Friday, June 6, 2008

A Very British Sex Scandal (Part 1)



In 1954, the Conservative peer Lord Montagu of Beaulieu and the Canadian journalist Peter Wildeblood (great name!) were convicted of homosexual offences. The trial caused a backlash of opinion among some politicians and church leaders that led to the setting up of the landmark Wolfenden Committee, which in its 1957 report recommended the decriminalization of homosexual activity in private between two adults in Britain.