The UK is made up of 4 different countries England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The fact that the last one is in the union is the one that baffles most non-brits, because the history is complicated to say the least and not one that this writer is brave enough to attempt to explain.
We do know that for centuries my ancestors (and others!) had been invading so much of the world. The British Empire took over dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories which it then ruled or administered. At its height in the 19th and early 20th centuries, it was the largest empire in history and, for a century, was the foremost global power.
Amongst the many things that the Empire imposed globally was its puritanically morals and laws of conduct. Including homosexuality which in so many regions had never been an issue. The really wicked part of that was when the Brits eventually upped and went home they left all these heinous laws still in place. So even today in some African countries the local population are having to accept that homosexuality is still ilegal.
The whole, of Ireland was part of the British Empire too until 1919 right after World War and negotiations with the main Irish political parties and the UK government which resulted in five-sixths of the island seceding from the United Kingdom, becoming the Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland.
It also resulted in a very treacherous Civil War with both sides resorting to malicious terrorism, which although I couldn’t even hope to understand, I was personally aware that when in the late 1980’s I first started my husband’s family in Northern Ireland, you couldn’t drive more than a few hundred yards without having to go through yet another heavily armed road block.
After independence, Ireland became a very insular society, dominated by the Catholic Church and was conservative, but surprisingly in the midst of this, there was an acceptance of homosexuality especially of those within the acting profession such as Micheál MacLiammóir
However, the advancement of LGBT rights in Northern Ireland was much slower than the rest of the United Kingdom, with the region having lagged behind England, Scotland, and Wales. So Northern Ireland was the last part of the United Kingdom where same-sex sexual activity was decriminalized. How this delay affected the local LGBTQ community in their daily lived has never been a part of much public discussion, up to now that is.
Thanks to the discovery of the forgotten diaries of a linen merchant who recorded the lives of gay people living in Belfast (Northern Ireland’s capital) in the 1930s, that may all change. Dr Tom Hulme, a gay History Professor at Queens University, alongside Professor Leanne McCormick (Ulster University). has got his hands of some 38 volumes. Thankfully David Strain had deposited them all in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland along with his photo albums, newspaper scrapbooks and letters.
David Strain’s secret diaries, compiled between 1920 and 1943, provide the background to a journey from isolation and ignorance to a vibrant world of sexual desire, love and community. He was fastidious about recording not just his own feelings and thoughts about homosexuality, but also the many conversations he had with other gay men. The survival of these diaries thus gives a remarkable window into a world that would otherwise be almost entirely invisible.
The timing couldn’t be more perfect as gay men (and women) under 50 years old have never personally known a time when homosexuality was still illegal. With a growing acceptance amongst them and the queer population at large, that knowing our past helps us shape our futures.
And you don’t need to be an academic to understand or analyse the diaries , as elements of them have now been dramatized and form a five-part series on BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Ulster. Starring Desmond Eastwood (Normal People) and Jonathan Harden (Blue Lights) they sheda light on the forgotten diaries of a linen merchant who recorded the lives of gay people living in Belfast in the 1930. These are accessible globally via the internet at https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0022qsf
Labels:
