Queerama Storyville

This programme contains some strong language and some scenes of a sexual nature.

About one person in 20 is homosexual. On any busy street,

you pass half a dozen every five minutes.

Contrary to popular opinion, most of them don't look any different from anyone else.

People can only tell the obvious ones, but they are a tiny minority.

# For TC and his Honeybear

# The world will not stop moving

# For rendezvous and longing stares

# And hearts that won't stop burning

# Before that Honeybear had given up

# He felt so sad and lonely

# Then one night he looked up and he saw

# He saw his one and only

# When TC came onto the scene

# He entered in on golden wings

# And with him he brought butterflies

# Of crimson red and emerald green

# Cos before TC Honeybear was waiting

# Was waiting for him patiently

# TC took his fear away

# Became his one and only... #

-REPORTER:

-Homosexuals usually live two lives,

one of which is completely concealed

from their family and colleagues.

No-one knows, no.

How would they react, if they did?

They'd be tremendously shocked.

The reason is that I live a very normal life...

..back home. And I really live two lives -

one here, and one up north.

It's estimated that one man in 20 is a homosexual.

These men are a minority - they receive minority treatment,

face prejudice and intolerance,

stand accused of depravity and vice.

Whereas male homosexuality is a crime in Britain,

female homosexuality is perfectly legal.

Lesbians can be open about it.

And yet, for women who love women,

unqualified acceptance by our society still does not exist.

And so lesbians receive the minority treatment -

intolerance, suspicion, often disgust.

In the heterosexual world,

the homosexual disturbs conformist values,

is shunned, and perhaps misunderstood.

Most homosexuals must lead a secret, dark existence.

# The world came crashing down on them

# With all of its ferocity

# And Honeybear was terrified

# He said, do not take him, take me

# Before that Honeybear had given up

# He felt so sad and lonely... #

I'll soon be back.

Don't leave me here alone.

Where are you going?

# Then one night he looked up and he saw

# He saw his one and only

# And he said, please don't take him

# Cos I love him

# He's my joy

# And my life

# For my love I won't hesitate

# I will give him all that his heart can take

# And I'll trust him fearlessly

# I want him to be free. #

Among the ancient Greeks, it was normal practice.

Socrates and Plato, the two greatest of philosophers,

were both homosexual.

So was Alexander the Great.

Julius Caesar, a woman's man,

and every man's woman.

Many of the kings of England were homosexual -

William Rufus, for instance, and Edward II,

was the most notorious example.

Perhaps the two greatest artists of all time were homosexual -

Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.

At home, romantic poets like Shelley and Byron.

The biggest scandal surrounding a British homosexual

blew up round Oscar Wilde.

"The love that dare not speak its name in this country

"in such a great affection of an elder for a younger man,

"as there was between David and Jonathan,

"such as Plato made the very basis of his philosophy,

"and such as you will find

"in the sonnets of Michelangelo and Shakespeare.

"It is that deep, spiritual affection,

"which is as pure as it is perfect.

"It is in this century so misunderstood

"that it may be described as the love that dare not speak its name.

"And on account of it,

"I am placed where I am now.

"It is beautiful, it is fine.

"It is the noblest form of affection."

Are they born that way, or do they become like it?

Well, I don't think they are born that way.

I think the damage is probably done very early in infancy,

in some cases. Sometimes later.

The amount of sexual drive a person

has may certainly be decided partly genetically,

but not its direction.

# We could have skipped this part

# I could have taught you how to love yourself

# I waited patiently

# I hoped that you would be the one to come to me

# I tried to talk to you

# I thought that you would recognise the need

# That you had deep inside

# But you had to get there by yourself

# I don't understand Help me, please

# Tell me everything and make me see

# You know that I would give you anything

# I'd take away your pain Yeah, I'd take away the stain

# I don't understand Help me, please

# Tell me everything and make me see

# You know that I would give you anything

# I'd take away your pain and I'd take away the stain... #

Because lesbians are a cross-section,

by the sheer law of averages

there are naturally many to be found in those professions

which are predominantly staffed by women,

like nursing and teaching.

Now, you're a schoolteacher and, as you must know,

a tremendous number of parents

are really frightened at the idea that

their daughter might be taught by a lesbian teacher.

What's your comment on that?

Well, I suppose there is a danger, in some cases.

But, um...

I mean, if there were... If there was...

If this was...really dangerous, I mean,

no man would be allowed to teach in a girl's school,

and no-one's going to suggest that.

As far as I'm concerned,

my professional life and my private life are utterly separate,

and have to be utterly separate.

Do you feel any sexual attraction for the girls you teach?

None at all.

# I don't understand Help me, please

# Tell me everything and make me see

# You know that I would give you anything

# I'd take away your pain Yeah, I'd take away the stain... #

Recently I-I've seen some children -

very young children, three and four...

..even people I work with,

remark that, there's no question about it,

these children will grow up to be homosexual.

They're very sensitive, soft, warm,

gentle children,

in comparison to other children, perhaps, of the same age,

who are brisk and rough and tumble.

One felt that there was something there that...

was sympathetic.

# Help me, please

# Why don't you come to me? #

Once a girl is lesbian,

can anything be done to change that?

I think so, if she's still fairly young...

..and she's dissatisfied herself with her way of life.

This depends terribly on how early the damage was done,

how deep it goes...

..and basically, again, I suppose on her own feelings about it.

# I would give you anything

# I'd take away your pain Yeah, I'd take away the stain

# I don't understand Help me, please

# Tell me everything and make me see

# You know that I would give you anything

# I'd take away your pain, yeah, I'd take away the stain. #

UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC

-You could talk to him.

-It's not a mother's job.

He's always been a mother's boy.

He never once forgot Mother's Day.

You know, I don't remember him bringing a single girl home

all the time I've known him.

I knew there was something,

but I just couldn't put me finger on it.

Oh, come on, now, he was going to be a bachelor, a celibate.

Your son's not one of those, is he, Hilda?

PHONE RINGS

Where's, um...

Jo?

Couldn't she come? I'd so looked forward to meeting her.

METAL CLANGS

I tripped over the central heating.

I'm always falling over something. I hope I haven't wrecked it.

MELANCHOLY TRUMPET PLAYS

# I've felt uncomfortable

# Since the day that I was born

# Since the day I glimpsed the black abyss in your eyes

# There's no way you could make all of this shit up on your own

# It could only come from the mastermind of lies... #

My parents weren't affectionate.

I always grew up with a dislike for my father.

Consequently, a tremendous attachment to my mother.

You know, there's nothing wrong about that young man of mine

that a good woman won't cure.

May the Lord be in your heart and on your lips, that you may,

with truth and humility, confess all your sins

in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Ghost.

# I can't believe that I've considered taking my own life

# Cos I believed the lies about me were the truth...

I pray, Father, give me your blessing.

# It will be magic to watch your transformation

# When you realise that you've been had

# It's enough to make a guy like me feel sad...

Yes, Sister.

# Cos you tell me that Jesus

# He hates fruit loops, son

# We told you that when you were young

# Or pretty much anything you want him to

# Like sitcoms, paedophiles and kangaroos

# Morons who cut in line

# Three-bean salad and parking fines

# And when we win this war on society

# I hope your blind eyes will be opened and you'll see

# The arrogance it takes to walk around in the world the way you do

# It turns my brain to jelly every time

# The rage and fear I'm feeling have begun to make me sick

# And I think that I might be about to commit a crime

# And you tell me that Jesus

# He hates homos, son

# We told you that when you were young... #

Men?

You look like a couple of queers.

Ah, don't take any notice of what Dot said.

I tell you, she had me worried for a minute, though.

Just because our Arthur's marriage hasn't gone right yet,

you've no call to talk about him being queer.

It's ridiculous...

..innit?

No!

Suppose there was - is that something to get at a lad for?

Well, it's not normal, is it?

Where you going?

I'm going to get a refill for my lipstick.

Pray, Father, give me your blessing.

It is three weeks since my last confession,

and I accuse myself of...

dishonouring my parents, many times.

# Cos Jesus, he hates faggots, son

# We told you that when you were young

# Or pretty much any one you want him to

# Like niggers, spics, redskins and kikes, men who... #

I don't know what's the matter with you. You ain't normal.

Aren't we getting off the subject?

Shut up.

# And when we win the war on society... #

What the fuck is your problem?!

# I hope your blind eyes will be opened and you'll see. #

Nature would have done it,

and a father should help and protect a lad like that,

not turn on him like the mob would when it sees somebody different.

When, in the end, the penny dropped, how did you react?

With relief more than anything.

Relief at knowing...

At being certain, at last,

what I was, and how I fitted in.

I think uncertainty, not knowing what you are,

not knowing how you fit into society,

this is the worst thing of all.

REPORTER: The mother of one of the lesbians

who has appeared in this programme,

told me how she discovered that her daughter was homosexual.

How did you react at the time? What did you feel?

Oh, well at first, terrific shock.

And...fear, to a certain extent.

Not for ourselves, and not for what people would think, really,

but fear for her, what she'd have to face in her future life.

I think that was the worst part about it.

A minority of lesbians can be recognised as such.

This 19-year-old girl has worn nothing but boys' clothes

for some years.

Well...

..I was brought up with boys - I've got no sisters.

I think I was more or less a tomboy

from the start, from a very early age.

How do the shop assistants react

when you walk in to buy men's clothes?

Well, nine times out of ten, they don't know that I'm a girl.

But there is the odd occasion where I've gone into a shop

and they've said, you know, "Yes, sir?"

And then somebody's said, "Is that a girl?"

Good morning, sir.

Oh, good morning, miss.

Good morning. A red rose, please.

There.

-Thank you.

-Thanks.

-Oh, good morning, Kate.

-Good morning, sir.

-Could I have a buttonhole?

-Well, I haven't got any...

A few violets?

Oh, that'll do nicely. Do you mind if I pay you on Saturday?

HE GIGGLES

Strewth.

What do you make of that, Sam?

Well, boys will be girls, and girls will be boys!

# Stranger

# When you look at me

# Eyes strong as steel

# Light as day

# Born a mystery

# You're the in-between

# Boy or girl

# Ooh-ooh ooh-ooh

# Wilder

# Than I've known before

# Fire rushes through

# Every vein

# With a smile that sings

# You'll be killing me

# Tenderly

# Ooh-ooh ooh-ooh

# Ooh-ooh ooh-ooh ooh

# Ooh-ooh ooh-ooh

# Every word

# Is soft as fur

# I'm drifting deeper... #

Yes?

Get in there. Come on, move!

-Crisp, sir.

-Sit down.

Your hair's dyed.

Yes, sir.

A man dyeing his hair is a sign of sexual perversion.

# Ooh-ooh ooh

# Stranger, will you remember?

# Stranger, make me

# Remember you... #

I am Doctor Crow.

You are surprised?

Yes, I am!

I expected you to be a man.

Or a woman.

I am both,

with the combined mental and physical endowments

of both man and woman.

You must have great difficulty with your clothes.

Do you read your Bible?

Not constantly.

"Male and female created he them."

Male and female created he me.

Steve Rogers and her girlfriend

don't often walk down the street for pleasure.

There's too much risk involved.

Risk of public mockery, undisguised amazement, crude jokes.

Many lesbians, of course, aren't so aggressively masculine as Steve,

and for them, it's not so bad.

But for Steve, who's 24,

and whose whole instinct cries out to her to feel and act like a man,

her appearance makes her constantly vulnerable.

When I was 15, no, 16, sorry,

I met this girl and, um...

I was with her for six months, and I got engaged to her.

I really forgot that I was a woman.

And she thought she was pregnant.

Because there's some things that a lesbian can use,

and I got away with using one of those.

-And she never discovered...?

-And she didn't know the difference, no.

The next thing I know, her mother kept on about us getting married.

So I thought, "Oh, I better get out of it,"

you know, cos I knew I couldn't get married to her.

And... So then I hopped it,

and the next thing I know, the police are after me.

The girl thinks she's pregnant

and they're taking me to court for breach of promise and that.

They took me to court, and then it all came out, that I was a girl.

No cure has yet been found for the homosexual condition.

Perhaps none ever will.

But I asked homosexuals

if they would still choose to remain homosexuals,

if they had the opportunity to change.

No. The society being what it is, I would be heterosexual.

If you could live life all over again and could choose,

would you choose to be a homosexual?

Not unless it was thrust upon me, as it has been...

..by the fact that I am, and there's nothing I can do about it,

heaven knows I've tried. Erm...

No, there's absolutely no advantage in being a homosexual

in a heterosexual world, obviously.

And there's no happiness, really.

# You just want to live your life

# The best way you know how

# But they keep on telling you

# That you are not allowed

# They say you are sick

# That you should hang your head in shame

# They are pointing fingers

# And want you to take the blame... #

-A brain specialist?

-Psychiatrist.

I thought as much.

You want to psychoanalyse me, don't you?

You want to look inside my brain and see how the wheels go around.

Now, wait a moment, Frere...

Dissect me like a guinea pig.

Then show me off to your distinguished colleagues

as an interesting case.

That's it, isn't it?

Hardly, but it's possible that I may be able to help you.

Perhaps you'll have a case history that'll make your complexes stand

on end, and you can write a big, fat book all about it, eh?

HE LAUGHS MOCKINGLY

# This pain

# It is a glacier moving through you... #

Doctors, more than most people,

should perhaps understand what causes men to be homosexual.

This man is a doctor, but he's also a homosexual.

It just makes you feel, well, you'd just as well be in prison,

because it's a sort of prison anyway.

Do you think you need help?

Yes, I do.

I think everybody who's a homosexual needs help.

Homosexuality is one manifestation

of a failure to fully develop.

Does your mother know about you?

-Yeah.

-What does she think?

She just thinks it's disgusting, she can't accept it.

# Don't you become paralysed with fear

# When things seem particularly rough... #

Did you find it very hard to come to terms with the fact

that you are homosexual?

Yes. From when I was about 16 till about...

..20, 22 or 23.

The whole of that time, it was associated in my mind with guilt,

sordid matters...

..elderly, unpleasant men.

# Don't you pay them fuckers as they say no never mind

# They don't give two shits about you

# It's the blind leading the blind

# What they want is commonly referred to as theocracy

# And what that boils down to

# Is referred to as hypocrisy

# Don't listen to anyone

# Get answers on your own

# Even if it means that sometimes

# You feel quite alone

# No-one on this planet can tell you what to believe

# People like to talk a lot

# And they like to deceive... #

Did you ever go to your family at Christmas?

I haven't got any family, dear.

I never got on with them anyway.

I did have a friend.

# A glacier moving through you

# And carving out deep valleys... #

We lived together for years.

# And creating spectacular landscapes... #

A real love match it was, you know?

Well, I've never wanted anything since.

# And nourishing the ground

# With precious minerals

# And other stuff

# So don't you become paralysed with fear

# When things seem particularly rough

# O-o-oh

# This pain

# It is a glacier moving through you

# And carving out deep valleys

# And creating spectacular landscapes

# And nourishing the ground

# With precious minerals

# And other stuff

# So, don't you become paralysed with fear

# When things seem particularly rough. #

I think one of the barriers to public acceptance for you

is that normal people, or most normal people,

find what you physically do disgusting.

Well, personally I find that

what a normal heterosexual couple do is just the same to me.

I find it...

Well, I won't say disgusting, but unnatural and repulsive.

Sorry for them?

Not me. It's always excuses.

Every newspaper you pick up, it's excuses.

Environment, too much love as kids, too little love as kids,

they can't help it.

We are in danger of permanently damaging our social fabric.

This is dealing with a twilight area of abnormal people.

What is lesbianism, what causes it, can it be cured?

I wish I was normal.

I want to be cured.

-Would you like to be cured?

-No.

-Why not?

-I'm perfectly happy the way I am.

I have no desire to be heterosexual.

I don't see any advantages in being heterosexual.

Except for the fact that one might have police protection, but...

No, no, I have no desire to change.

Even if I could.

Can you tell by looking at a woman whether she's lesbian or not?

-Not at all.

-You think that's a complete myth?

An absolute myth, because I've been looking out hard enough.

For years and years and years, I've fallen in love with...

..various women.

But they've never reciprocated my feeling,

not until I was 36 did anyone reciprocate my feeling.

And I used to fall in love and then feel quite happy about it at first,

and I thought, "Oh, but it's hopeless,

"you won't reciprocate my feeling," and I was right, she didn't.

I very often remained friendly with that person, but, of course,

I was very disappointed.

Most homosexuals dread getting old, dread losing their looks,

fear in particular the final loneliness

of living without a companion.

Like men needing wives,

they search for someone with whom they can establish a lasting

relationship, which includes warmth and protection, as well as sex.

These two have done that, have lived together for 26 years.

They might almost be a married couple, but they're still queer.

Have they been happy?

Compared with a lot of married couples,

reasonably, yes, reasonably happy.

After all, everywhere around

everything is made for married people,

it's not made for people like us.

Things are awkward, aren't they?

A comfortable house in Wandsworth indistinguishable from thousands of

homes owned by married couples.

It's where a lesbian couple have lived for four years -

a domestic life which began as conventionally

as any normal married couple when they fell in love.

Homosexual practices may not be approved of,

homosexual love cannot be denied.

The feeling of being in love, I'm sure it's exactly the same

for men and for women.

The feeling of deep emotion towards someone. And...

With me, it happened quite suddenly.

I had, in fact, only known Julie a few days.

# My love is the rarest jewel

# And he grounds me with his love

# My love, he is rich like caramel

# And he moves me from above

# He sees me with tiger eyes

# And that's where I make my home

# His heart is a shield

# Which protects me from the vilest foe

# His smile's an elixir

# Which heals the wounds of my darkest years

# When my love is quiet

# I consider him

# And he drives away my fears

# My love he reveals himself

# With tenderness and grace

# My love has constructed with his arms

# For me the safest place

# His laughter destroys my doubts

# And lifts me up so high

# His voice it is soothing

# Like a warm breeze on a summer night

# When he envelops me

# I give myself to him

# And my soul takes flight... #

Most homosexual partnerships are not so lasting.

This young waiter talked about the break-up of his.

Initially, I think one of the main reasons why it started to break up

was because we were very young when we came together.

We were both 19.

He was much more a man about town,

much more worldly than I was,

and I looked to him for a great deal of protection,

and as the years went by and I began to develop,

I became more and more independent of him.

But I certainly didn't love him any the less

than what I did from the beginning.

But I think that he resented the fact that

I was no longer dependent on him for anything.

And this was the cancer that started in our relationship,

and eventually made it break.

# Horrifying as it was for me

# To see your face today

# I guess I knew that it would happen

# At some point

# And I dreaded it because I knew... #

How I ever came to think you were so marvellous...

Bertie, for God's sake, go away!

I have two children.

I didn't want to hurt you.

# So you observe the strict rules

# Laid out in the books of etiquette... #

Please!

# And tell me you hope I enjoy my stay... #

Happy, are you? Happy?

I despise you!

I disgust you, I know, because you disgust me.

When slaves love each other, it's not love.

I'm not married to you, George.

Don't like that.

Stay with me.

You're the only one left.

# You know, I hate this fucking town

# You cannot even leave your fucking house...

Come back!

# Without running into someone who no longer cares about you...

No, don't turn away from me. Take me in your arms.

Oh!

# Somebody who you desperately want to see...

Oh!

# But you know it's only going to cause more grief

# Cos there is nothing left to say

# And he can't hear you anyway... #

I'm making a real effort.

What am I supposed to do?

Deacon is here to look after you.

Your chaperone.

Keep you out of my hair.

Yeah, if he can stand up.

Look, calm down, George, or take another pill.

# I really want to hate you but my intellect reminds me...

I love you, Francis.

# ..that that doesn't make no sense

# And I want to be your friend

# But I couldn't pull it off in the end

# And I'm disappointed with myself

# Cos I thought I killed you

# But then again you always made it clear

# That you do not care either way

# Which begs the question - how can I still claim to love you?

# You told me time and time again that you don't lose, you always win

# And that to make an effort

# Would just be beneath you

# You know, I hate this fucking town

# You cannot even leave your fucking house

# Without running into someone who no longer cares about you

# Somebody who you desperately want to see

# But you know it's only going to cause more grief

# Cos there is nothing left to say

# And he can't hear you anyway. #

-Stop now.

-I can't stop. I love you too much to stop.

I thought you loved me. If you do, what do you feel for him?

I have a right to know.

All right, you want to know, I shall tell you.

You won't be content until you know, will you?

Till you've ripped it out of me!

I stopped seeing him because I wanted him. Do you understand?

Because I wanted him!

Men who choose to love other men are treated not only with intolerance

and contempt, but prosecuted and jailed. As a result,

they become vulnerable to violence, blackmail, and persecution.

Parliament has been asked to consider a private member's bill

to remove that constant threat by legalising homosexual acts

between consenting adults in private. But a change in the law

doesn't guarantee a change in attitude by the rest of us.

For many of us, this is revolting - men dancing with men.

Homosexuals in this country today break the law.

I'd been to a party at one of the embassies, and I'd been to the house

to vote, and then on my way home, I thought,

"Well, I might take a little exercise," and I went into the park,

and I met a young guardsman

and he went with me and, er, we went into the darkness of the trees...

I went into this toilet, and...

I suppose two or three times in the course of an afternoon,

and I came out and somebody, a young person,

said that they were arresting me for importuning.

# Stockholm is a place that I adore

# But the syndrome by that name is one that I abhor

# Patty Hearst cannot compete with me

# I bet she thinks she can

# I'll prove her wrong

# At tea for free

# Words don't mean anything to you... #

You're a pansy, aren't you?

Pansy?

# Emotions turn right into lies like black turns into blue

# Because the fear has made you blind... #

What's that, apart from being a flower?

So, they took me to some police station, took my fingerprints.

I was beaten up in a public lavatory and left lying on the floor.

It was all rather messy and rather nasty, I'm afraid.

# No more tangles

# No more tears

# No more reindeer games

# With narcissistic queers

# Or any other such type of human being... #

I was beaten up in a public lavatory

by a man who in fact made advances to me first of all.

Erm, and when I reciprocated, he waited outside and beat me up.

And, of course, I couldn't do anything,

I couldn't call the police.

Unfortunately, we were discovered by the police

and one of the park keepers, and I was then arrested.

And I was in the cell from Saturday afternoon until Monday morning.

I never slept, just sat and cried.

I'd only accept this brief, Mr Wilde, if you assure me,

on your honour as an English gentleman,

that there is no truth in the charges made against you.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,

it is indeed a sad and sickening sight...

# Answers to questions... #

I assure you as an Irish gentleman there is no truth whatever

in any of it.

The judge said afterwards, it always astounded him

that in this type of case, all these homosexuals could produce

witnesses who would swear they were of good character and so on.

Why on earth shouldn't a homosexual be a good character?

# You spend your days tied up in knots...

I want my phone call, my phone call, my phone call!

# You know how to tie them in your flesh and in your thoughts... #

The Earl of Dudley in the House of Lords last year gave as his opinion

that prison was too good for all homosexuals.

# Tell me, how does one learn that at your age so that it sticks? #

It is really hell for a person,

and you get that you feel you want to jump off a bridge,

you don't know what to do, you walk the streets,

and you don't know a single person to talk to.

Nowadays, I imagine you could find out information somewhere or other,

but you couldn't then, before the war,

it was all hush-hush.

# No more angles, no more dumbing it down

# Gee, your hair smells perfect

# But I cannot stand to have you around

# Not now

# Or any other time. #

Sorry I'm late, Sergeant, but I just couldn't leave home without bringing

something bright and gay for the poor indisposed constables,

and here we are, with my love.

Oh, what have I said? With my very best floral greetings.

"I am the love that dare not speak its name."

Do you see in that any improper suggestion?

No, nothing whatsoever.

Anything is good that incites thoughts in whatever age?

Whether moral or immoral.

I think that the realisation of oneself is the prime aim of life,

and that to realise oneself completely through pleasure is finer

than to do so through pain.

Enlightenment does not produce tolerance.

Tolerance is the result of boredom.

The facts have to be repeated over and over and over, and in the end,

people say, "All right, so you're queer,

"just talk about something else." And then the work is done.

And this is the work, of course,

of time, not of people, and not of legislation.

Legislation makes almost no difference.

It is the result of public opinion.

You can't really force, especially in England,

a law upon a people who is totally against it,

because they will get round it.

The more laws, you have the more fixers and the more snoopers.

The swashbuckling approach, the heartiness, the thumping stride,

the tough man's clothes -

these things are natural to some lesbians, but mostly unacceptable

to people outside that world.

This means that for lesbians who want to relax in the kind of clothes

and the kind of way that make them happy, there are few places to go.

One of them is a club in Chelsea, a place where there is no longer

any need to pretend. There they can dance, drink, flirt, make friends,

discuss their problem with others who will understand.

Normal people often say that they find the idea of physical sex

between two women disgusting. What do you say to that?

I regard sex as an expression of love.

If you love someone, I think it's...

Well, I think quite honestly it's cruel to withhold sex from them

if this is what they and you want from the relationship.

I think it is as cruel as it would be in a normal marriage.

What do lesbians actually do?

Allowing for the anatomical differences,

the same sort of things as any normal couple do,

with all the variations which normal couples indulge in.

# Dial up my number now

# Weaving it through the wire

# Switch me on

# Turn me up

# Don't want it Baudelaire, just glitter lust

# Switch me on

# Turn me up

# I want to touch you, you're just made for love

# I need la la la la la la, I need ooh la la la la

# I need la la la la la la, I need ooh la la la la

# Coils up and round me

# Teasing your poetry

# Switch me on

# Turn me up

# Oh, child of Venus, you're just made for love

# I need la la la la la la, I need ooh la la la la

# I need la la la la la la, I need ooh la la la la

# I need la la la la la la, I need ooh la la la la

# I need la la la la la la, I need ooh la la la la

# You know, I walk for days

# I wanna waste some time

# You wanna be so mean

# You know I love to watch

# I wanna love some more

# It'll never be the same

# A broken heel like a heart

# I'll never walk again

# Yeah!

# I need la la la la la la, I need ooh la la la la

# I need la la la la la la, I need ooh la la la la

# I need la la la la la la, I need ooh la la la la

# I need la la la la la la, I need ooh la la la la. #

With two men, it's much easier.

A bit quick, sometimes it may all happen in half an hour,

and you may not even have spoken.

But don't the anatomical differences between men and women mean that

the sexual relationship can't be the same?

No, they make very little difference.

It's the person that matters, and not the sex.

Would you say you were promiscuous?

I am, yes.

Why?

Because I keep searching for someone to fall in love with.

And when I don't find it in one person, I move on.

-How long does it take?

-Give it ten days, then ring through.

Ten days?

It's a long time to keep your fingers crossed.

# I woke up today, it was very strange

# I couldn't feel my skin, and there was evil in my bones... #

Tonight, TVI talks to those with the killer disease AIDS.

One of the victims is in hospital, the other is at home.

Both are in their mid-30s and homosexual.

They tell what it's like learning to live under sentence of death,

and ask, will society learn to live with them too?

# And I feel just like Sigourney Weaver

# When she had to kill those aliens... #

The history of AIDS in Britain is short but dramatic.

The first death was recorded in 1982,

when the word AIDS was hardly known,

it was simply a mystery killer disease.

But then the death toll grew,

not fast by the standards of many other diseases, but fast enough.

Until today, there have been 58 deaths, and alongside it, the panic.

A fear that anybody could catch it.

All that doctors can do

is to stop each new problem being the fatal one.

# The sky was black and filled with tiny silver holes

# And it was there with a frightened voice

# That I began to cry out loud

# I feel just like Winona Ryder

# In that movie about vampires

# And she couldn't get that accent right

# And neither could that other guy... #

Are there potentially others than your lover who could be at risk?

Oh, I feel sure that there could be.

"I don't know," would be the answer to that question.

If, as I understand it, the disease can stay in the body and

not manifest itself in any illness for as long as four years,

as I understand it, then obviously that's the truth, yes.

-Many others?

-Yes, I've always been a relatively well-adjusted gay.

# I feel just like I am on Jupiter

# One that looks like rainbow sherbet

# But it doesn't lend itself to life

# And I haven't finished yet. #

What are you ashamed of in Britain today?

Talking as a Londoner, I think in London itself, the amount of,

or how rife homosexuality has become.

It still... As you say, it's worse?

I think in actual fact it has become worse over a period of time,

but it's one of those things that you have to live with.

Yes, I suppose so.

All right, those at the back, settle down.

Will you keep quiet?

-Sir?

-If you have any questions, put your hands up.

-Sir?

-Yes, Christopher?

Is it true that you're bent?

Do you mind repeating the question, Christopher?

Is it true that you're a queer?

CHILDREN JEER

There's been a rumour going around the school that you're a queer.

Come on, admit it.

Yes, it's true.

CHILDREN JEER

All right, now you know, get on with the work.

The question arose, and I discussed it.

I answered their questions.

Yes, but you must be more careful about this, Jeff.

# What you got is a black belt in BS

# But you can't hawk your pretty wares up in here any more

# Hit your head on the playground at recess

# Etch-a-sketch your way out of this one, reject! #

They were asking me the usual stupid questions that children of that age

do ask, because they don't know anything about the subject,

they're not taught it anywhere,

they certainly aren't taught it in this school.

Yes, yes, yes, but...

In Trafalgar Square today, over 3,000 people listened to speakers

demanding changes in the law relating to the age of consent

for homosexuals. The speakers were urging

a reduction from the age of 21 to 16 for homosexuals.

According to the law, young gay men don't exist.

If you're 16, 17, 18, 19, or 20 and gay, then you're not here.

Well, I'm here, and we're here and we will not be quiet

until we get equality.

What my honourable friend is seeking to do is to get this house

to vote to legalise the buggery of adolescent males.

Does she really think that that's what our constituents

-have sent us here to do?

-No.

# What you got is a black belt in BS

# But you can't hawk your pretty wares up in here any more

# Hit your head on the playground at recess

# Etch-a-sketch your way out of this one, reject! #

How can we advise young gay men about the dangers of AIDS when what

they're doing is supposed to be strictly against the law?

Heterosexual activity is normal, and homosexual activity,

putting your penis into another man's arsehole, is a perversion.

Order, order, order. We can well do without talk like that.

The ayes to the right were 280,

the noes to the left were 307, so the noes have it.

-16... It's not 16. 16 has lost.

-How do you know?

They've just had the vote, the vote's just happened,

16 has not happened. They're going to now vote on 18. We've lost 16!

-How much have you lost by?

-27 votes.

Bastards!

People who don't know anything about our lives,

don't know anything about being gay,

are telling us how to live and who we have the right to sleep with,

and we're just really fed up with it, you know. We've been waiting

and waiting for change, and still it's thrown back in our face again.

We're still not treated as if we're equals, still being devalued.

Everybody's just furious, and it's not surprising, is it, really?

16 now! 16 now! 16 now! 16 now! 16 now! 16 now! 16 now! 16 now!

If everybody was a lesbian, if everybody was homosexual,

I mean, the whole world would collapse.

I mean, the human race would die out in a matter of a few generations.

I mean, one of the sort of definitions of a living organism

is that it should reproduce itself.

Um, and... I mean, if everybody were homosexual,

this planet would be dead.

I think people really are worried about homosexuality in general.

I think a lot of people are really scared of it as well.

They don't really understand it, and it almost horrifies them.

The thought of a couple walking down the street, the same sex,

holding hands, and I think they'd rather walk away from it,

avoid it, and not talk about it than really look at it openly and try and

find out what it's all about.

But I know a lot of people who are bothered by the fact that

homosexuals in general do try to press their views on other people,

and through programmes like this, they're almost sort of

forcing their ways upon the majority.

Anyone wanting more information from organisations dealing with lesbians,

should send us a stamped addressed envelope for our fact sheet.

# Is it difficult for you to be so beautiful?

# Or do you find the advantages tend to outweigh the disadvantages?

# Am I being rude?

# I'm sorry, I've never really had the appropriate attitude...

Punk's not dead!

# Do you think that life is easier when one looks as good as you do?

# Or do people always say that you are a narcissist?

# Do they ingratiate themselves to you and act all obsequious?

# Come on, now, baby, you can tell me, it's just between the two of us

# Snug slacks, baby, snug slacks

# Now you're giving me a different kind of panic attack

# Sick joke, baby crack smoke,

# Now take me out in your pick-up for a midnight poke

# I said Stonehenge, baby, drug binge

# Now you got me all damp down in my underpants

# Snug slacks, baby, snug slacks

# Now let's get you out of those

# And see what kind of punch your manhood packs. #

-Quite nice.

-Yeah.

-Just a minute,

those girls over to your right, they're taking the mickey.

Do you want me to go over and give them some verbal?

You did the last two. Let me do these.

Here, you ain't taking the piss out of us, are you?

Don't look like that. Listen, I'll tell you something, darling,

I get paid for making people laugh,

and I object to you two having it for nothing, all right?

Right, where were we?

That's it.

Yeah, I like that, it looks good.

How do you think homosexuals reveal themselves

when they're talking about ordinary topics?

Perhaps in the assumptions they make about their future,

which are going to be different from heterosexual futures.

I make a deliberate effort in my conversation, sometimes,

to imply that marriage is in my future.

But talking at ease, I might give away the fact

that, in practice, I know it's not going to be any part of my future.

Is a relationship like this a sort of imitation marriage,

or is it something quite different from that?

It's not in fact an imitation marriage, it is a real marriage,

in the sense that it is a union between two people.

It can't, in fact, be precisely the same as a heterosexual marriage.

There are no children, as you say,

but in any other sense it is in fact a marriage between two people,

and it is a permanent association of two people.

When there is no opprobrium,

when there is no humiliation heaped on homosexuals from outside,

they will cease to have to confirm or deny.

Unfortunately, of course,

toleration has come in a form that is slightly insulting.

That is to say, one imagined the message, when it came, would read,

"Forgive us for having for so long allowed our prejudices to blind us

"to your true worth and cross our unworthy threshold

"with your broad-minded feet." Instead, the message now reads,

"Oh, come in, the place is a mess, you'll love it."

Will you marry me?

# Boy, you knock me on my ass so hard

# How could I know that you was holding that ace card?

# When I saw you, my jaw hit the floor

# Now I don't want them other boys no more

# You sent a laser beam of love to my soul

# You make me shake so hard I lose control

# My sweet director, won't you give me the part?

# Cos you're the one who jump-started my heart

# Cos you're my supernatural defibrillator

# You are my heavenly re-animator

# You are my super sexy stimulator

# You are my loneliness exterminator

# Come on, baby, 'fore I come on glue

# Don't make me wait, boy, that would be so rude

# You got me where I always wanted to be

# Right in front of you and down on my knees

# I feel like someone punched me right in my head

# I need to lay down, baby, take me to bed

# You leave me gobsmacked, dumbfounded, twitterpated,

# Bound and struck, stunned and shot, fuddled, discombobulated... #

# Cos you're my supernatural defibrillator

# You are my heavenly re-animator

# You are my super sexy stimulator

# You are my loneliness exterminator

# You are my supernatural defibrillator

# You are my heavenly re-animator

# You are my super sexy stimulator

# You are my loneliness exterminator... #

I will not accept a pardon.

To accept a pardon means that you accept that you were guilty.

I was not guilty of anything.

Not guilty of anything...

Not guilty of anything...

Not guilty of anything...

Not guilty of anything...

# Cos you're my supernatural defibrillator

# You are my heavenly re-animator

# You are my super sexy stimulator

# You are my loneliness exterminator

# You are my supernatural defibrillator

# You are my heavenly re-animator

# You are my super sexy stimulator

# You are my loneliness exterminator. #

# Adeline, you heard 'em sing about sweet Adeline

# Hey, let me tell you she's a pal of mine

# She's divine

# That's just why I'm going back again to see my Adeline

# All right, I'll never learn, I'm out of line

# Did tell her that I'm going to make her mine

# Bells will chime

# For me and my sweet Adeline. #