Lost BBC documentary on homosexuality brought back to life nearly 70 years on

A new short film from Loughborough University tells the story of a remarkable BBC radio documentary about homosexuality, broadcast nearly seven decades ago at a time when the subject was almost entirely absent from public life.

The Homosexual Condition aired on the BBC Home Service in July 1957, when male homosexuality was still illegal in Britain. The programme featured doctors, legal experts and a former prisoner discussing the causes of homosexuality, possible "treatments," and whether the law should be changed. It was broadcast just weeks before the publication of the landmark Wolfenden Report, which recommended decriminalising homosexual acts between consenting adults, a recommendation that would not become law for another decade.

The transcripts were rediscovered in the BBC archives by Marcus Collins, Professor of Modern History at Loughborough University, whose research forms the basis of the new film.

Collins said the discovery offered a striking glimpse into a very different world. "What counted as a 'liberal' position in the 1950s was often the belief that homosexuality could be cured, rather than punished," he said.

The film explores how the BBC navigated such a controversial subject at the time, and how profoundly attitudes to sexuality, science and the law have shifted since. Homosexuality was partially decriminalised in Britain in 1967, ten years after the broadcast.

The film is available to watch now on YouTube.