Londoners also faced violence and police hostility. The bar's patrons fought back, striking a symbolic blow for gay liberation. These were triggered by police harassment at the Stonewall Inn, a bar catering to New York's gay, lesbian, transgender and crossdressing community. The first Gay Pride march took place in London on 1 July 1972, inspired by the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York. But they began as intensely political events, challenges to a world where homosexual activities were persecuted. Gay Pride events are now common in cities across the world, public celebrations of equal rights for people of all orientations and sexualities. Official magazine of Gay Pride, London 2007ġ43 pages including articles and listings of events. Drybutter, shackled in leg irons, replies 'You don't love me Jacky.' Despite the comical tone, it's a grim reminder of the constant threat of violence that hung over those who stepped outside the norms of sexuality and gender in past London. Jack the hangman, holding a noose, says 'Dammee Sammy you'r a sweet pretty creature & I long to have you at the end of my string'. The figure speaking to Drybutter is Jack Catch, a nickname given to English executioners.
Satirists nicknamed Drybutter 'Ganymede', after a shepherd boy who was the lover of the god Zeus in Greek mythology. He was pilloried several times and suffered various physical attacks. He was arrested on numerous occasions for attempted sodomy but managed to escape prosecution. Drybutter was a prominent 'Macaroni', a subculture of men who dressed in extravagant fashion and whose behaviour was stereotyped as affected and unmanly. This right-hand figure in this print is Samuel Drybutter, a bookseller in Westminster Hall, who was a public figure in 18th century London, famous for his flamboyant dress and supposed homosexuality.
More evidence of historical homosexuality in our collections comes from a grimmer source: records of the prosecutions, and sometimes executions, of men who had sex with men. It was not until the 1960s that gay men's flamboyant dress styles influenced mainstream fashion, making it more colourful and adventurous. From the 19th century, male attire was dark and plain. The author claimed gay men wanted to dress like women: "they would appear as soft as possible to each other, any Thing of Manliness being diametrically opposite to such unnatural Practices." Perhaps the author was thinking of clothing like this waistcoat, decorated with a chic flower pattern in coloured silk and gold and silver thread. The 18th century book Plain Reasons for the Growth of Sodomy in Englandattributed a supposed increase in homosexuality to men's dress. We know about these activities from the writings of contemporary moralists, who denounced the growth of "Allmighty Sodomy". In the 18th and 19th century, certain London pubs and coffeehouses became popular gay meeting places, known as "Molly-houses". Despite the great personal risk they faced, men who had sex with men still created a vibrant subculture in London.
From 1533 in England, homosexual activities between men were a crime punishable by death. When they appear in the historical record, it is usually because they are being prosecuted or vilified.
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