Lydia Sefton-Minns
Research Subjects
Research Interests
Lydia Sefton-Minns has a total of 1 co-authors. Here are the top co-authors by number of shared publications:
- Martin H. Johnson
Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
1 shared publication
Latest Publications
- Open Access
- 5 May 2023
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Homosexuality
- Vol. 71 (3) , 545-573
Attitudes to Male Homosexuality Within the British Medical Association in the 1950s
The British Government appointed a departmental committee to review anti-homosexuality laws in 1954 following a marked increase in the number of arrests for homosexuality after World War II. The committee invited the British Medical Association (BMA) and other institutions to provide scientific and medical evidence relating to homosexuality. In 1954, the BMA established the Committee on Homosexuality and Prostitution to present its view on how the law impacted upon homosexuals and society. This paper analyses the BMA’s attitudes to homosexuality by examining its submission to the Departmental Committee. Whilst the BMA supported implicitly the decriminalization of certain homosexual acts, it remained strongly opposed to homosexuality from a moral perspective and insisted that it was an illness. It is concluded that the BMA’s submission was driven primarily by a desire to control the “unnatural deviant” behavior of homosexuals and to protect society from that behavior rather than to protect homosexuals.
- 5 May 2023
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Homosexuality
- Vol. 71 (3) , 545-573
Open AccessAttitudes to Male Homosexuality Within the British Medical Association in the 1950s
The British Government appointed a departmental committee to review anti-homosexuality laws in 1954 following a marked increase in the number of arrests for homosexuality after World War II. The committee invited the British Medical Association (BMA) and other institutions to provide scientific and medical evidence relating to homosexuality. In 1954, the BMA established the Committee on Homosexuality and Prostitution to present its view on how the law impacted upon homosexuals and society. This paper analyses the BMA’s attitudes to homosexuality by examining its submission to the Departmental Committee. Whilst the BMA supported implicitly the decriminalization of certain homosexual acts, it remained strongly opposed to homosexuality from a moral perspective and insisted that it was an illness. It is concluded that the BMA’s submission was driven primarily by a desire to control the “unnatural deviant” behavior of homosexuals and to protect society from that behavior rather than to protect homosexuals.