What you can do

Key dates for lesbian, gay, bi and trans equality

This is an overview of key dates in not just Stonewall's history but in the development of lesbian, gay, bi and trans history in terms of social, political and legislative change, representation and visibility.
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1951 Roberta Cowell is the first known British trans woman to undergo reassignment surgery and have her birth certificate changed. -
1954 The Wolfenden Committee is formed after successions of well-known men are convicted of ‘indecency’, calling into question the legitimacy of the law. -
1957 The Wolfenden Committee publishes a report, recommending that ‘homosexual behaviour between consenting adults in private should no longer be a criminal offence’. Supporters of this recommendation include the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Geoffrey Fisher, and the British Medical Association. Despite this, the recommendations are rejected by the government. -
1958 The Homosexual Law Reform Society is founded to campaign for the legalisation of same-sex relationships in the UK. -
1963 The Minorities Research Group becomes the UK’s first lesbian social and political organisation and goes on to publish a monthly journal – Arena Three. -
1964 The North Western Homosexual Law Reform Committee (NWHLRC) is founded to promote legal and social equality for lesbians, gay men and bi people. -
1966 Trans support group, The Beaumont Society, is founded to provide information and education to the general public, the medical and legal professions on ‘transvestism’ and to encourage research aimed at fuller understanding. -
1967 The Sexual Offences Act 1967 decriminalises sex between two men over 21 and ‘in private’. It did not extend to the Merchant Navy or the Armed Forces, or Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, where sex between two men remained illegal. -
1969 North West Homosexual Law Reform Committee becomes a UK-wide organisation and is renamed as the Committee for Homosexual Equality (CHE). The Committee attracts support from leading figures in the medical profession, the arts and the church. -
1969 The Stonewall riots in America - a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations by members of the LGBT community against a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, Manhattan. This key event triggers the modern LGBT liberation movement in the US and beyond. -
1970 London Gay Liberation Front (GLF) is established in the UK. It is based on a parallel movement in the US based on revolutionary politics. -
1970 The Corbett v Corbett divorce case establishes a precedent that a person's sex cannot legally be changed from that which is assigned at birth. -
1971 The Committee for Homosexual Equality, keeping the same initials, becomes the Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE). -
1971 The Nullity of Marriage Act was passed, explicitly banning same-sex marriages between same-sex couples in England and Wales. -
1972 The first Pride is held in London, attracting approximately 2,000 participants. -
1972 Gay News, Britain’s first gay newspaper is founded. -
1973 The Campaign for Homosexual Equality holds the first British gay rights conference in Morecambe, Lancashire. -
1973 Brighton's first Pride takes place, organised by the Sussex Gay Liberation Front. -
1974 London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard, a London-based information and support helpline, is established. -
1974 London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard, a London-based information and support helpline, is established. -
1974 Jan Morris, Welsh historian, author and travel writer, releases Conundrum, a personal account of her transition. -
1974 Maureen Colquhoun came out as the first lesbian Labour MP. -
1974 Stephen Whittle, trans man and prominent activist co-founds a Manchester based "TV/TS" group; a group for trans people. -
1974 The First National TV/TS (Transvestite/Transsexual Conference) is held in Leeds. -
1975 British journal, Gay Left, begins publication. -
1975 The Liberal Party (now the Liberal Democrats) became the first UK political party to support LGBT rights, passing a motion at conference to support ‘full equality for homosexuals’, including equalising the age of consent -
1976 The Gay Christian Movement is founded at a public meeting at the Sir John Cass School in the City of London (the organisation's name later changed to the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement and then One Body One Faith in 2017). -
1977 The first gay and lesbian Trades Union Congress (TUC) conference takes place to discuss workplace rights. -
1977 At a Campaign for Homosexual Equality conference, Amnesty International is called upon to take up the issue of the persecution of lesbians and gay men. -
1977 A Bill to reduce the age of consent to 18 is defeated in the UK House of Lords. -
1977 Gay News Magazine is successfully prosecuted by Mary Whitehouse for ‘Blasphemy’. -
1979 Founding of the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association, now the World Professional Association for Transgender Health. -
1980 Sex between two men over the age of 21 ‘in private’ is decriminalised in Scotland. -
1980 British documentary ‘A Change of Sex’ is aired on the BBC following the social and medical transition of Julia Grant. The BBC also gives an inside view of the Gender Identity Clinic at Charing Cross Hospital in London. -
1980 The first Black Gay and Lesbian Group is formed in the UK. -
1981 A landmark court case finds that Northern Ireland’s criminalisation of same-sex acts violates the European Convention on Human Rights. -
1981 The first UK case of AIDS was recorded when a 49-year-old man was admitted to Brompton Hospital in London suffering from PCP (Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia). He died ten days later. -
1982 The Homosexual Offences Order decriminalises sex between two men over the age of 21 ‘in private’ in Northern Ireland. -
1982 Terry Higgins dies of AIDS in St. Thomas’ Hospital, his partner Rupert Whittaker, Martyn Butler and friends set up the Terry Higgins Trust (which became the Terrence Higgins trust), the UK’s first AIDS charity. -
1983 UK Crown Dependency, Guernsey, decriminalises sex between two men. -
1983 Men who have sex with men are asked not to donate to UK blood banks amid the AIDS crisis. -
1983 The UK’s first national lesbian and gay TV show, One in Five, is shown on Channel 4. -
1984 Chris Smith, Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury, speaks openly about his sexual orientation and becomes the first openly gay MP, 10 years after Maureen Colquhoun came out as the first lesbian MP. -
1984 The Politics of Bisexuality, now known as BiCon, launches. -
1984 Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners campaign is launched in of support of workers in the miners’ strikes in 1984 and 1985 -
1986 Mark Rees, a trans-man, brings a case to the European Court of Human Rights, stating that UK law prevented him from gaining legal status recognising him as male. The case was lost but the court noted the seriousness of the issues facing trans people. -
1987 The International Foundation for Gender Education (IFGE) is founded to promote acceptance for transgender people. -
1988 UK Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, introduces Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988. The Act states that a local authority "shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality" or "promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship". -
1988 Sir Ian McKellen comes out on the UK’s BBC Radio in response to the government’s proposed Section 28 in the British Parliament. -
1988 Stonewall UK is formed in response to Section 28 and other barriers to equality. Founding members include Ian McKellen and Michael Cashman. -
1988 Denmark becomes the first country in the world to give legal recognition to same-sex partnerships. -
1989 The first national lesbian and gay TV series 'Out on Tuesday' first aired on Channel 4. It screened again in 1990, and subsequently in 1991, 1992, and 1994, retitled 'OUT'. -
1990 Candlelit vigil is held in London after five gay men are murdered within months of each other. This leads to the formation of OutRage, who call for police to start protecting gay and bi men instead of arresting them. -
1990 Lesbian and gay police officers established the UK’s Lesbian and Gay Police Association. -
1990 The first Pride event is held in the UK city of Manchester. -
1990 Justin Fashanu becomes the first professional footballer to come out as gay. He later dies by suicide. -
1990 Northern Ireland holds their first Pride parade. -
1990 The UK Crown Dependency of Jersey decriminalises sex between two men. -
1991 Sir Ian McKellen meets UK Prime Minister John Major - the first time any sitting Prime Minister has met with LGBT activists. -
1992 World Health Organisation declassifies same-sex attraction as a mental illness. -
1992 The UK Crown Dependency of Isle of Man repeals sodomy laws (homosexuality was still illegal until 1994). -
1992 Following a fringe meeting at the Liberal Democrat Federal Conference in 1991, Press For Change, a key lobbying and legal support organisation for trans people in the UK, is established. -
1992 Stonewall begins its first major campaign for an equal age of consent in the UK. -
1992 British serial killer, Colin Ireland, is convicted of killing five gay men. He is sentenced to life in prison. -
1994 The UK House of Commons moves to equalise the age of consent for same-sex relations between men to 16. The vote is defeated and the age of consent is instead lowered to 18. An age of consent for same-sex relations between women is not set. -
1994 The UK Crown Dependency of Isle of Man fully decriminalises homosexuality. -
1994 TV personality, Sandi Toksvig, comes out as a lesbian. -
1995 Mermaids is founded by a group of parents brought together by their children’s longstanding gender issues. The UK charity offers appropriate resources to young people, their families and carers, and professionals working with gender variant young people. -
1995 Rank Outsiders and Stonewall launch a major campaign to end the ban on LGB people openly serving in the British military. -
1996 The landmark case - P vs S and Cornwall County Council - finds that an employee who was about to undergo gender reassignment was wrongfully dismissed. It was the first piece of case law, anywhere in the world, which prevented discrimination in employment or vocational education because someone is trans. -
1996 BBC Radio 4’s, The Archers, the world longest running soap, introduces its first openly gay character, Sean Myerson. -
1997 Stephen Twigg becomes first openly gay MP at the time of his election. Ben Bradshaw, also openly gay, is also elected just 21 minutes later. -
1997 UK Government recognises same-sex partners for immigration purposes. -
1997 Angela Eagle becomes Britain’s first MP to voluntarily come out as a lesbian. -
1997 The Equality Network is formed in Scotland to ensure that the voices of diverse LGBT people are heard in policy making. -
1997 Euan Sutherland complained to the European Commission of Human Rights that the age of consent for gay people was two years higher than for heterosexual people. The Commission ruled in Euan’s favour, leading to the equalisation of the age of consent in 2001. -
1998 In June, The House of Commons votes to lower the age of consent for same-sex relations between men to 16 in England. However, a month later the House of Lords defeats the clause. -
1998 Waheed Alli becomes the first openly gay member of the House of Lords and one of a few openly gay Muslims. -
1998 The Bolton 7, a group of gay and bi men, are convicted of gross indecency. They take their case to the ECHR claiming a violation of Article 8 and the right to a private life. After a campaign by Outrage! and Amnesty International they are awarded compensation by the UK Government. -
1999 Trans Day of Remembrance is founded in the USA, and then later in the UK and worldwide, to memorialise those who have been murdered as a result of transphobia and to bring attention to the continued violence endured by the trans community. -
1999 The Admiral Duncan, a gay pub in Soho, is bombed by former British National Party member, David Copeland. The attack kills three people and wounds at least 70. -
1999 Queer Youth Alliance is formed. -
1999 Michael Cashman, co-founder of Stonewall UK, becomes the first openly gay UK member elected to the European Parliament. -
1999 European Court of Human Rights unanimously finds that the investigation into, and subsequent discharge of, two personnel from the Royal Navy on the basis of their sexual orientation is a breach of their right to a private life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. -
2000 The UK Government lifts the ban on lesbians, gay men and bi people serving in the armed forces. -
2000 Legislation is introduced to repeal Section 28 in England and Wales. The bill is defeated. Scotland abolishes Section 28. It remains in place in England and Wales. -
2000 Stonewall’s campaign to reduce the age of consent for same-sex relations between men aged 16 is successful as changes are made to the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000. Group sex between men is also decriminalised. -
2001 Stonewall sets up the Diversity Champions programme to help employers who want to treat their lesbian, gay and bi employees fairly. -
2001 The age of consent is lowered to 16 (having been lowered from 21 to 18 in 1994), making it the same as the age of consent for straight people. -
2002 Equal rights are granted to same-sex couples applying for adoption. -
2002 Brian Dowling becomes the first openly gay children’s TV presenter in the UK. -
2002 Alan Duncan becomes the first Conservative MP to be open about his sexual orientation, without being coerced. -
2002 In the Goodwin v the United Kingdom case, judges ruled that the UK Government should accommodate the needs of trans people by issuing new birth certificates and permitting marriage to someone of the opposite gender. -
2003 Section 28 is repealed in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, lifting the ban on local authorities from ‘the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality’. -
2003 Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations becomes law in the UK, making it illegal to discriminate against lesbians, gay and bi people in the workplace. -
2003 Stonewall Cymru is founded. -
2003 Celia Kitzinger and Sue Wilkinson, both British university professors, legally marry in Canada. On their return, their same-sex marriage is not recognised under British law. -
2004 The Civil Partnership Act 2004 is passed, granting civil partnership in the United Kingdom. The Act gives same-sex couples the same rights and responsibilities as married straight couples in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. -
2004 The Gender Recognition Act 2004 is passed giving trans people full legal recognition in their appropriate gender. The Act allows trans people to acquire a new birth certificate, although gender options are still limited to ‘male’ or ‘female’. -
2005 Section 146 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 empowers UK courts to impose tougher sentences for offences aggravated or motivated by the victim’s sexual orientation, or their presumed sexual orientation. -
2005 The Adoption and Children Act 2002 comes into force allowing unmarried couples, including same-sex couples, to apply for joint adoption. -
2005 Stonewall launches the Education For All campaign to tackle homophobic bullying in schools. -
2005 Christopher Cramp and Matthew Roche become the first couple to complete a Civil Partnership in the UK. Mr Roche died of terminal cancer the following day. -
2005 Transgender Europe is founded. The organisation campaigns for the equality of all trans people in Europe. -
2006 Stonewall launches the Stonewall Awards, celebrating achievements for lesbian, gay and bi equality. -
2006 In the case of Grant v the United Kingdom the European Court of Human Rights held that denying a state pension at age 60 from a male-to-female trans person was a breach of the right to respect for private life. -
2006 In the Isle of Man the age of consent is equalised and Section 28 is repealed. -
2007 The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 outlawed the discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities, services, education and public functions on the grounds of sexual orientation. -
2007 Law changes in Scotland give same-sex couples equality in adoption and fostering. -
2007 Ian Smith, Patrick Harvie, Margaret Smith and Joe FitzPatrick are elected as openly gay, lesbian or bi MSPs in the 2007-11 Scottish Parliament. -
2007 UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair, addresses Stonewall’s Equality Dinner. -
2007 Stonewall launches its iconic ‘Some People Are Gay. Get Over it!’ campaign. -
2007 ‘Engendered Penalties Transsexual and Transgender People’s Experience of Inequality and Discrimination’ is published. This is instrumental in ensuring the inclusion of trans people in the remit of the UK’s new Commission for Equalities and Human Rights. -
2008 The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 recognises same-sex couples as legal parents of children conceived through the use of donated sperm, eggs or embryos. -
2008 Gendered Intelligence (GI) is founded in the UK to increase the understanding of gender diversity. -
2009 David Cameron apologises on behalf of the Conservative party for the introduction of Section 28. -
2009 Welsh rugby star Gareth Thomas comes out as gay. -
2010 The Equality Act 2010 officially adds gender reassignment as a protected characteristic. -
2010 Stonewall secures an amendment to the Equality Act 2010 to remove the ban on religious groups from holding civil partnerships on their premises. -
2010 10 years after the ban on lesbian, gay and bi people in the military is lifted, all armed forces are members of Stonewall’s Diversity Champions Programme. -
2010 A new offence of ‘incitement to homophobic hatred’ comes into force in the UK. -
2011 The Department of Health lifts the lifetime ban on gay and bi men donating blood, although a 12-month celibacy clause is still in place in order for men who have sex with men to be eligible to donate. -
2011 An amendment to the Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Approved Premises) (Amendment) Regulations 2011, tabled by Lord Waheed Alli, permits the celebration of civil partnerships in religious buildings in the UK. -
2011 Stonewall amends its charitable objectives to campaign internationally. -
2011 Ruth Davidson is elected to lead the Scottish Conservatives. She is the first openly gay leader of a political party. -
2011 UK Courts rule in favour of gay couple, Martin Hall and Steven Preddy, when owners of a bed and breakfast refuse to provide them with a double room. -
2012 Stonewall begins working with human rights defenders to campaign for LGBT rights in over 80 countries. -
2012 Protection of Freedoms Act is passed in the UK allowing for historic convictions for consensual sex between men to be removed from criminal records. -
2012 Explicit reference to homophobic bullying in schools is introduced into Ofsted’s inspection framework in the UK. -
2013 Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Act is passed in England and Wales. -
2013 Stonewall sends Rainbow Laces to all the professional football clubs in the UK to encourage players to show their commitment to making sport inclusive. -
2013 Stonewall’s ‘Gay. Let’s get the meaning straight’ campaign launches in schools to address the widespread use of homophobic language. -
2013 Alan Turing is given a posthumous royal pardon for his conviction of ‘gross indecency’ which resulted in his being chemically castrated and later committing suicide. -
2013 Olympic diver Tom Daley reveals on YouTube that he is in a same-sex relationship. -
2013 The first Trans Pride event takes place in Brighton. -
2013 Marriages between same-sex couples becomes legal in New Zealand. -
2014 The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 officially comes into force, with the first same-sex marriages in England and Wales taking place on 29 March 2014. -
2014 Scottish Government passes legislation allowing same-sex couples to marry in Scotland. -
2014 Same-sex civil unions recognised in Malta. -
2014 Casey Stoney, Captain of the England Women’s football team, comes out as lesbian. -
2015 Stonewall extends its remit to campaign for trans equality. -
2015 Mikhail Ivan Gallatinov and Mark Goodwin become the first couple to have a same-sex wedding in a UK prison after marrying at Full Sutton Prison in East Yorkshire. -
2015 The Royal Vauxhall Tavern becomes the first ever building in the UK to be given a special listing status based on its LGBT history. -
2015 Stonewall holds a free training programme for Russian LGBTQ activists -
2015 Stonewall unveils new ‘acceptance without exception’ tagline. -
2015 The US legalises same-sex marriage. -
2015 Mozambique decriminalises same-sex relationships. -
2015 Ireland votes by a huge majority to legalise same-sex marriage, becoming the first country in the world to do so by a referendum. -
2015 The Women and Equalities Committee holds an inquiry into Transgender Equality. -
2016 David Mundell announces he is gay on his personal website. He becomes the first openly gay Conservative cabinet minister. -
2016 The Isle of Man legalises same-sex marriage. -
2016 Robert Hannigan, GCHQ’s Director, address Stonewall’s Workplace Conference and publicly apologises for the service’s historic treatment of LGBT people. -
2016 North Carolina introduces a law – HB2 – which forces people to use public toilets or changing facilities that correspond with the gender they were assigned at birth. Many celebrities speak out and cancel scheduled appearances in protest. -
2016 Same-sex civil unions are recognised in Italy. -
2016 49 people are killed and 53 people injured after a gunman opens fire in the LGBT nightclub Pulse, in Orlando. London and other major cities across the world hold vigils to show solidarity with the victims. -
2016 Justine Greening announces she is in a same-sex relationship on London’s Pride day, making her the first out LGBT female cabinet member -
2016 President Obama declares the Stonewall Inn America’s first national monument to LGBT rights. -
2016 Prince William appears on the front cover of gay magazine, Attitude, stating that no one should be bullied because of their sexuality. -
2017 The Government issues a posthumous pardon to all gay and bi men who were convicted under pernicious sexual offences laws in the last century which enabled police to criminalise people for being gay or bi. -
2017 Amendments made to the Children and Social Work Bill, which will make relationships and sex education (RSE) mandatory in all schools in England and Wales from 2019. -
2017 The UK Supreme Court rules that the discrimination against same-sex couples on pensions rights needs to end immediately. -
2017 The Department of Health reduces the deferral period for gay and bi men wishing to donate blood from 12 months to three months.