Author John-Pierre Joyce joins us to discuss the revised and updated edition of his book, which traces the transformation of gay men from ‘odd’ to ‘normal’ over a decade-and-a-half of social, legal and cultural change.

Hosted by academic and author Matt Cook, John-Pierre will be in discussion with LGBTQ+ and human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell and Alan Lee Williams, a former UK MP who voted for the landmark Sexual Offences Bill in 1967, marking the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality.

Odd Men Out charts the circumstances leading to the appointment of the Wolfenden Committee in 1954 to the emergence of the Gay Liberation Front in 1970. Drawing on letters, diaries, novels, newspapers, films, plays, radio and television, John-Pierre Joyce explores contemporary attitudes to homosexual men and the development of a recognisably 'gay' identity - while giving voice to a generation of gay men and other witnesses to a neglected part of British history.

“John-Pierre Joyce admirably describes the oppression from which we were so narrowly rescued and the courageous and unflagging determination that made the present dispensation possible. Let us take good note of the past and learn its lessons, lest we be condemned to repeat it.”
- Simon Callow, CBE

Practical information

• Tickets are £12 / £8 conc.
• Doors for this event will open at 18.30. The event will begin at 19.00.
• Our events and courses are designed for over-18s only. Our special collections and archives, which feature heavily in our programme, include explicit content and our evening events are aimed at an adult audience, with a licensed bar in operation.