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Amiable Warriors: A History of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality and Its Times: Volume 1: A Space to Breathe 1954-1973 By Peter Scott-Presland , London : Paradise Press , 2015. 640 pp. ISBN: 978-1-90-458575-6 , Hardback, £35.00
Book reviews
This recent book offers an impressive level of detail about the history of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality (the 'CHE') from its roots in 1954 through to 1973. Written by journalist and playwright Peter Scott-Presland (who applied for the commission after Jeffrey Weeks turned it down), it fulfils the mission of being an 'official' history. Scott-Presland's quirky dramatist's approach is an ongoing source of engagement and indeed humour throughout. This volume will be of interest to those involved in the CHE itself, scholars and those with an interest in the history of this important postwar organisation that campaigned for law reform through a prism of equality, but also performed many other functions, some of which I explore below.
Scott-Presland observes, importantly, that 'the neglect of CHE in the annals of LGBT history so far is nothing short of scandalous' (p. xv). He paints a different picture from the reputation the CHE has acquired (through ignorance) of being made up of 'middle-aged and middle-class closeted white men with a cautious, even reactionary approach to societal change' (p. xv). The book has a foreword by Paul O'Grady, a member of the Liverpool CHE in the early 1970s, who recalls the regular deployment at meetings of the all-important word: equality. Many years on that is a word and concept that is not without its detractors, as noted below. Volume II, which will deal inter alia with relations with the Gay Liberation Front (the 'GLF') in more detail, will follow in due course.
Through a mixture of in-depth interviews with leading figures in the organisation and archival and library-based research, Scott-Presland has produced an extremely detailed 'official history', which he considered needed to be all-inclusive. In his preface he states that he writes 'out of the insecurity of not being a "proper" historian, queer theorist, or indeed any kind of academic' (p. xv), yet my argument in this review is that he performs an important task, and the book will be invaluable to academics and others alike, who may...