1973 Homosexuality from the Inside by David Blamires published
1973 Manchester Hulme Hall Conference & Friends Homosexual Fellowship formed
1980-1999
1982 Meeting Gay Friends (anthology of essays by Friends Homosexual Fellowship members) published
1988 Sue Hartshorne raises topic of same-sex marriage with Religious Society of Friends
1988 Publication of ‘Same Sex Relations’ study pack
1988 A Minority of One (by Harvey Gillman) Swarthmore Lecture
1988 Meeting for Sufferings affirms celebration of same-sex relationships
1988 Section 28 comes into law (Amendment to the local government act stating 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”)
1991 Friends Homosexual Fellowship changes its name to Quaker Gay and Lesbian Fellowship
1993 QLGF publishes Speaking our Truth explaining the reality of LGB lives
1995 This We Can Say: Talking Honestly About Sex published by a group of 9 Friends (an updated version of Towards a Quaker View of Sex)
1995/6 First meetings for worship to celebrate same-sex relationships
2000-Present
2000 Section 28 repealed in Scotland; the rest of Britain follows in 2003
2002 European Court of Human Rights ruled in Christine Goodwin & I v United Kingdom that a trans person's inability to change the sex on their birth certificate was a breach of their human rights
2004 Past the Rainbow: a Plain Quaker Look at Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Lives (an updated version of Speaking our Truth)
2005 Gender Recognition Act comes into effect
2005 Civil Partnership Act comes into effect
2007 Quaker Life group on recognition of same-sex partnerships
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Updated 7 March 2022
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