BBC Archive: The Gay Rights Movement in the UK

From BBC press release:

The BBC Archive has today released a new collection of material charting the emergence of the gay rights movement in the UK.

This collection, released through the BBC Archive website, brings together TV and radio programmes from news bulletins, documentaries and current affairs programmes, which chart the political and social change in attitudes to homosexuality over the past 50 years. The programmes in the collection feature noted gay rights campaigners including Sir Ian McKellen, Angela Mason of equality charity Stonewall, Peter Tatchell, founder of Outrage! and MEP and former EastEnders actor, Michael Cashman.

The launch of the collection coincides with the release of BBC research findings into the portrayal of lesbian, gay and bisexual people across the BBC's services.

Programmes include a press conference from 1957 about the Wolfenden Report, which first recommended the decriminalisation of homosexuality, and a Today interview on Radio 4 with MP Leo Abse, whose 1967 bill led to the decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales. Two editions from the ground-breaking documentary series Man Alive look at the lives of gay men and women in the late Sixties, while experts debate the pros and cons of the programmes in a follow-up panel discussion, Late Night Line Up.

Other programmes in the collection cover the struggle of coming out, the age of consent, civil partnerships and the protests against Section 28 – the controversial government bill that banned councils from being able to "promote homosexuality" through schools.

Also, see this very detailed report in one of these forms:

Portrayal of Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual People on the BBC Complete Report (226 pages; PDF)

Summary Report: (37 pages; PDF)

Consultation Report (63 pages; PDF)

GLAAD Where We Are on TV Report

GLAAD's (The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) Where We Are on TV Report: 2010-2011 Season has just been released.

From the Report's Overview:

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) representations have increased for the third year in a row to a record percentage according to an analysis of the 2010-2011 scripted primetime broadcast television season conducted by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). The Where We Are on TV report forecasts the expected presence of LGBT characters in the upcoming 2010-2011 television schedule.

The study shows that LGBT representations will account for 3.9% of all scripted series regular characters in the 2010-2011 broadcast television schedule, up from 3% in 2009, 2.6% in 2008, and 1.1% in 2007. The number of regular LGBT characters on cable has also increased following a two year decline, up to 35 from a count of 25 last year.

Included in the Report are sections on Diversity on Scripted TV; LGBT Characters: Broadcast; LGBT Characters: Cable; Leading Roles; and Supporting Roles.

You can also access the four previous reports beginning in 2006-2007.