Gay Rights: Tying The Knot?

The first same-sex weddings in England and Wales take place on 29th March - yet marriage was the last thing on the minds of pioneering gay rights crusaders in the 60s and 70s. Reverend Richard Coles looks at how gay marriage became the defining issue of recent years - and asks whether it represents the last crusade of the campaign for gay rights.

He speaks to senior Stonewall figures Ben Summerskill, Michael Cashman and Angela Mason. He also hears from Peter Tatchell, the Conservative Party's first openly gay MP Alan Duncan and former Prime Minister Tony Blair who introduced Civil Partnerships.

Richard discovers that for many early activists, marriage was not only a far off prospect, it wasn't a very desirable one either, as many gay men and women sought the downfall of traditional institutions.

So where along the line did the idea of gay marriage become the number one campaigning issue? And with this last major legislative milestone passed, is it time for gay rights campaigners to pack up and go home?

BBC Radio 4 blurb.*

The radio programme everybody's been talking about, though no-one has heard was finally broadcast tonight.

And despite all the heat generated by Ben Summerskill calling the Lib Dems' support for gay marriage 'cynical and  opportunistic' - and those sodding cake toppers above - it was about far more than marriage equality, but was more a little history of how the fabled 'gay agenda' has changed over the last few decades.

Fagburn thought it was doubleplusgood.

Pink News ran its ninth story about Summerskillgate today - though this was an open letter by Lynne Featherstone so was quite relevant. 

And Peter Tatchell took to HuffPostGay in Up Against The Stonewall to accuse Ben Summerskill of possible 'party point-scoring' due to his closeness to the Labour party.

A fair point (score). 

* Also an iPlayer link.