | 0:06:24 | 0:06:27 | |
And you would have your name and address printed in the paper. | 0:06:28 | 0:06:33 | |
Oh! Oh, I'm sorry! Oh. | 0:06:46 | 0:06:50 | |
It's... It's fine. | 0:06:50 | 0:06:52 | |
Um, do you need directions? | 0:06:58 | 0:07:01 | |
No. | 0:07:01 | 0:07:03 | |
No, I'm, erm... I'm just... I'm down off leave from Ely. | 0:07:03 | 0:07:08 | |
And, er, it's going to rain again. | 0:07:10 | 0:07:14 | |
Any minute. | 0:07:14 | 0:07:16 | |
So, um, if you want to stay, there's a sofa, | 0:07:34 | 0:07:39 | |
which should be perfectly comfortable. | 0:07:39 | 0:07:42 | |
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it should. | 0:07:42 | 0:07:46 | |
Yeah, it's a bit small. | 0:07:46 | 0:07:48 | |
And besides... | 0:07:55 | 0:07:57 | |
..you and I could, er, fuck here. | 0:08:01 | 0:08:06 | |
Live a little. | 0:08:08 | 0:08:10 | |
HE CHUCKLES | 0:09:35 | 0:09:38 | |
What? | 0:09:40 | 0:09:41 | |
"You and I could fuck maybe?" | 0:09:42 | 0:09:45 | |
What? | 0:09:47 | 0:09:48 | |
The romance of it. | 0:09:50 | 0:09:52 | |
Dead romantic. | 0:09:53 | 0:09:55 | |
That's one of my best lines. | 0:09:55 | 0:09:57 | |
You heading back to Ely? | 0:10:09 | 0:10:11 | |
In two days, yep. | 0:10:11 | 0:10:12 | |
So what do you do? | 0:10:15 | 0:10:16 | |
I'm a journalist. | 0:10:16 | 0:10:19 | |
Oh, right. Which paper? | 0:10:19 | 0:10:21 | |
The Mail. | 0:10:21 | 0:10:23 | |
Nice. | 0:10:23 | 0:10:24 | |
Not really. It's... Well, it's quite dull, actually. | 0:10:24 | 0:10:28 | |
Well, it was nice meeting you. | 0:10:42 | 0:10:45 | |
I'll, erm, you know? | 0:10:46 | 0:10:49 | |
Keep in touch. I mean it. | 0:10:49 | 0:10:52 | |
Do you want me to? | 0:10:54 | 0:10:55 | |
-Well, yes. I... -All right, then. | 0:11:00 | 0:11:02 | |
Being a gay was a very tricky business. | 0:11:27 | 0:11:31 | |
It was frowned upon by society, it was punishable | 0:11:31 | 0:11:37 | |
by imprisonment, it was illegal, it was everything you could mention. | 0:11:37 | 0:11:44 | |
I mean, you couldn't even talk about it. Erm... | 0:11:44 | 0:11:47 | |
I felt very uncomfortable about it. Certainly. | 0:11:47 | 0:11:51 | |
If heterosexuals had been subject to the force of law for being | 0:11:51 | 0:11:56 | |
heterosexual, if their relations had been frowned upon, it's most | 0:11:56 | 0:12:01 | |
unlikely that they would have settled into long-term marriages. | 0:12:01 | 0:12:04 | |
They had public opinion and the law behind them. | 0:12:04 | 0:12:08 | |
In the case of homosexuals, the law | 0:12:08 | 0:12:10 | |
and public opinion were very distinctly against them, so I think | 0:12:10 | 0:12:14 | |
the whole climate was opposed to the building of relationships. | 0:12:14 | 0:12:20 | |
In fact, I think many gay people half believed, because they were | 0:12:20 | 0:12:24 | |
told so often, that if you were gay you couldn't have a relationship. | 0:12:24 | 0:12:29 | |
It was a no-no, so I had to be on my own. | 0:12:31 | 0:12:35 | |
And, erm, so I've been used to it, since...since childhood, | 0:12:36 | 0:12:41 | |
being a loner. Never enjoyed it, I can tell you, it was awful. | 0:12:41 | 0:12:47 | |
But that's the way it is. | 0:12:47 | 0:12:49 | |
KNOCK ON DOOR | 0:12:55 | 0:12:57 | |
Well, would you look at that. He meant what he said. | 0:13:01 | 0:13:04 | |
Fancy a kickaround? | 0:13:27 | 0:13:29 | |
You're joking. | 0:13:29 | 0:13:31 | |
Not physical, then? | 0:13:31 | 0:13:33 | |
Not even at school? | 0:13:35 | 0:13:36 | |
Football? I was useless, always the last to get picked. | 0:13:36 | 0:13:41 | |
I can imagine, actually. | 0:13:41 | 0:13:43 | |
I used to just gather with all the other outcasts. | 0:13:43 | 0:13:46 | |
Teachers despised us for it. | 0:13:49 | 0:13:51 | |
One of them said, "Oh, yes, there they are. | 0:13:53 | 0:13:57 | |
"The sops. Sops of a feather flock together." | 0:13:59 | 0:14:05 | |
Come on. | 0:14:15 | 0:14:17 | |
-Is that you? -Oh, stop it! | 0:14:33 | 0:14:36 | |
We have to be a lot more careful than that. | 0:14:41 | 0:14:44 | |
I know, I know, I'm...unschooled. | 0:14:44 | 0:14:46 | |
You're telling me. | 0:14:46 | 0:14:48 | |
Am I the only poof you know? | 0:14:49 | 0:14:52 | |
No. I know Edward, Lord Montagu, through my work. | 0:14:52 | 0:14:56 | |
Smile all you like, Mr Inverted Snob, he is very nice. | 0:14:59 | 0:15:04 | |
So it's love, then? | 0:15:10 | 0:15:12 | |
To be honest, I never thought you'd come out of your shell far enough. | 0:15:12 | 0:15:15 | |
Neither did I. | 0:15:15 | 0:15:17 | |
What's his appeal? | 0:15:17 | 0:15:19 | |
He's...confident... | 0:15:22 | 0:15:25 | |
..physical, | 0:15:27 | 0:15:29 | |
a bit...dim, sort of. | 0:15:29 | 0:15:32 | |
I suppose I always thought... | 0:15:35 | 0:15:38 | |
Go on. | 0:15:41 | 0:15:43 | |
I thought I'd meet a boy like him | 0:15:45 | 0:15:47 | |
and he would make me brave, and in return... | 0:15:47 | 0:15:53 | |
..I would make him wise. | 0:15:55 | 0:15:57 | |
You're blushing. | 0:15:57 | 0:16:00 | |
All right, it's stupid, you know, it's comradeship. | 0:16:00 | 0:16:04 | |
Plato wrote something along those lines, do you know it? | 0:16:06 | 0:16:09 | |
Two men, very different strengths, but when they come together... | 0:16:09 | 0:16:15 | |
..an army of such lovers could conquer the world. | 0:16:17 | 0:16:20 | |
Bring him down to Beaulieu. | 0:16:24 | 0:16:26 | |
When did you last have a holiday? | 0:16:26 | 0:16:28 | |
Oh, God. Three, four years ago. | 0:16:28 | 0:16:31 | |
Bring him down to Beaulieu. | 0:16:31 | 0:16:33 | |
Hmm. | 0:16:34 | 0:16:35 | |
Just a small party... | 0:16:49 | 0:16:51 | |
God, you are such a... | 0:16:53 | 0:16:55 | |
Live a little. | 0:16:57 | 0:16:59 | |
Yes? | 0:16:59 | 0:17:01 | |
MUSIC PLAYS | 0:17:06 | 0:17:08 | |
INDISTINCT CHATTER | 0:17:11 | 0:17:14 | |
Well, I think this party is really rather... | 0:17:18 | 0:17:21 | |
Boring? Boring as fuck? | 0:17:21 | 0:17:24 | |
Yes. That's about the size of it. | 0:17:24 | 0:17:26 | |
I thought the aristocracy knew how to let its hair down. | 0:17:27 | 0:17:31 | |
Uh-uh. You thought wrong. | 0:17:31 | 0:17:33 | |
What happened to "be careful"? | 0:17:56 | 0:17:58 | |
No-one about, you daft ape. | 0:17:58 | 0:18:01 | |
# You took the part that once was my heart | 0:18:03 | 0:18:10 | |
# So why not take all of me? # | 0:18:10 | 0:18:14 | |
-Three weeks. -I know. | 0:18:14 | 0:18:16 | |
# ..All of me | 0:18:25 | 0:18:27 | |
# Why not take all of me? | 0:18:27 | 0:18:32 | |
# Can't you see... # | 0:18:32 | 0:18:35 | |
You're blossoming, Mr Wildeblood. | 0:18:35 | 0:18:38 | |
# ..I'm no good without you? | 0:18:38 | 0:18:40 | |
# Take my lips | 0:18:42 | 0:18:45 | |
# I want to lose them... # | 0:18:45 | 0:18:49 | |
TRAIN RUMBLES PAST | 0:18:49 | 0:18:51 | |
# ..Take my arms | 0:18:51 | 0:18:53 | |
# I'll never use them | 0:18:53 | 0:18:58 | |
# Your goodbye | 0:19:00 | 0:19:03 | |
# Left me with eyes that cry | 0:19:03 | 0:19:07 | |
# How can I go on, dear, without you? # | 0:19:09 | 0:19:15 | |
My dearest, darling Eddie, I love you so much. | 0:19:15 | 0:19:21 | |
# ..You took the best Why not take the rest? # | 0:19:21 | 0:19:26 | |
There, I've said it. | 0:19:26 | 0:19:29 | |
# ..Baby, take all of me... # | 0:19:29 | 0:19:34 | |
In the '50s, homosexuals, erm, were in... | 0:19:39 | 0:19:42 | |
were in a kind of secret world of their own. It was, erm... | 0:19:42 | 0:19:47 | |
They were on another, rather delightful planet, in a way. | 0:19:47 | 0:19:53 | |
It was fabulous, I was doing whatever young people do, | 0:19:53 | 0:19:57 | |
I wanted to dance, I wanted to have beautiful clothes, | 0:19:57 | 0:20:01 | |
I wanted to have lots of sex, I wanted somebody to love me. | 0:20:01 | 0:20:05 | |
It was a world in which there was no class difference at all and | 0:20:05 | 0:20:10 | |
that, I think, was one of the things which made it very, very attractive. | 0:20:10 | 0:20:14 | |
Members of the upper classes have always fancied | 0:20:14 | 0:20:17 | |
members of the lower classes. | 0:20:17 | 0:20:19 | |
I was never actually particularly attracted to posh boys, | 0:20:19 | 0:20:22 | |
but I did sometimes meet them if they looked right. | 0:20:22 | 0:20:25 | |
And...and so I did find myself in the situation | 0:20:25 | 0:20:30 | |
of mixing with a much wider range of social classes, | 0:20:30 | 0:20:37 | |
I think, than straight boys of my background would have done. | 0:20:37 | 0:20:41 | |
There was this strong sense of community within the gay world, | 0:20:41 | 0:20:48 | |
and that rendered us not impervious | 0:20:48 | 0:20:53 | |
but able to resist these awful... | 0:20:53 | 0:20:58 | |
this, how shall I say, this constant barrage of propaganda, | 0:20:58 | 0:21:04 | |
of depiction of us as being evil. | 0:21:04 | 0:21:08 | |
THUNDER RUMBLES | 0:21:08 | 0:21:11 | |
PHONE RINGS | 0:21:16 | 0:21:18 | |
Wildeblood. | 0:21:18 | 0:21:19 | |
Peter, it's Edward. | 0:21:19 | 0:21:21 | |
Oh, hello, Edward. | 0:21:21 | 0:21:23 | |
Are you alone? | 0:21:23 | 0:21:24 | |
Yes. | 0:21:26 | 0:21:28 | |
I'm at the police station. | 0:21:29 | 0:21:31 | |
I called them about a camera that went missing at my place. | 0:21:31 | 0:21:35 | |
I was - am - fairly sure it was one of the Boy Scouts | 0:21:36 | 0:21:40 | |
we have showing the public round on open days. | 0:21:40 | 0:21:43 | |
That's terrible. | 0:21:43 | 0:21:45 | |
The Boy Scout made certain... allegations against me. | 0:21:49 | 0:21:55 | |
False, of course. | 0:21:55 | 0:21:57 | |
I'm a public figure, Peter. They're trying to make an example of me. | 0:22:00 | 0:22:04 | |
Well, I thought you should know. | 0:22:07 | 0:22:09 | |
Yes, thank you, Edward. | 0:22:10 | 0:22:12 | |
Good luck. | 0:22:15 | 0:22:16 | |
-NEWS REPORT: -At Winchester Assizes, the trial of Lord Montagu continues. | 0:22:26 | 0:22:29 | |
He stands accused of indecently assaulting... | 0:22:29 | 0:22:33 | |
-NEWS REPORT: -He took the stand to claim his innocence | 0:22:35 | 0:22:37 | |
and said he was the victim of a police witch-hunt... | 0:22:37 | 0:22:40 | |
-NEWS REPORT: -The news at five o'clock. Lord Montagu of Beaulieu | 0:22:47 | 0:22:51 | |
was today acquitted of several counts of indecent assault. | 0:22:51 | 0:22:55 | |
The jury's decision was unanimous and brings to an end | 0:22:55 | 0:22:59 | |
an acrimonious trial in which Lord Montagu claimed | 0:22:59 | 0:23:03 | |
to be the victim of a smear campaign. | 0:23:03 | 0:23:05 | |
When the trial collapsed | 0:23:11 | 0:23:13 | |
and the public realised that it was all manufactured evidence, | 0:23:13 | 0:23:17 | |
the general public, erm, did find that, erm, distasteful. | 0:23:17 | 0:23:24 | |
It made me feel angry, really. I mean, I look back on it | 0:23:24 | 0:23:29 | |
and thought, yeah, I was quite angry about this rubbish, you know? | 0:23:29 | 0:23:33 | |
I got quite worked up about it. | 0:23:33 | 0:23:35 | |
I mean, all gay men throughout... | 0:23:35 | 0:23:38 | |
throughout the country felt that, and not only gay men | 0:23:38 | 0:23:42 | |
but the general public, luckily, were feeling that. | 0:23:42 | 0:23:45 | |
Why is Montagu being harassed like this? | 0:23:48 | 0:23:51 | |
You know, what is the point? | 0:23:51 | 0:23:54 | |
It seemed to me, it did turn public opinion against | 0:23:54 | 0:23:57 | |
all that was going on. | 0:23:57 | 0:23:59 | |
But, on the other hand, I think there was a kind of feeling among | 0:24:01 | 0:24:05 | |
the police force that would get him in the end. | 0:24:05 | 0:24:10 | |
Thank you. | 0:24:20 | 0:24:21 | |
DOOR CLOSES | 0:24:26 | 0:24:28 | |
Mm-hm. Oh... | 0:24:32 | 0:24:34 | |
Mm? | 0:24:34 | 0:24:36 | |
These letters - who wrote them? | 0:24:37 | 0:24:40 | |
You know who wrote them. | 0:24:44 | 0:24:46 | |
I want to hear it from you. | 0:24:46 | 0:24:48 | |
Give me the dirt on Montagu and his two pals. | 0:24:50 | 0:24:53 | |
Look, you might lose your job but I'll keep you out of prison. | 0:24:55 | 0:24:58 | |
KNOCK ON DOOR | 0:25:01 | 0:25:03 | |
Are you Peter Wildeblood? | 0:25:06 | 0:25:08 | |
Yes. | 0:25:08 | 0:25:09 | |
I'm arresting you on charges of gross indecency | 0:25:09 | 0:25:12 | |
and buggery with certain other male persons. | 0:25:12 | 0:25:14 | |
Where do you sleep? | 0:25:14 | 0:25:16 | |
My bedroom is upstairs. | 0:25:16 | 0:25:18 | |
Anyone up there? | 0:25:18 | 0:25:19 | |
No. | 0:25:19 | 0:25:20 | |
Don't you have a warrant? | 0:25:25 | 0:25:27 | |
Sit down. | 0:25:38 | 0:25:39 | |
You were in Beaulieu this summer? | 0:25:48 | 0:25:50 | |
Yes. | 0:25:51 | 0:25:53 | |
Are these your parents? | 0:25:54 | 0:25:56 | |
Yes. | 0:25:57 | 0:25:59 | |
And this one is Edward McNally? | 0:25:59 | 0:26:02 | |
Is this your handwriting? | 0:26:11 | 0:26:12 | |
Yes. | 0:26:16 | 0:26:18 | |
This could go very badly for you. | 0:26:57 | 0:27:00 | |
Very badly indeed. | 0:27:00 | 0:27:01 | |
What you should do is make a statement | 0:27:11 | 0:27:13 | |
and you just get bound over, make a clean breast of things. | 0:27:13 | 0:27:17 | |
Tell me about Montagu and his chum Pitt-Rivers and all of them, | 0:27:17 | 0:27:21 | |
-then I think you... -No. No, I couldn't do that. | 0:27:21 | 0:27:25 | |
And why not? | 0:27:25 | 0:27:26 | |
Because... | 0:27:26 | 0:27:28 | |
Because.... | 0:27:35 | 0:27:36 | |
..sops of a feather flock together. | 0:27:39 | 0:27:41 | |
Hadn't you heard? | 0:27:43 | 0:27:45 | |
The ones, for example, who had previous convictions, | 0:28:45 | 0:28:48 | |
it would be a fair cop, very sorry, plead guilty. | 0:28:48 | 0:28:54 | |
Those who had never experienced the police intruding would be | 0:28:54 | 0:29:00 | |
very upset and they were the more likely ones who would plead | 0:29:00 | 0:29:03 | |
not guilty and challenge every aspect of the observations. | 0:29:03 | 0:29:06 | |
I still say it was an inherent weakness, and still is. | 0:29:08 | 0:29:13 | |
They went into these practices knowing that there's a great | 0:29:15 | 0:29:21 | |
element of risk of being arrested, being exposed, | 0:29:21 | 0:29:25 | |
if you'll pardon the expression. | 0:29:25 | 0:29:27 | |
Three or four weeks after I met Lee, I realised without doubt | 0:29:27 | 0:29:33 | |
that he was the one person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. | 0:29:33 | 0:29:37 | |
I wrote him a long letter telling him of my feelings for him | 0:29:37 | 0:29:41 | |
and my hopes for us. I thought | 0:29:41 | 0:29:44 | |
he'd be so pleased about this letter and I couldn't believe it, | 0:29:44 | 0:29:47 | |
he was so angry. I said, "What's the matter?" He said, | 0:29:47 | 0:29:50 | |
"Well, the letter you sent to me | 0:29:50 | 0:29:53 | |
"could have landed us both in prison." | 0:29:53 | 0:29:56 | |
I was 14 years old and I had a boyfriend | 0:29:58 | 0:30:02 | |
and he had written me a letter, very stupidly, | 0:30:02 | 0:30:07 | |
and I had dropped the letter | 0:30:07 | 0:30:09 | |
and my father said, "What's this?" | 0:30:09 | 0:30:13 | |
I can remember him now, | 0:30:13 | 0:30:14 | |
God bless him, | 0:30:14 | 0:30:16 | |
"I'm having no son of mine a queer, you're going to the doctor." | 0:30:16 | 0:30:21 | |
So I was taken down to the doctor, who said, "You've got a disease." | 0:30:21 | 0:30:27 | |
This is great. "You've got a disease." | 0:30:27 | 0:30:30 | |
I never accepted that I had an illness. | 0:30:30 | 0:30:34 | |
I accepted that I preferred | 0:30:34 | 0:30:36 | |
to go to bed with a man rather than a woman. I didn't see that | 0:30:36 | 0:30:42 | |
as an illness, but I did see it as something that you kept to yourself, | 0:30:42 | 0:30:46 | |
because of... because of the implications, | 0:30:46 | 0:30:49 | |
because of the consequences if you didn't. | 0:30:49 | 0:30:52 | |
You are each charged with gross indecency, | 0:30:57 | 0:31:01 | |
buggery, attempted buggery, aiding and abetting buggery, | 0:31:01 | 0:31:06 | |
procuring male persons for acts of gross indecency, | 0:31:06 | 0:31:10 | |
and conspiracy to incite male persons to commit gross indecency. | 0:31:10 | 0:31:15 | |
To each of these charges, how do you, Edward Montagu, plead? | 0:31:17 | 0:31:21 | |
Not guilty. | 0:31:21 | 0:31:24 | |
To each of these charges, how do you, Michael Pitt-Rivers, plead? | 0:31:24 | 0:31:27 | |
Not guilty. | 0:31:27 | 0:31:29 | |
And to each of these charges, how do you, Peter Wildeblood, plead? | 0:31:29 | 0:31:34 | |
Not guilty. | 0:31:34 | 0:31:35 | |
KEY RATTLES IN LOCK | 0:31:40 | 0:31:42 | |
All right? | 0:31:54 | 0:31:55 | |
I've been better. | 0:31:56 | 0:31:57 | |
Right. | 0:31:59 | 0:32:00 | |
The form is, basically we deny everything, | 0:32:00 | 0:32:03 | |
none of us are queer, | 0:32:03 | 0:32:05 | |
we've never dabbled, never even been tempted. | 0:32:05 | 0:32:08 | |
Right? | 0:32:08 | 0:32:09 | |
It's very hard to prove. | 0:32:09 | 0:32:12 | |
Love on a page means nothing. | 0:32:12 | 0:32:16 | |
I thought we'd be all right. | 0:32:20 | 0:32:22 | |
We were discreet. | 0:32:23 | 0:32:25 | |
-Why are they doing this? -Just stay calm, Peter. | 0:32:27 | 0:32:30 | |
The case for the prosecution begins with Wildeblood. | 0:32:41 | 0:32:44 | |
In March 1952, Wildeblood met an RAF corporal in Piccadilly. | 0:32:44 | 0:32:49 | |
His name is McNally and he'll be called as a witness. | 0:32:49 | 0:32:53 | |
McNally is a pervert. Wildeblood took him back to his flat | 0:32:53 | 0:32:57 | |
and there committed an offence, namely buggery, with this McNally. | 0:32:57 | 0:33:02 | |
McNally had a friend called John Reynolds, also a queer. | 0:33:02 | 0:33:05 | |
You've probably heard of that term. | 0:33:05 | 0:33:08 | |
Wildeblood was a friend of Lord Montagu. | 0:33:10 | 0:33:14 | |
Mention was made to Lord Montagu of this John Reynolds, | 0:33:14 | 0:33:17 | |
introductions were arranged, offences against Reynolds | 0:33:17 | 0:33:21 | |
were committed by Montagu at Wildeblood's flat in London, | 0:33:21 | 0:33:25 | |
and on a trip to Beaulieu, joined by Michael Pitt-Rivers, | 0:33:25 | 0:33:29 | |
an orgy took place. | 0:33:29 | 0:33:31 | |
McNally and Reynolds are men of the lowest possible moral character. | 0:33:33 | 0:33:37 | |
Taken under the seductive influence of lavish hospitality of | 0:33:39 | 0:33:44 | |
these three men so infinitely their social superiors, | 0:33:44 | 0:33:48 | |
they were willing parties to unnatural acts. | 0:33:48 | 0:33:51 | |
It would be dangerous to convict any of the defendants | 0:33:51 | 0:33:55 | |
purely on the evidence of men such as McNally and Reynolds. | 0:33:55 | 0:33:58 | |
We hope to satisfy you by letters, | 0:33:58 | 0:34:00 | |
and other documents, that there is copious confirmation that | 0:34:00 | 0:34:04 | |
the story these men, Reynolds and McNally, are telling is true. | 0:34:04 | 0:34:09 | |
And on that date in December, | 0:34:19 | 0:34:21 | |
when you attended his property, did you see Wildeblood? | 0:34:21 | 0:34:24 | |
He came to the door. | 0:34:24 | 0:34:26 | |
Where did you go with him? | 0:34:26 | 0:34:27 | |
To the living room. | 0:34:27 | 0:34:29 | |
Did you suggest to him that he write a statement? | 0:34:29 | 0:34:31 | |
No, sir. | 0:34:31 | 0:34:32 | |
Did you promise him that if he write a statement he'd just be bound over? | 0:34:32 | 0:34:36 | |
-I did not. -And the letters you showed him, | 0:34:36 | 0:34:39 | |
he recognised these as letters written by himself and McNally? | 0:34:39 | 0:34:43 | |
Indeed he did, sir. | 0:34:43 | 0:34:45 | |
I didn't think this could happen in Britain. | 0:34:49 | 0:34:52 | |
I didn't think the police... | 0:34:52 | 0:34:53 | |
Well, now you know. | 0:34:53 | 0:34:55 | |
The rotten apples aren't the odd ones out, Peter. | 0:34:56 | 0:34:59 | |
They're bastards. Jesus. | 0:35:04 | 0:35:07 | |
Try to stay calm. | 0:35:07 | 0:35:08 | |
You're next, McNally. | 0:35:18 | 0:35:19 | |
Call Edward McNally. | 0:35:23 | 0:35:25 | |
You are Edward McNally? | 0:35:51 | 0:35:54 | |
Yes. | 0:35:54 | 0:35:55 | |
-Do you know the accused, Peter Wildeblood? -Yes. | 0:35:55 | 0:35:59 | |
Look at the accused and confirm that he is the man known to you. | 0:35:59 | 0:36:03 | |
When you spent the night at his flat, where did you sleep? | 0:36:05 | 0:36:09 | |
In the bedroom with Wildeblood. | 0:36:09 | 0:36:11 | |
Did anything occur between you? | 0:36:11 | 0:36:13 | |
We committed buggery with each other. | 0:36:15 | 0:36:18 | |
Did you write this letter to him, exhibit 44? | 0:36:19 | 0:36:23 | |
Yes. | 0:36:27 | 0:36:29 | |
"Dearest Peter, I've really got it bad, sweetheart. | 0:36:29 | 0:36:33 | |
"In fact, I haven't felt so happy for a long time. | 0:36:33 | 0:36:36 | |
"Just to let you know, I haven't forgotten you | 0:36:36 | 0:36:39 | |
"and I never will." Did you mean those words? | 0:36:39 | 0:36:43 | |
I thought I did, sir. | 0:36:44 | 0:36:46 | |
Were you what you would describe as "in love" with Peter Wildeblood? | 0:36:46 | 0:36:50 | |
Yes, sir. | 0:36:53 | 0:36:55 | |
Did you receive this letter from him, exhibit 45? | 0:36:55 | 0:36:58 | |
Yes. | 0:37:02 | 0:37:04 | |
"You are so much a part of my life that I do not think | 0:37:04 | 0:37:07 | |
"I could ever do without you. | 0:37:07 | 0:37:09 | |
"I love you as much now as I did | 0:37:09 | 0:37:11 | |
"when we spent our lovely holiday together. | 0:37:11 | 0:37:14 | |
"The happiest time..." | 0:37:14 | 0:37:17 | |
Did you believe those words? | 0:37:22 | 0:37:24 | |
I suppose so, sir. | 0:37:24 | 0:37:26 | |
Did you believe Peter Wildeblood to be in love with you? | 0:37:26 | 0:37:30 | |
Yes, sir. | 0:37:32 | 0:37:34 | |
Why did he do this to me? | 0:37:48 | 0:37:50 | |
Why did Eddie do this? | 0:37:52 | 0:37:55 | |
You know why he did it. | 0:37:55 | 0:37:56 | |
To save his own skin. | 0:37:58 | 0:38:00 | |
Forget him. | 0:38:04 | 0:38:06 | |
I joined the Navy ten days before my 17th birthday. | 0:38:24 | 0:38:27 | |
It was on HMS Reggio that I was, | 0:38:30 | 0:38:34 | |
um, er, to put it...crudely... | 0:38:34 | 0:38:40 | |
caught in the act. | 0:38:40 | 0:38:42 | |
I was, er, court martialled, charged with | 0:38:42 | 0:38:46 | |
buggery and gross indecency, then I was asked to give | 0:38:46 | 0:38:52 | |
the names of the people with whom I had slept | 0:38:52 | 0:38:55 | |
or had anything to do with, and was told, "If you tell us their names, | 0:38:55 | 0:39:02 | |
"you're looking at 12 months. | 0:39:02 | 0:39:05 | |
"If you don't tell us their names, you're looking at five years." | 0:39:05 | 0:39:10 | |
I gave them the name of an Army officer with whom | 0:39:12 | 0:39:16 | |
I had spent a night ashore. | 0:39:16 | 0:39:19 | |
They found him, and one day the warder, screw, | 0:39:23 | 0:39:29 | |
came in and said, "The chap's blown his brains out." | 0:39:29 | 0:39:32 | |
And that is something which I've had to live with... | 0:39:34 | 0:39:39 | |
..for over 60 years. | 0:39:41 | 0:39:44 | |
Erm, it is still... | 0:39:47 | 0:39:50 | |
I hate myself for it... | 0:39:52 | 0:39:54 | |
..but it was just one of those things. | 0:39:55 | 0:39:57 | |
Call Peter Wildeblood. | 0:40:05 | 0:40:07 | |
DOOR OPENS | 0:40:07 | 0:40:09 | |
Place your right hand on the Bible, | 0:40:25 | 0:40:27 | |
take the card in your other hand and read the statement. | 0:40:27 | 0:40:30 | |
"I swear to tell the truth, | 0:40:30 | 0:40:32 | |
"the whole truth and nothing but the truth." | 0:40:32 | 0:40:35 | |
Counsel for the defence. | 0:40:40 | 0:40:42 | |
-Is your name Peter Wildeblood? -Yes. | 0:40:44 | 0:40:48 | |
Are you a homosexual, Mr Wildeblood? | 0:40:49 | 0:40:52 | |
Yes, I am. | 0:40:54 | 0:40:56 | |
Thinking back to July 1952, | 0:41:00 | 0:41:03 | |
how would you describe your relationship with Edward McNally? | 0:41:03 | 0:41:08 | |
I'd become fond of him. | 0:41:09 | 0:41:12 | |
He is not educated but he is intelligent. | 0:41:14 | 0:41:18 | |
My work made me live in a kind of way I didn't much enjoy | 0:41:18 | 0:41:23 | |
and I liked to be able to relax with someone who is quite simple, | 0:41:23 | 0:41:27 | |
unpretentious and fond of me. | 0:41:27 | 0:41:30 | |
What kind of letters was he writing to you? | 0:41:30 | 0:41:34 | |
They were emotional letters. | 0:41:34 | 0:41:36 | |
They contained endearments of an unusual kind | 0:41:36 | 0:41:39 | |
for two men to exchange. | 0:41:39 | 0:41:41 | |
And you wrote similar letters to him? | 0:41:41 | 0:41:44 | |
I was extremely lonely at that time. | 0:41:44 | 0:41:47 | |
You are familiar with what happened to Oscar Wilde? | 0:41:48 | 0:41:51 | |
Oscar Wilde was accused of gross indecency. | 0:41:51 | 0:41:54 | |
I have never committed gross indecency nor buggery with anybody. | 0:41:54 | 0:41:59 | |
-You never committed these offences with Edward McNally? -No. | 0:41:59 | 0:42:03 | |
Mr Wildeblood, when you went into this box, | 0:42:11 | 0:42:13 | |
-you took the oath in solemn form, you realise that? -Yes. | 0:42:13 | 0:42:16 | |
To tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? | 0:42:16 | 0:42:20 | |
Yes. | 0:42:20 | 0:42:21 | |
You know that we've heard McNally, | 0:42:21 | 0:42:23 | |
your friend of some 21 months, describe in detail | 0:42:23 | 0:42:26 | |
what took place between you and him. You've heard the letters | 0:42:26 | 0:42:30 | |
sent by you to him during this time read out in this court. | 0:42:30 | 0:42:33 | |
-Do you still say you've told the whole truth? -I do. | 0:42:33 | 0:42:37 | |
Have you any suggestion, then, as to why McNally would tell such | 0:42:39 | 0:42:43 | |
wicked lies about you? | 0:42:43 | 0:42:45 | |
Well, I should have thought his motive was perfectly obvious. | 0:42:45 | 0:42:49 | |
He did it to save his own skin. | 0:42:49 | 0:42:51 | |
Were you attracted to McNally? | 0:42:51 | 0:42:54 | |
I was not physically attracted to him. | 0:42:54 | 0:42:56 | |
How do you say you were attracted to him, then? | 0:42:56 | 0:42:59 | |
-Emotionally. -Emotionally? | 0:42:59 | 0:43:01 | |
This McNally was very much your social inferior. Why then... | 0:43:02 | 0:43:07 | |
During the war, I fought alongside men from many different backgrounds. | 0:43:07 | 0:43:11 | |
I don't recall anyone objecting then. | 0:43:11 | 0:43:13 | |
Before God, I entirely commend that sentiment, Mr Wildeblood, | 0:43:13 | 0:43:17 | |
but what the jury may wish to know is this. | 0:43:17 | 0:43:19 | |
Why would you, a highly intelligent man, a beautiful writer, | 0:43:20 | 0:43:26 | |
want to spend 21 months | 0:43:26 | 0:43:28 | |
of his life with an uneducated RAF corporal from the pits of Glasgow? | 0:43:28 | 0:43:34 | |
That night in Piccadilly when you met, did you smile at each other? | 0:43:37 | 0:43:41 | |
I cannot remember. | 0:43:44 | 0:43:46 | |
When you got into conversation, did a smile pass between you? | 0:43:46 | 0:43:49 | |
I should think possibly, yes. | 0:43:49 | 0:43:50 | |
-And you took him back to your flat? -He had nowhere to go. | 0:43:50 | 0:43:53 | |
-Resisted all temptation? -Yes. | 0:43:53 | 0:43:54 | |
Didn't even kiss him? | 0:43:54 | 0:43:56 | |
No, I did not. | 0:43:56 | 0:43:57 | |
You never felt the need for physical expression of a healthy, | 0:43:59 | 0:44:04 | |
emotional young man? | 0:44:04 | 0:44:06 | |
I was incapable of sexual expression. | 0:44:06 | 0:44:09 | |
Incapable? | 0:44:09 | 0:44:11 | |
-Have you consulted a doctor? -No. | 0:44:14 | 0:44:16 | |
"Dearest Peter, I've really got it bad, sweetheart." | 0:44:18 | 0:44:21 | |
What had he got bad? Love, was it not? | 0:44:21 | 0:44:23 | |
I don't accept for a moment... | 0:44:23 | 0:44:25 | |
"In fact, I haven't felt so happy for a long time." | 0:44:25 | 0:44:27 | |
Because of his friendship with you, yes? | 0:44:27 | 0:44:30 | |
Because of his friendship with you? Yes? | 0:44:31 | 0:44:35 | |
Yes. | 0:44:35 | 0:44:36 | |
"This is being written in bed. | 0:44:40 | 0:44:42 | |
"Wish you were here. But the RAF have definite views on such things." | 0:44:42 | 0:44:46 | |
Would a young man write those words to you if you | 0:44:49 | 0:44:53 | |
and he had not been intimate? | 0:44:53 | 0:44:55 | |
Well, this young man would. | 0:44:55 | 0:44:57 | |
"My dearest, darling Eddie, | 0:44:57 | 0:45:00 | |
"oh, how relieved I was to hear from you at last. | 0:45:00 | 0:45:03 | |
"You are so much a part of my life that I do not think | 0:45:03 | 0:45:07 | |
"I could ever do without you." Is that right? | 0:45:07 | 0:45:09 | |
He was a part of my life. | 0:45:11 | 0:45:13 | |
"I love you as much now as I did | 0:45:13 | 0:45:15 | |
"when we spent our lovely holiday together." | 0:45:15 | 0:45:17 | |
On this holiday, you spent that whole time resisting temptation? | 0:45:17 | 0:45:20 | |
-Yes. -What, then, made it so happy for you? | 0:45:20 | 0:45:23 | |
The friendship, you know, the... the conversation, the... | 0:45:23 | 0:45:27 | |
..the bathing. | 0:45:29 | 0:45:31 | |
The weather? | 0:45:31 | 0:45:33 | |
"All the love I've ever known, P." | 0:45:35 | 0:45:38 | |
That was all the love I have ever known. | 0:45:44 | 0:45:47 | |
The arrest must have placed a considerable burden on you? | 0:45:48 | 0:45:51 | |
If you're born a sexual invert you will always have | 0:46:02 | 0:46:04 | |
a burden on your soul. | 0:46:04 | 0:46:07 | |
If there was any way of getting rid of it | 0:46:07 | 0:46:09 | |
I should only be too pleased | 0:46:09 | 0:46:12 | |
because it has been a handicap to me | 0:46:12 | 0:46:14 | |
and led to nothing but loneliness and unhappiness. | 0:46:14 | 0:46:17 | |
I have no further questions. | 0:46:19 | 0:46:21 | |
Witness is dismissed. | 0:46:22 | 0:46:24 | |
To the charge of buggery, do you find | 0:46:43 | 0:46:45 | |
the defendants guilty or not guilty? | 0:46:45 | 0:46:48 | |
Guilty. | 0:46:50 | 0:46:52 | |
To the charge of gross indecency, | 0:46:54 | 0:46:56 | |
do you find the defendants guilty or not guilty? | 0:46:56 | 0:47:00 | |
Guilty. | 0:47:00 | 0:47:02 | |
To the charge of conspiracy to incite male persons to commit | 0:47:03 | 0:47:06 | |
gross indecency, do you find the defendants guilty or not guilty? | 0:47:06 | 0:47:11 | |
Guilty. | 0:47:11 | 0:47:13 | |
To the charge of procuring male persons for acts of gross indecency, | 0:47:14 | 0:47:18 | |
do you find the defendants guilty or not guilty? | 0:47:18 | 0:47:21 | |
SPEECH FADES | 0:47:21 | 0:47:23 | |
-NEWS REPORT: -The Montagu trial ended today | 0:47:52 | 0:47:54 | |
with jail terms for all three accused. | 0:47:54 | 0:47:57 | |
Mr Justice Ormerod passed sentences of 12 months' | 0:47:57 | 0:48:00 | |
imprisonment on Lord Montagu, | 0:48:00 | 0:48:01 | |
and 18 months each on Michael Pitt-Rivers and Peter Wildeblood. | 0:48:01 | 0:48:05 | |
I'd read all about it in the newspapers | 0:48:13 | 0:48:17 | |
and I thought, "Good God, it's awful." | 0:48:17 | 0:48:19 | |
They were determined to get verdicts of guilty on the three men | 0:48:19 | 0:48:23 | |
involved - Montagu, Wildeblood and Michael Pitt-Rivers - | 0:48:23 | 0:48:27 | |
and they were sent to prison of course, and the two airmen | 0:48:27 | 0:48:32 | |
who testified against them were given immunity. | 0:48:32 | 0:48:35 | |
I didn't know how Peter Wildeblood, how he was... | 0:48:35 | 0:48:38 | |
how the judiciary and the police behaved. | 0:48:38 | 0:48:41 | |
I didn't understand that and when... | 0:48:41 | 0:48:43 | |
I mean, when I read it, I was filled with terror. | 0:48:43 | 0:48:46 | |
This is the kind of stuff that was reality, it was real, | 0:48:46 | 0:48:49 | |
this is what happened to you if you were gay. | 0:48:49 | 0:48:52 | |
It was pretty heavy duty, erm, I don't know how it didn't | 0:48:52 | 0:48:59 | |
deter me completely and, of course, it did deter lots of people. | 0:48:59 | 0:49:02 | |
There were lots of very unhappy gay people | 0:49:02 | 0:49:06 | |
really trying hard to be straight. | 0:49:06 | 0:49:09 | |
Gradually, people were talking. Whereas this had been a taboo, | 0:49:09 | 0:49:14 | |
now it was a taboo that was being discussed. | 0:49:14 | 0:49:17 | |
That gave me an edge of hope, | 0:49:17 | 0:49:20 | |
when I didn't have very much of that around me. | 0:49:20 | 0:49:23 | |
DOOR SLAMS SHUT | 0:50:20 | 0:50:22 | |
KNOCKING | 0:50:49 | 0:50:51 | |
Wildeblood! | 0:51:13 | 0:51:14 | |
INDISTINCT CHATTER | 0:51:38 | 0:51:41 | |
I seen you come in. | 0:52:04 | 0:52:07 | |
You look better in real life than you did in the papers. | 0:52:10 | 0:52:13 | |
Oh... | 0:52:13 | 0:52:15 | |
Thank you. | 0:52:16 | 0:52:17 | |
It looked like you was dead, or something. | 0:52:19 | 0:52:22 | |
How's your porridge going? | 0:52:27 | 0:52:28 | |
It's, er, OK, it's going. | 0:52:29 | 0:52:32 | |
Yours? | 0:52:34 | 0:52:35 | |
All right. | 0:52:37 | 0:52:39 | |
Two more years. | 0:52:40 | 0:52:41 | |
That RAF lad stitched you up proper, didn't he? | 0:52:44 | 0:52:47 | |
Not on, what he did to you. | 0:52:50 | 0:52:53 | |
Form up! | 0:52:56 | 0:52:57 | |
Be seeing you. | 0:53:02 | 0:53:03 | |
Be seeing you. | 0:53:05 | 0:53:06 | |
8505, Wildeblood, sir. | 0:53:48 | 0:53:51 | |
Wildeblood, yes. | 0:53:51 | 0:53:53 | |
Have you given any thought to what you might do | 0:53:53 | 0:53:55 | |
when you've finished your sentence? | 0:53:55 | 0:53:58 | |
I plan to carry on as before, sir. | 0:53:58 | 0:54:00 | |
Well, you'll certainly be returning to an institution like this | 0:54:00 | 0:54:03 | |
if you do. | 0:54:03 | 0:54:05 | |
I meant I shall go on writing. | 0:54:05 | 0:54:08 | |
I suspect you'll find that rather harder than you imagine. | 0:54:08 | 0:54:11 | |
Do you know someone called Iris? | 0:54:13 | 0:54:15 | |
Why, yes, sir. | 0:54:16 | 0:54:18 | |
Quite a common name in your...circles. | 0:54:18 | 0:54:21 | |
Iris is a woman, sir. | 0:54:23 | 0:54:25 | |
Are you willing to undergo medical treatment for your condition? | 0:54:26 | 0:54:30 | |
Yes, sir. | 0:54:30 | 0:54:32 | |
And you'll see the psychiatrist in due course. | 0:54:32 | 0:54:35 | |
That will be all. | 0:54:35 | 0:54:36 | |
TYPEWRITER KEYS CLACK | 0:54:47 | 0:54:49 | |
All the things that wants to find me as a man have evaporated... | 0:54:49 | 0:54:52 | |
..distilled down to a revolting caricature of homosexual man. | 0:54:56 | 0:55:00 | |
INDISTINCT CHATTER | 0:55:10 | 0:55:12 | |
Hello again. | 0:55:29 | 0:55:31 | |
Hello. | 0:55:31 | 0:55:33 | |
It's rotten how they did you. | 0:55:33 | 0:55:35 | |
There but for the grace of God, you know. | 0:55:35 | 0:55:38 | |
-I'm sorry? -It's people who have a little queer streak of their own | 0:55:40 | 0:55:44 | |
that does the most damage, if you ask me. | 0:55:44 | 0:55:47 | |
On the plus side, this place is packed with queers. | 0:55:48 | 0:55:51 | |
Receiving, mostly. | 0:55:51 | 0:55:52 | |
MEN LAUGH | 0:55:52 | 0:55:55 | |
DOOR SLAMS SHUT | 0:55:55 | 0:55:57 | |
I arrived there with a couple of other prisoners, I think. | 0:56:03 | 0:56:07 | |
Er, it really did frighten me. | 0:56:09 | 0:56:11 | |
You had the openly gay people who didn't seem to care | 0:56:11 | 0:56:15 | |
if anyone knew they were gay. | 0:56:15 | 0:56:17 | |
They flaunted round in groups, were quite outrageous, effeminate, | 0:56:17 | 0:56:21 | |
girlie names all the time. | 0:56:21 | 0:56:23 | |
On the other hand, | 0:56:23 | 0:56:24 | |
there were the "undercover Marys", as we liked to refer to them. | 0:56:24 | 0:56:28 | |
Those who had, for one reason or another, | 0:56:28 | 0:56:30 | |
good reason not to be blatantly gay, | 0:56:30 | 0:56:33 | |
and there was certainly a certain tension between them. | 0:56:33 | 0:56:37 | |
The governor said, "We know why you're here, erm... | 0:56:37 | 0:56:42 | |
"..and I want nothing of a homosexual nature for you | 0:56:44 | 0:56:50 | |
"to try and take because if you do, you'll be here for ever." | 0:56:50 | 0:56:54 | |
Being homosexual was such an aberration, terrible, | 0:56:54 | 0:56:59 | |
worse than anything, worse than a murderer. Much, much worse. | 0:56:59 | 0:57:03 | |
There were times when one thought, | 0:57:03 | 0:57:06 | |
will they ever understand that there's nothing unnatural, erm, | 0:57:06 | 0:57:11 | |
about us at all? | 0:57:11 | 0:57:13 | |
We're perfectly natural human beings | 0:57:13 | 0:57:16 | |
with a natural desire for love, | 0:57:16 | 0:57:19 | |
and it increased one's sense | 0:57:19 | 0:57:24 | |
of alienation from society as a whole. | 0:57:24 | 0:57:28 | |
I mean it just destroyed my... my...my...my personality, really. | 0:57:28 | 0:57:35 | |
I couldn't let my... I couldn't be who I was, so I had nothing. | 0:57:37 | 0:57:42 | |
BANGING | 0:57:48 | 0:57:50 | |
TYPEWRITER KEYS CLATTER | 0:57:58 | 0:58:00 | |
I now know what it is like to be a criminal. | 0:58:04 | 0:58:08 | |
To know that everything you do will be misunderstood | 0:58:11 | 0:58:15 | |
or used as evidence against you. | 0:58:15 | 0:58:18 | |
BANGING | 0:58:18 | 0:58:20 | |
It makes me fearful of my future, and fear is a terrible emotion. | 0:58:25 | 0:58:30 | |
It's like a black frost, | 0:58:32 | 0:58:34 | |
which blights and stunts all the other qualities of a man. | 0:58:34 | 0:58:38 | |
-Dan, that's really... -Pick it up, then. | 0:59:07 | 0:59:10 | |
Got to keep your strength up. | 0:59:17 | 0:59:19 | |
Pinched it out the garden. | 0:59:34 | 0:59:36 | |
Make your cell feel a bit more like home. | 0:59:38 | 0:59:41 | |
RETCHING AND COUGHING | 1:01:00 | 1:01:02 | |
KNOCK ON DOOR | 1:01:10 | 1:01:12 | |
Come in. | 1:01:12 | 1:01:13 | |
Sit down. | 1:01:16 | 1:01:17 | |
Wildeblood, isn't it? | 1:01:21 | 1:01:23 | |
Yes, sir. | 1:01:23 | 1:01:24 | |
Openly homosexual. | 1:01:26 | 1:01:29 | |
Do you attend the orgies? | 1:01:31 | 1:01:33 | |
Orgies? | 1:01:35 | 1:01:36 | |
Yes. In Chelsea and other places? | 1:01:36 | 1:01:41 | |
Male homosexuals gather together and engage in unnatural practices. | 1:01:42 | 1:01:47 | |
Really? | 1:01:47 | 1:01:48 | |
So I'm told. | 1:01:48 | 1:01:50 | |
I haven't heard of this, sir. | 1:01:51 | 1:01:54 | |
Does not attend the orgies. | 1:01:55 | 1:02:00 | |
-You want to be cured? -Yes, sir. | 1:02:04 | 1:02:07 | |
Well, there are a number of options. | 1:02:07 | 1:02:09 | |
I understood that glandular injections or hormone treatment... | 1:02:09 | 1:02:14 | |
We've tried oestrogen injections on a couple of cases here | 1:02:14 | 1:02:17 | |
but with no great degree of success. | 1:02:17 | 1:02:20 | |
One man underwent physical changes of a...a somewhat alarming nature. | 1:02:20 | 1:02:26 | |
We use aversion therapy. | 1:02:27 | 1:02:30 | |
How does that... | 1:02:30 | 1:02:32 | |
Electrical aversion. | 1:02:32 | 1:02:34 | |
Electrodes fixed to the wrists, calves, feet. | 1:02:34 | 1:02:38 | |
You'd be told to fantasise, | 1:02:38 | 1:02:41 | |
watch pictures of men in various states of undress, receive shocks. | 1:02:41 | 1:02:46 | |
Does it leave...marks? | 1:02:48 | 1:02:52 | |
They fade after a while. | 1:02:52 | 1:02:55 | |
Or chemical aversion - | 1:02:55 | 1:02:58 | |
apomorphine injections - produces nausea, you'll vomit | 1:02:58 | 1:03:03 | |
then you lie in it, | 1:03:03 | 1:03:05 | |
no cleaning up allowed. Essential part of the therapy. | 1:03:05 | 1:03:09 | |
For how long? | 1:03:11 | 1:03:13 | |
Two days, sometimes three, it depends. | 1:03:14 | 1:03:17 | |
I shouldn't be here. | 1:03:24 | 1:03:26 | |
This shouldn't be happening to me. | 1:03:28 | 1:03:30 | |
You broke the law, Wildeblood. | 1:03:30 | 1:03:32 | |
Then the law is wrong. | 1:03:32 | 1:03:35 | |
The two treatments, the kindest one was that you would do... | 1:03:58 | 1:04:03 | |
you would go to a counsellor, erm, psychologist. | 1:04:03 | 1:04:07 | |
The, erm, worst one, the worst option, was that you would | 1:04:11 | 1:04:16 | |
have aversion therapy, | 1:04:16 | 1:04:19 | |
and aversion therapy, um, | 1:04:19 | 1:04:24 | |
was probably | 1:04:24 | 1:04:27 | |
the three worst days of my 67 years on this Earth as a nurse. | 1:04:27 | 1:04:33 | |
They gave me an injection and I don't know to this day what it was - | 1:04:33 | 1:04:37 | |
I have been told but I can't remember now - which made me | 1:04:37 | 1:04:41 | |
feel very queasy and really started to react with inside me, | 1:04:41 | 1:04:46 | |
and, er, pretty horrendous, and I said, "Excuse me, | 1:04:46 | 1:04:50 | |
"I think I'm going to be sick." | 1:04:50 | 1:04:53 | |
He said, "That's fine, just be sick," so I said, | 1:04:53 | 1:04:56 | |
"Well, could I have a bucket or something or a bowl?" | 1:04:56 | 1:05:00 | |
"No, just be sick." | 1:05:00 | 1:05:02 | |
And then started feeling queasy down below and I said, | 1:05:02 | 1:05:05 | |
"I've got to go to the toilet." | 1:05:05 | 1:05:07 | |
"Don't worry about it, just do it." | 1:05:07 | 1:05:08 | |
There was no talk about... about your...what you thought, | 1:05:08 | 1:05:13 | |
what modern therapy would go into, | 1:05:13 | 1:05:16 | |
no dialogue between the therapist and you | 1:05:16 | 1:05:19 | |
with regard to your feelings and so on. | 1:05:19 | 1:05:21 | |
There was no opportunity to express yourself. | 1:05:21 | 1:05:24 | |
It was simply...it was simply medical treatments with tablets that | 1:05:24 | 1:05:28 | |
tried to damp you down. | 1:05:28 | 1:05:29 | |
And for 72 hours, I... Well, I had nothing left, there was | 1:05:29 | 1:05:35 | |
no sick coming up, there was no poo coming out, there was nothing. | 1:05:35 | 1:05:41 | |
There was no water coming out of my penis, there was nothing. | 1:05:41 | 1:05:45 | |
I was a mental wreck, and this nurse was embarrassed, | 1:05:45 | 1:05:50 | |
and I can see his face now, just didn't know what to say to me | 1:05:50 | 1:05:56 | |
and I certainly didn't know what to say to him. | 1:05:56 | 1:05:59 | |
I can only say to you | 1:05:59 | 1:06:00 | |
and all those who have had this dreadful treatment, | 1:06:01 | 1:06:04 | |
as a nurse, I'm sorry that I was complicit in it. | 1:06:04 | 1:06:10 | |
I can't do any more, I can't undo what's been done. | 1:06:11 | 1:06:15 | |
I can only say I'm sorry. | 1:06:17 | 1:06:19 | |
SHRIEKS AND EXCITED CHATTER | 1:06:23 | 1:06:26 | |
I thought he was going to my bottom off, or something! | 1:06:26 | 1:06:30 | |
CHATTER AND LAUGHTER CONTINUES | 1:06:30 | 1:06:32 | |
Absolutely beastly thing! | 1:06:36 | 1:06:38 | |
I was scarred for life. | 1:06:38 | 1:06:40 | |
Anyway, I forgot my soap, and I turned round and bent down | 1:06:40 | 1:06:43 | |
and said, "I can't. She'll go for me right in the derriere!" | 1:06:43 | 1:06:47 | |
You landed on your feet there, girl. | 1:07:06 | 1:07:08 | |
He's a lovely bit of stuff. Get right in there. | 1:07:08 | 1:07:13 | |
Sorry. | 1:07:18 | 1:07:19 | |
Touched a nerve? | 1:07:19 | 1:07:22 | |
Your business, I'm sure. | 1:07:22 | 1:07:24 | |
Seen this? | 1:07:27 | 1:07:28 | |
-Wolfenden. -A committee. | 1:07:35 | 1:07:38 | |
See if they might want to change the law against queers. | 1:07:38 | 1:07:41 | |
They want people to come forward, have their say. | 1:07:41 | 1:07:44 | |
There's a few things I could tell them. | 1:07:44 | 1:07:48 | |
We should all do it, don't you think? Band together. | 1:07:48 | 1:07:51 | |
No! | 1:07:51 | 1:07:54 | |
No, we're not the same, you and I! | 1:07:54 | 1:07:56 | |
I am a homosexual. | 1:08:37 | 1:08:39 | |
For many years I kept this a secret from my family and friends | 1:08:42 | 1:08:47 | |
and tried privately to resolve my struggle in a way | 1:08:47 | 1:08:50 | |
as consistent as possible with moral law. | 1:08:50 | 1:08:53 | |
I do not believe I ever did any harm to anyone. | 1:08:56 | 1:08:59 | |
If any harm has been done, the fault lies not with me | 1:09:03 | 1:09:07 | |
but with those who dragged into the merciless light of publicity | 1:09:07 | 1:09:11 | |
things which would have been better left in darkness. | 1:09:11 | 1:09:15 | |
If there is bitterness in my words, | 1:09:18 | 1:09:21 | |
I hope it will be the bitterness of medicine, not of poison. | 1:09:21 | 1:09:27 | |
Just before he was imprisoned, he had just bought a house | 1:09:35 | 1:09:39 | |
not far away from our flat. | 1:09:39 | 1:09:41 | |
When he came out of prison, his neighbours had put up | 1:09:44 | 1:09:47 | |
a big notice - "welcome home" - | 1:09:47 | 1:09:50 | |
and I think that that more than anything | 1:09:50 | 1:09:53 | |
erm, gave Peter a tremendous encouragement - | 1:09:53 | 1:09:56 | |
these ordinary local people were accepting him for what he was. | 1:09:56 | 1:10:02 | |
I must have my say. | 1:10:09 | 1:10:10 | |
Wolfenden needs to hear the truth. | 1:10:12 | 1:10:15 | |
I'm trying to get through to Malcolm Starr. | 1:10:35 | 1:10:38 | |
The Home Office. | 1:10:38 | 1:10:39 | |
Yes, I can wait. | 1:10:42 | 1:10:43 | |
I realised, with the setting up of Wolfenden, | 1:10:55 | 1:10:58 | |
and even before, that there was a change in the air. | 1:10:58 | 1:11:01 | |
It was the first indication that the law against homosexuality | 1:11:05 | 1:11:11 | |
might at least be reconsidered, the first glimmer of hope, | 1:11:11 | 1:11:17 | |
and so we all knew about it, straights and gays. | 1:11:17 | 1:11:20 | |
May I say, Mr Wildeblood, how very grateful we are to you | 1:11:32 | 1:11:36 | |
-for finding time to talk to us this afternoon. -Not at all. | 1:11:36 | 1:11:41 | |
But I was particularly aware of it because it so happened | 1:11:41 | 1:11:46 | |
I was having an affair at the time with Jeremy Wolfenden, who was | 1:11:46 | 1:11:50 | |
the son of Sir John Wolfenden, who was head of the committee. | 1:11:50 | 1:11:54 | |
You say there are three distinct types of homosexual. | 1:11:59 | 1:12:04 | |
Yes, the men who regard themselves as women | 1:12:04 | 1:12:09 | |
through glandular or psychological maladjustment. | 1:12:09 | 1:12:13 | |
Group A? | 1:12:13 | 1:12:14 | |
Yes. Group B, pederasts. | 1:12:14 | 1:12:19 | |
I cannot speak on their behalf. | 1:12:21 | 1:12:24 | |
I regard them the same way a normal man might regard those | 1:12:24 | 1:12:28 | |
pederasts who pray on young girls. | 1:12:28 | 1:12:30 | |
And Group C? Men...like yourself. | 1:12:30 | 1:12:35 | |
Homosexuals in the strictest sense. | 1:12:35 | 1:12:38 | |
Adult men who are attracted to other adult men. | 1:12:39 | 1:12:43 | |
Men who desire to lead their lives with discretion and decency, | 1:12:45 | 1:12:51 | |
neither corrupting others | 1:12:51 | 1:12:54 | |
nor publically flaunting their condition. | 1:12:54 | 1:12:56 | |
We are by far the largest group of homosexuals. | 1:12:59 | 1:13:02 | |
The discreet homosexual? | 1:13:02 | 1:13:04 | |
Yes, my lord. | 1:13:04 | 1:13:06 | |
We seek to find another of our own kind and... | 1:13:06 | 1:13:10 | |
..if possible, form a permanent attachment in private. | 1:13:12 | 1:13:18 | |
But the law, as it stands, makes this kind of arrangement | 1:13:19 | 1:13:23 | |
fraught with risk. | 1:13:23 | 1:13:25 | |
A promiscuous and temporary liaison is far less likely to provide | 1:13:25 | 1:13:30 | |
corroborative evidence, letters, that kind of thing, in court | 1:13:30 | 1:13:33 | |
than an association in which genuine trust and fidelity play a part. | 1:13:33 | 1:13:39 | |
I see. | 1:13:41 | 1:13:42 | |
Yes. | 1:13:43 | 1:13:45 | |
I was going to ask a little more about Group A, | 1:13:45 | 1:13:49 | |
the glandular category. | 1:13:49 | 1:13:52 | |
They're known as "pansies". | 1:13:52 | 1:13:54 | |
People of that kind are born like that. | 1:13:59 | 1:14:02 | |
To that extent, I suppose they're not responsible. | 1:14:04 | 1:14:08 | |
What they are responsible for is their nuisance value. | 1:14:11 | 1:14:16 | |
They cause a lot of bad public feeling | 1:14:16 | 1:14:18 | |
towards the other, more discreet homosexuals. | 1:14:18 | 1:14:22 | |
When I ask for tolerance, it is for men like us... | 1:14:28 | 1:14:33 | |
..not the corrupters of youth, | 1:14:35 | 1:14:38 | |
not the effeminate creatures making an exhibition of themselves. | 1:14:38 | 1:14:42 | |
I speak for the men who, despite their tragic disability, | 1:14:46 | 1:14:52 | |
try to lead their lives as decent citizens. | 1:14:52 | 1:14:55 | |
There are many thousands of us. | 1:14:57 | 1:14:59 | |
How many, we do not know. | 1:15:00 | 1:15:02 | |
I believe that we would be better | 1:15:04 | 1:15:07 | |
and more useful members of society if we were allowed to | 1:15:07 | 1:15:10 | |
live in peace, instead of being condemned to live outside the law. | 1:15:10 | 1:15:15 | |
What did you do that for? Stop it... | 1:15:22 | 1:15:25 | |
HE GROANS | 1:15:25 | 1:15:27 | |
You're a fucking homo! | 1:15:27 | 1:15:29 | |
Thank you, Mr Wildeblood. | 1:15:36 | 1:15:38 | |
You've been most helpful. | 1:15:41 | 1:15:43 | |
Thank you, sir. | 1:15:43 | 1:15:45 | |
MAN WHISTLES | 1:16:14 | 1:16:16 | |
You know, I was very pleased with the recommendations made | 1:16:26 | 1:16:30 | |
and I thought, well, the law will change, but it wasn't changed | 1:16:30 | 1:16:32 | |
for another, what, nine years or ten years, | 1:16:32 | 1:16:36 | |
and when it did change, you know, | 1:16:36 | 1:16:39 | |
as I said earlier, I thought, | 1:16:39 | 1:16:41 | |
"Oh, yeah, nice condescending thing to do." | 1:16:41 | 1:16:45 | |
I was quite irritated by it. | 1:16:45 | 1:16:47 | |
INTERVIEWER: Why was that? | 1:16:47 | 1:16:48 | |
Yeah, because I thought, you know, all this consenting adults | 1:16:48 | 1:16:52 | |
in private, and if you had a threesome, say, you know, | 1:16:52 | 1:16:56 | |
you could be brought up... sent to prison - | 1:16:56 | 1:16:59 | |
not that people...not that people wanted threesomes, but you know | 1:16:59 | 1:17:02 | |
what I mean, and it had to be in private, in a house, and if there | 1:17:02 | 1:17:06 | |
were other people in the house, you know, you were breaking the law. | 1:17:06 | 1:17:10 | |
The change in the law that took place in 1967 I'm quite sure | 1:17:10 | 1:17:14 | |
had an enormous effect on a huge number of gay people but, erm, | 1:17:14 | 1:17:18 | |
the problem was, it was a minor change. | 1:17:18 | 1:17:21 | |
They weren't going to turn around to their parents and say, | 1:17:21 | 1:17:23 | |
"Oh, I'm gay and it's legal now so you can't do anything about it." | 1:17:23 | 1:17:27 | |
They were still going to be hiding, hiding themselves. It would take a | 1:17:27 | 1:17:30 | |
social change to bring real freedom to these people, not a legal change. | 1:17:30 | 1:17:34 | |
That is not to minimise the benefit the legal change made, | 1:17:34 | 1:17:38 | |
if nothing else, to stop people going to prison for something | 1:17:38 | 1:17:41 | |
that was nobody's business but their own. | 1:17:41 | 1:17:44 | |
My mother was saying, | 1:17:44 | 1:17:46 | |
"I know what you're going to do. | 1:17:46 | 1:17:49 | |
"Later on, when I go, | 1:17:49 | 1:17:51 | |
"you'll marry a non-Jewish girl." | 1:17:51 | 1:17:54 | |
I said, "Mum, I won't marry a girl at all." | 1:17:54 | 1:17:57 | |
It must have been a shock to her... | 1:18:02 | 1:18:05 | |
..but she just called me a dirty dog. | 1:18:07 | 1:18:09 | |
I did hold back particularly | 1:18:15 | 1:18:18 | |
because I knew my family would disown me pretty well, | 1:18:18 | 1:18:23 | |
and here I am now, and, er, fortunately... | 1:18:23 | 1:18:28 | |
I mean, it was only literally | 1:18:28 | 1:18:33 | |
since September of last year, | 1:18:33 | 1:18:38 | |
that I was able to come out to my family, | 1:18:38 | 1:18:43 | |
well, to my sister, younger sister. | 1:18:43 | 1:18:46 | |
Even now, I sometimes pinch myself and think, "Is it true? | 1:18:46 | 1:18:51 | |
"Has it happened?" | 1:18:51 | 1:18:52 | |
Erm, and I'm astonished. | 1:18:52 | 1:18:56 | |
I would never have thought that the law would change, | 1:18:56 | 1:19:02 | |
that public opinion would change. | 1:19:02 | 1:19:05 | |
-Hello, darling. -Hello, darling. | 1:19:07 | 1:19:09 | |
How are you? | 1:19:09 | 1:19:11 | |
Not bad. | 1:19:11 | 1:19:12 | |
-Oh, good. -And yourself? | 1:19:12 | 1:19:14 | |
-All right, thank you. -Good. | 1:19:14 | 1:19:16 | |
-You had a good time? -Very good time. -Oh, good. | 1:19:16 | 1:19:19 | |
Well, we were the first couple in Westminster | 1:19:19 | 1:19:24 | |
as well as in the country to actually form the civil partnership, | 1:19:24 | 1:19:31 | |
which was very exciting, actually. | 1:19:31 | 1:19:35 | |
Lee died two years ago and we'd been together 66 years, and I found | 1:19:41 | 1:19:47 | |
that letter that I wrote to him amongst his effects, | 1:19:47 | 1:19:50 | |
and the address, his name, my name had been cut out, | 1:19:50 | 1:19:54 | |
so I folded the letter up | 1:19:54 | 1:19:57 | |
and placed it in his coffin so that it went with him wherever he went. | 1:19:57 | 1:20:01 | |
Yeah. | 1:20:01 | 1:20:03 | |
Queer. | 1:20:11 | 1:20:12 | |
Homosexual. | 1:20:12 | 1:20:14 | |
Poofter. | 1:20:14 | 1:20:16 | |
# Say it out loud it'll be OK | 1:20:16 | 1:20:18 | |
# I will be your light | 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 | |
# If there's something inside that you wanna say... # | 1:20:25 | 1:20:28 | |
Shirt-lifter. | 1:20:28 | 1:20:29 | |
LAUGHTER | 1:20:29 | 1:20:30 | |
Flamer. | 1:20:30 | 1:20:32 | |
Never heard that one. Slamer? | 1:20:33 | 1:20:36 | |
Flamer, as in a flame. | 1:20:36 | 1:20:37 | |
-Flame. Flamer. -Flamer. | 1:20:37 | 1:20:39 | |
Not one I've ever heard of. | 1:20:39 | 1:20:41 | |
I hadn't heard "brown hat". | 1:20:42 | 1:20:44 | |
Nancy boy. | 1:20:46 | 1:20:48 | |
Queen. | 1:20:48 | 1:20:49 | |
Friend of Dorothy. | 1:20:49 | 1:20:51 | |
-Faggot. -Bender. | 1:20:59 | 1:21:01 | |
Batty boy. | 1:21:01 | 1:21:03 | |
Fairy. | 1:21:11 | 1:21:13 | |
You're very good at that? | 1:21:15 | 1:21:17 | |
I've heard it once or twice! | 1:21:18 | 1:21:20 | |
# ..Say it out loud, it'll be OK | 1:21:20 | 1:21:22 | |
# I will be your light | 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 | |
# If there's something inside that you wanna say | 1:21:28 | 1:21:31 | |
# Say it out loud, it'll be OK | 1:21:31 | 1:21:34 | |
# I will be your light | 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 |