Constructing Homosexuality in British Press, 1835–1954 | Discourse Analysis

Social constructionism is the theory that social categories such as race, sex, gender, disability, and even the concept of the individual are socially produced and not natural phenomena. This perspective holds that meaning and knowledge are socially constructed and depend on shared assumptions about the world. For example, our ideas about race and gender are often so ingrained that we feel they are natural, whereas a social constructionist view would hold that these are conceptual categories created by society. This does not mean there is no material reality (such as biology), but rather that the meaning we attach to material realities is a social creation.

The speaker argues that homosexuality, like gender, is a social construction that is historically contingent. If there is no word to name something, it does not exist as a category. The 'Baile de los 41' helped create the vocabulary and framework for understanding homosexuality in Mexico. Before this event, there was no word for homosexuality, and therefore no category for it. This demonstrates how social categories are constructed through language and cultural frameworks, and how changes in vocabulary can create new ways of understanding human behavior.

Sexuality is not merely a biological fact but is fundamentally shaped by social, cultural, and historical contexts. Social constructionism explains that our realities—including sexual identities, desires, and behaviors—are created through interactions, language, and shared meanings within societies. This means that what we consider normal or deviant in terms of sexuality depends on the specific societal norms and values of a given time and place.

Social constructionism argues that societal structures and concepts shape how people experience desire, love, and sexuality. This perspective holds that how women have come together in society—ranging from ancient China, India, and the Mediterranean world to contemporary Thailand, Mexico, and South Africa—demonstrates that sexuality is not biologically determined but is instead constructed through social contexts and cultural frameworks.

Social constructionism is a theory that posits many aspects of reality, including human characteristics like gender, race, and sexuality, are constructed by society through social interactions and cultural norms. According to social constructionists, these characteristics are not fixed or biological but are created and defined by the society in which we live. For instance, social constructionism argues that the concept of homosexuality as we understand it today is a product of specific cultural and historical contexts, particularly in Europe and North America after the 19th century.

This section traces the history of anti-LGBT laws in Britain. The Buggery Act of 1533 was the first law targeting homosexuality, resulting in death sentences. In 1885, the Criminal Law Amendment Act made any homosexual acts between men illegal regardless of evidence, with even suspicion or gossip leading to imprisonment. Alan Turing, a WWII codebreaker, was arrested, imprisoned, and forcibly castrated, which contributed to his suicide. The Wolfenden Report of 1957 stated being gay was not a disease, leading to the Sexual Offences Act allowing private consensual relationships in 1967.

LGBT people have existed since the dawn of civilisation, with historical examples including Alexander the Great, Sappho, and Elagabalus. In the UK, homosexuality was first outlawed in 1533, punishable by death until 1861 when it became ten years in prison. The 1885 Criminal Law Act made prosecution even more severe, allowing arrest without evidence. Oscar Wilde was imprisoned for gross indecency in 1895. Female homosexuality was never made illegal in the UK. Michael Dillon became the first transgender man to undergo surgery in 1946, and Roberta Cowell the first transgender woman in 1951. The Wolfendon Report of 1957 recommended decriminalising homosexuality but was not acted upon by Conservative governments.

Following the Montague Affair convictions, a committee chaired by Sir John Wolfendon was appointed in August 1954 to investigate homosexual offenses and prostitution. The committee interviewed police, doctors, clergy, lawyers, and three gay men including Peter Wildeblood. The resulting 1957 Wolfendon Report recommended that homosexual acts between consenting adults over 21 in private should no longer be criminal, establishing the principle that there must remain a realm of private morality and immorality which is not the law's business. This recommendation led to the 1967 Sexual Offenses Act, which legalized consensual homosexual acts between men over 21 in private in England and Wales, with Scotland following in 1980 and Northern Ireland in 1982.

The Labouchere Amendment of 1885 fundamentally transformed how homosexuality was prosecuted in Britain. While appearing more lenient than the previous sodomy law, it actually enabled far more convictions by allowing prosecution based on any behavior considered 'indecent'—including written notes, anonymous accusations, or even a kiss between two men. This expanded the scope of prosecutions dramatically, leading to thousands of convictions for minor offenses. Oscar Wilde faced 14 charges of outraging public morals, which ruined his personal and professional life. The amendment's perversity lies in how a seemingly more lenient law resulted in greater persecution, demonstrating how legal reforms can have unintended and harmful consequences.

In 1965, Britain was a very different world from today. Television was limited to two channels, mostly in black and white, with only about 40 hours of broadcasting per week. For gay men, the situation was particularly harsh. Although the death penalty had been removed for gay sex over 100 years earlier, homosexuality was still mostly illegal. The Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 introduced 'gross indecency,' an offense with no clear definition, punishable by up to two years imprisonment. This became known as the 'blackmailer's charter' because it was an offense without a specific victim, making it easy to exploit. Convictions increased significantly under David Maxwell 5's leadership as Home Secretary in the 1950s, with hundreds and thousands of men going to prison each year. In 1957, John Wolfenden was commissioned to chair a committee on homosexual offenses and prostitution, publishing its report in 1957, recommending that homosexuality should be decriminalized as it was essentially a victimless crime. However, the report sat on the shelf for many years because no one was prepared to take it forward. The Sexual Offenses Act 1967 partially decriminalized homosexuality, allowing acts of gay sex between consenting men aged 21 or over in private settings, though the definition of 'private' was very restrictive. The Stonewall riots in 1969 in New York marked a pivotal moment in the gay rights movement. The first gay pride march in London took place in 1972. Convictions for gross indecency continued to increase during the 1970s despite partial decriminalization. The Gay Liberation Front published a manifesto identifying different forms of oppression experienced by gay people, including external oppression (persecution, discrimination, and liberal tolerance) and internalized homophobia (self-oppression of hating who you are because society wouldn't accept it). Andrew joined the RAF as a medical cadet in 1987, despite homosexuality still being illegal in the military. Section 28 was introduced in 1988 during Margaret Thatcher's government, prohibiting the 'promotion' of homosexuality in schools and local authorities. The AIDS crisis in the 1980s was used by tabloid newspapers and right-wing press as an excuse to clamp down further on gay people. In 1994, Edina Curry introduced an amendment to the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, which brought the age of consent for gay men down from 21 to 18. In 1996, effective antiretroviral therapy was introduced, and people stopped dying from AIDS, which transformed lives and enabled gay men and lesbians to become more politically active. In 1999, four cases brought by members of rank outsiders reached the European Court of Human Rights, which ruled that the ban on gays in the military was discriminatory. In 2000, the military offered compensation to those who had been dismissed, though few received it because the Ministry of Defense made it difficult. The ban on gays in the military was overturned 24 years after it was introduced. In 1997, Ian Southernland successfully took the UK to the European Court of Human Rights, arguing that the unequal age of consent was discriminatory. The court agreed in 1997, but it took until 2001 for the government to introduce legislation bringing down the age of consent to 16. This was a hard-fought battle, particularly in the House of Lords, and the 1997 Labour government had to use the Parliament Act for only the second time to get the legislation through. Civil partnership was introduced in 2004, allowing same-sex couples to register their relationships. Andrew and his husband became civil partners in 2007. The Equality Act 2010 was described as the 'granddaddy' of equality legislation. The same-sex marriage act was brought in in 2013, allowing same-sex couples to marry. Andrew and his husband upgraded from civil partnership to marriage in 2013.

Media framing is the deliberate selection and emphasis of certain aspects of events within media texts, making them more prominent while downplaying others. Robert Entman developed this theory through studies between 1989-1993, establishing that media framing actively shapes public understanding rather than merely reflecting reality. The theory is built on four core hypotheses: (1) media presentation affects audience response, (2) information selection shapes public understanding, (3) events acquire meaning through framing rather than possessing inherent significance, and (4) the same message can have different effects depending on how it is framed. Framing involves selecting specific perspectives when covering events, with different outlets emphasizing different aspects of the same issue. This selection process involves determining how to interpret events, explain their causes, evaluate ethical dimensions, and propose solutions.

Media framing refers to the way news and media outlets present information in ways that influence how audiences perceive and understand events. Framing involves selecting certain aspects of reality to make more salient and thereby promoting a particular interpretation or perspective on issues.

Media Framing Theory (also called Framing Analysis) examines how media outlets select, emphasize, and present specific aspects of news events to influence public interpretation, focusing on the attributes of events, actors, and issues rather than just agenda-setting; it analyzes how media constructs narratives by highlighting certain elements while omitting others, thereby shaping how audiences understand and evaluate political and social issues.

Media framing theory explains how news media presents information through a particular perspective or 'frame.' Rather than transmitting objective reality, media outlets often convey news that reflects their underlying agenda or the message they intend to communicate, whether positive or negative. This theory highlights how media choices in story selection and presentation shape public perception.

Framing is the process of selecting aspects of perceived reality to make them salient in communication, promoting specific problem definitions, causal interpretations, moral evaluations, and treatment recommendations. Every image and text necessarily has boundaries (frames) because there are limits to what can fit within any frame. Robert Edmund defines framing as selecting aspects to promote particular interpretations, while a broader definition sees frames as cultural reference points that exist in society rather than just in texts or creators' minds. There is no neutral language—every word and image choice contains framing whether intended or not. Frames consist of reasoning devices (narrative structure, argument logic) and framing devices (specific words, metaphors, analogies). The War of the Worlds panic demonstrated how framing can influence public perception, leading to the hypodermic needle theory, though more sophisticated models now recognize media effects are mediated through opinion leaders and cultural contexts.