Henry's Songbook

They (just) made it legal for Gerald and Cesar
For Patrick and Herbert as well
Down in the big city politicians took pity
There's something queer going on here

Said one young M.P., 'fraid I don't agree
'Tis a matter I'd like to discuss
For if we made it legal for all these common people
It'll be no privilege for us
We could argue for hours calling each other 'flowers'
When we know it's grossly unfair
So I'm asking you chaps if this bill should pass
Toss your handbags way up in the air

Said one M.P., It's wrong to make such a song
'bout one man loving another
When from the age of the cot I've always been taught
To love every man like a brother
There was thundrous applause as they argued the cause
There was swearing and shaking of fists
Till one voice up high says, Well done sweetie pie,
And another says, Give us a kiss

[1997:] Forty years ago this month, the Wolfenden Committee was preparing to publish its world-changing recommendation that private acts between adult homosexual men should be decriminalised. [...] In 1960, a free vote in the House of Commons on the recommendations of the Wolfenden Report was soundly defeated. It was not until the summer of 1967, in a swirl of incense and bell-bottoms, that the Sexual Offences Bill was finally passed. (Sebastian Faulks, Observer, 27 April)

[1998:] Was it a coincidence that The Sun should 'out' the Trade and Industry Secretary on the same day that Peter Mandelson decided to refer Rupert Murdoch's proposed take-over of Manchester Utd to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission? Possibly so. What was not in doubt, however, was the hypocritical way in which the paper chose to reveal to the nation that Mandelson is gay. He is, said the Sun, a brilliant man, not to mention a talented politician. No one would think the worse of him were he to come clean about his homosexuality. In fact, we would all respect him even more than we do at present. Homophobia is a thing of the past. Times have changed.
But they haven't, as the Sun's editor knows only too well. All that has changed is the approach of the Sun. Instead of announcing as they did with Elton John 'poofter' in letters a mile high, they now use a different nothing-to-be-ashamed-of tack. I imagine that Mandelson, just like Elton John, has every reason for wanting to keep his sexuality private. So in this respect, the behaviour of the Sun (not to mention Matthew Parris who first raised the issue on TV) is no different from that of [gay rights activist] Peter Tatchell. But unlike Tatchell or Parris, the Sun is not motivated by a mistaken belief in the duty of all gays to stand up and be counted. The paper knows that by headlining the fact that Mandelson is gay they have made him aware of his vulnerability. All the more reason for him not to step out of line when it comes to making decisions about monopolies or media ownership. (Richard Ingrams, Observer, 1 Nov)

[1998:] [Political editor Trevor Kavanagh] admits responsibility for the Sun's suggestion that Westminster was in the grip of a gay mafia. [...] Yet he is baffled by the hostility he has aroused. 'I think the discovery that four members of the Cabinet [Peter Mandelsohn, Chris Smith, Ron Davies, Nick Brown] were gay was significant, and I'm surprised other papers didn't find it so', he says. 'It wasn't meant to be homophobic, we are not homophobic.' (Jackie Ashley, Observer, 15 Nov)