The History Boys The portrayal of homosexuality

Sexuality in the play ‘The play focuses on four characters, each representing the stages of growth in life. Hector is the older teacher at a prep school for boys in 1980s England, prone to “fiddling” with his male students; Irwin is the fiery younger teacher who urges the boys to examine history through varying lenses usually unemployed while struggling with his attraction to his student Dakin, straight-identified but surprised by the possibility of his own attraction to Irwin; and Posner, the admittedly queer student also in love with Dakin.’ Laramie Dean Carlsen AO5: Different interpretations Mind-map the portrayal of homosexuality in the play.

Homosexuality in context ‘Same sex boarding schools were, until the 1960s when homosexuality came to be understood as a ‘condition,’ places where sexual practices between boys, if not uncommon, were only ‘vaguely stigmatised.’ (Laramie Dean Carlsen) 1965: In the House of Lords, Lord Arran proposed the decriminalisation of male homosexual acts (lesbian acts had never been illegal). A UK opinion poll finds that 93% of respondents see homosexuality as a form of illness requiring medical treatment. AO3: Context

1967: The Sexual Offences Act decriminalised homosexual acts between two men over 21 years of age in private in England and Wales. The 1967 Act did not extend to Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, where all homosexual behaviour remained illegal. These restrictions were overturned in the European Court of Human Rights in : The First British Gay Pride Rally was held in London with 1000 people marching from Trafalgar Square to Hyde Park. Gay News, Britain's first gay newspaper was founded. 1978: The International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) was founded as the International Gay Association (IGA) on 8 August during the conference of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality in Coventry, England, at a meeting attended by 30 men representing 17 organisations from 14 countries. The Coventry conference also called upon Amnesty International (AI) to take up the issue of persecution of lesbians and gays.

1983: Britain reports 17 cases of AIDS.[72] Gay men are asked not to donate blood. 1985: AIDS hysteria grows in the UK when passengers on the Queen Elizabeth 2 curtailed their holiday as a person with AIDS was discovered on board. 1987: Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at the 1987 Conservative party conference, issued the statement stating "Children who need to be taught to respect traditional moral values are being taught that they have an inalienable right to be gay". 1988: An amendment to the United Kingdom's Local Government Act 1986, on 24 May 1988 stated that a local authority "shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality" or "promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship". The act was introduced by Margaret Thatcher.

In the 1990s Stonewall UK started to break down prejudices and many influencial people ‘came out’ and published books about coming out/homosexuality. A new type of therapy was found to treat AIDS. In the 21 st century the age of consent was reduced from 21 to 16; the ban on homosexuality in the armed forces was overturned; same sex couples were given equal rights to adopt; Employment Equality Regulations made it illegal to discriminate against employees because of their sexuality; same-sex couples were given the right to marry in a civil ceremony (and, more recently, equal marriage has been legalised) How would these factors affect audience’s reception of the play? What do you think Bennett is suggesting about homosexuality in the UK in the 1980s?

‘the characters who actively pursue same-sex relationships are left dead, permanently maimed, or pathetic and alone.’ ‘The heterosexual audience expectations of old are reified once again as Bennett presents us with characters that can be read as lechers, paedophiles, and pathetic loners.’ Laramie Dean Carlsen Extension: Want to read more on the subject? Use Google Books to read Carlsen’s essay (from p. 39) on sexuality in the play. (Search ‘Towards a Queer Theatre: Four Plays’) AO5: Different interpretations