Dr Jeff Meek, the author of Queer Voices in Post-War Scotland, says: "There was almost a bar on talking about same-sex desire." Acts of male homosexuality had been outlawed for centuries and were made stricter in the late 19th Century but same-sex contact between women had never been targeted in law and was not illegal. Gay men were known to exist but they did not fit the Scottish image of robust masculinity. Homosexual men were forced underground to public toilets or illicit parties. The consequences of being caught were significant. People went to prison for sometimes two years or were locked up in psychiatric institutions. In 1969, a brave group of gay Scots decided they could not change their sexuality so they set out to change Scotland. The SMG (Scottish Minorities Group) arranged discos and get-togethers for gay men and for lesbian women. Although small at first, word spread and the numbers grew. But along with fun came a new threat in the form of HIV/Aids. If Scotland was ignorant about Aids it was rudely awoken in 1985, when 60% of injecting drug addicts tested at an Edinburgh hospital were found to be HIV positive. Since the Millennium, Scots attitudes to homosexuality have changed dramatically. Surveys suggest that more than two thirds of Scots actively approve of gay marriage and it is now homophobia that is taboo. In 2005, civil partnerships were made legal for gay couples and the following year same-sex couples were able to adopt.
Scotland has been rated the best country in Europe in terms of legal equality for LGBT people. A remarkable transformation in just a generation. The documentary succeeds in showing the depth of silence about sexuality that existed in Scotland in the 1950s and 1960s. It also illustrated the fact that the period of silence was brought to an end by the self-organization of gay people. The Scottish Minorities Group (SMG) organized social events to enable gay people to meet one another and develop a sense of themselves as some kind of community. The presence of such a community consciousness was an important factor in stimulating the political will to change the law and end the age of criminality. So , as much as the documentary gives an interesting perspective, there is little in the way of representations of bisexual or trans identities. Black and minority ethnic representation is non-existent. AN overall interesting documentary and personally I got to learn a lot. Somehow we always assume that a lot of these white countries were always gay friendly. I have learnt a lot of how things moved in US, but it was interesting to get to know a bit about Scotland. (5.5/10)
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