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Beyond The Law by Charles Upchurch – Gay Book Review

14/03/2023 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

This book was reviewed in the North Philly Notes in November 2021.  This review is comprehensive, as is the book, so I am reprinting the review to remind our readers of this history we have lived through, and why it is so important that we monitor government, both local and national, to ensure we do not loose all the gains we have made.

…

This week in North Philly Notes, Charles Upchurch, author of “Beyond the Law,” writes about the first public debate in the Commons over the ethics of punishing sex between men.

Beyond The Law

The first sustained debate in the British Parliament (and likely in any parliament anywhere) over the ethics of punishing sex between men occurred 180 years ago and no one has remembered it—at least until now. That’s the premise of “Beyond the Law,” which explains how and why this happened. Most historians think this time frame is far too early for anything like this to have occurred, since it is too early for modern sexual identities to have formed, let alone for there to have been a political effort organized around them. But a modern homosexual identity is not needed to have an ethical objection to the execution of individuals for a private consensual act, which is what sodomy was in some cases. In the first decades of the nineteenth century, the law allowed for such executions. While many upper- and middle-class men did publicly rail against sodomy as “the worst of crimes” and supported the executions, others, drawing on enlightenment philosophy or more latitudinarian religious ideas, thought such executions were more immoral, perhaps far more immoral, than the acts themselves. These men included Lord John Russell, leader of the Whig majority in the House of Commons, who eventually argued against executions for sodomy in 1841, even as he kept the government at a distance from the private member’s bill that was the focus of the reform effort.

Russell, like almost every other politician of his era, did not want to publicly speak about sex between men, but broader events were forcing him and the government to do so. That was because the death penalty was being eliminated for hundreds of crimes. Up to the start of the nineteenth century, it was the terror of the gallows that was to scare individuals away from committing crime. Theft of even small amounts might be punished with death, since there had previously been only minimal systems for policing or imprisonment. But that policing and incarceration infrastructure was created in the early nineteenth century, and the number of capital crimes tumbled, so that by the end of the 1830s there were only slightly more than a dozen. Those capital crimes included murder, attempted murder, treason, piracy, rape, a few minor crimes that were missed by previous reform legislation, and sodomy, which could be a private consensual act. With the death penalty now gone for almost everything else, the anomaly of retaining it for sodomy was glaring for many. But almost no man wanted to be the person who stood up on the floor of the House of Commons to argue for the lessening of the penalties for sex between men, knowing that some of the most evangelical members of that body would likely denounce them for defending immorality (as did eventually happen).

The reform effort did happen, though, and two exceptional men stepped forward to shepherd the bill through the Commons in a process that played out over the better part of a year. They had the prestige of Jeremy Bentham behind them since, contrary to what has been written by other scholars, Bentham published some of his arguments against the punishment of sex between men in his lifetime. He did so in a way that would likely only be understood by legal experts, but those were exactly the people who were drafting the recommendations to parliament on which laws to amend, and which ones to retain without alterations. Bentham’s ideas of legal reform were shaping the entire process of eliminating the death penalty within the English criminal law, and his arguments against punishing sex between men in general, let alone executing men for a private consensual act, were known to the men shaping the reform.

Reasoned arguments were not enough to motivate a man to sponsor such a bill, to risk his reputation, and to speak publicly against such an injustice. It can be proven that both Jeremy Bentham and Lord John Russell agreed with this reform, but neither man would publicly champion it. A judge at the time privately told Russell that he was “convinced that the only reason why the punishment of death has been retained in this case is the difficulty of finding any one hardy enough to undertake what might be represented as the defense of such a crime.” And that brings us to the most remarkable discovery in ‘Beyond the Law’, because the two men who were brave enough to do this were inspired to act not primarily through reasoned arguments, but through the emotional and affective bonds of family. Fitzroy Kelly, a newly elected Tory MP, grew up in economic hardship, only saved from poverty through the work of his mother, the novelist Isabella Kelly. The Kelly family was helped repeatedly by the gothic novelist Matthew Gregory Lewis, whose sexual interest in men was remarked on at the time. Moreover, William Kelly, Isabella’s son and Fitzroy’s brother, has been identified by scholars at least since the 1930s as Matthew’s strongest emotional attachment. Matthew’s sister was also married to the brother of the other co-sponsor of the 1840 and 1841 legislation, the lawyer and abolitionist Steven Lushington. It was Lushington, also, more than a decade before, who had worked with Lady Byron during her separation from Lord Byron, and it was Lushington who had raised the threat of accusing Byron of committing sodomy within his marriage as leverage in the separation proceedings. This web of family connections, cemented by love more than sex, is dense, convoluted, and still in significant parts obscure and unrecoverable. Nevertheless, ‘Beyond the Law’ recounts much of it, and tells a story wholly different from anything previously recovered for the early nineteenth century. It pieces together many public and private aspects of the first debates in the nineteenth century over the ethics of punishing sex between men.

 

Links:

 

  • Amazon UK:  Beyond The Law
  • The Truth About Alex by Anne Snyder – a gay book review and a movie

 

Filed Under: Book Reviews Tagged With: 180 years in court, Beyond the Law, British Parliament, Charles Upchurch, gay men

The Truth About Alex by Anne Snyder – a gay book review and a movie

26/09/2021 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

The Truth About AlexThis book, The Truth About Alex, was originally entitled ‘Counterplay’ and has since been made into a film by HBO starring Scott Baio.  The story is about an adolescent growing up in a pressured society, with a domineering absentee father and a placating mother.  It is about his development, about how he deals with his “best” friend’s gayness and other people’s inability to handle the situation.  Counterplay, or The Truth About Alex,  tells the story of Alex Prager, a high school student who is inadvertently outed as gay and the difficulty his best friend Brad has in coming to terms with it.

The story is supportive, teenage reading, and it would be pleasant if life treated everyone this way.

 

 

 

 

 

Information:

Format: Mass Market Paperback
Language: English
ISBN: 0451149963
ISBN13: 9780451149961
Release Date: February 1987
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group

The Truth About Alex

 

 

  • Director  Paul Shapiro
    Writers  Craig StorperAnne Snyder(novel – Counter Play)
    Stars  Scott Baio,  Peter Spence,  Jessica Steen
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Links:

  • YouTube – The Truth About Alex Scott Baio (1986) HBO Full Show
  • IMDB – The Truth About Alex
  • Torch Song Trilogy
  • ABC  After School Special in 1972.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Book Reviews, Reviews Tagged With: adolescence, Alex Prager, Counterplay, gay book review, LGBTQ+ Book Review, Penguin Publishing, Scott Baio

Night Kites by M E Kerr – a gay book review

10/09/2021 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Night KitesI found Night Kites in the teenage fiction section of a local mobile library.  It was the very pleasant cover design that caught my eye and then the blurb which mentions AIDS.

the story is about the relations of a teenage boy (Ricky) with his peers.  He is a typical American youth, interested in girls and having a good time, his older brother is ‘Gay’ and has AIDS.  This character and the parents – who react badly to the annunciation of the illness – are cliched.

Night Kites will not revolutionise the public’s view of Gay people, AIDS or sex.  Indeed, it reinforces some of the stigmas, however, the fact that a work of fiction on this subject is in a mobile library, on the teenage readers’ shelves is a sign of hope in itself.

 

 

 

 

 

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins Publishers (1 May 1986)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0060232536
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0060232535

Links:

  • Amazon – Night Kites
  • Kinderkill by Richard Harper

Filed Under: Book Reviews, Reviews Tagged With: AIDS, American youth, gay boy, gay sex, M E Kerr, Night Kites, stigmas, teenage reader

Kinderkill by Richard Harper – 1 Mar. 1989 – a gay book review

10/09/2021 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

KinderkillKinderkill brings into print the subject of “snuff” movies, and the related topics of child sex fanatics.  The characters whether cops or child molesters are stereotypes, of no real depth or interest.  The story development is progressive, with one or two hiccups due to the author’s attempts to assign qualities to his characters that are not necessary to the story.  Indeed the author’s preoccupation with having clear black and white characters gives the book an unreal quality.

Kinderkill is readable – just – but for those with enquiring minds, it does little to explain the thinking of ‘child lovers’ or those now involved in the worldwide conspiracy of ‘snuff movies’ which we are advised is a plague.

 

 

 

 

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Lynx Books (1 Mar. 1989)
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1558022252
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1558022256

Links

  • Amazon – Kinderkill by Richard Harper
  • Who Lies Inside by Timothy Ireland
  • The Linenhall Library

 

 

Filed Under: Book Reviews, Reviews Tagged With: boy lov, child lovers, gay book review, Kinderkill, LGBTQ+ Book Review, Linenhall Library, Richard Harper, snuff movies

Who Lies Inside by Timothy Ireland – a gay book review by Tim Clarke

01/09/2021 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Who Lies Inside by Timothy IrelandWho Lies Inside by Timothy Ireland,  deals with a young man’s struggle to come to terms with his sexual attraction to other men.  Martin Conway comes from a typical English working-class family in which any manifestation of emotion meets with rental disapproval.  Martin or “Jumbo”, is a rugby player, and a wimp,  and an 18 year old sixth former.  He becomes increasingly alienated from his parents and from his straight friends, and, despite his initial unwillingness to confront the ‘stranger’ inside him he eventually decides that the ‘stranger’, i.e. his gayness, must ‘step out into the light and be seen’,  if he is to be truly happy.

The story ends on a positive note as Martin finds a lover and is prepared to face the hostility of the straight society which had been his prison for so long, having fought his own self-oppression.

I found the book most uplifting and I felt a great deal of empathy with Martin as his story made me recall some of my own experiences.  I would especially recommend this book to younger readers.  Tim Clarke, reviewerWho Lies Inside by Timothy Ireland

 

 

 

Publication Information for Who Lies Inside by Timothy Ireland

Paperback, 128 pages
Published December 1st 1995 by Gay Men’s Press (first published January 1st 1993)
 
Links:
  • Amazon – Who LIes Inside
  • Teardrops On My Drum by Jack Robinson
  • Linenhall Library

(Please note that this review was first  published in Gay Star, a copy of which is held in the Linenhall Library archives)

Filed Under: Book Reviews, Reviews Tagged With: gay book review, gay men's press, LGBTQ+ Book Review, Linenhall Library, Martin Conway, Timothy Ireland

Teardrops On My Drum by Jack Robinson – a gay book review

30/08/2021 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Teardrops On My Drum by Jack Robinson‘Jack Robinson’ is a pseudonym, I assume, though given the sweep fo ‘Teardrops On My Drum’, anything is likely, parts of it are so unlikely they must be true!  It chronicles the life of a Liverpool slummie from 5 to 15, when he joins the Army.  The BA in the 20s seems to have been very gay.

On the way there is a lot of sexual h-jinks with other street-boys, with older boys on camping (old style) holidays, and with an adult policeman – ‘Jack’ being 12 at this time.  This all appears quite likely to me, as Oliver J Flanagan T.D,, Papal Knight and a number of unsavoury things has so wisely said, “We didn’t have sex until television came along”.

It’s true – people were so innocent-minded that the behaviour described here would probably have gone unnoticed, or been seen as personal eccentricities, especially in the working-class areas described, which must make the average person give up thanks for the oppression of the welfare state.

‘This book is a near masterpiece’ – read it!!!

 

 

Product details
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Gay Men’s Press; 1st Edition (20 Mar. 1986)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 176 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0854490035
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0854490035

 

Links:

  • Amazon – Teardrops On My Drum by Jack Robinson  
  • Identity (a gay journal)

 

Filed Under: Book Reviews, Reviews Tagged With: gay book review, Jack Robinson, LGBTQ+ Book Review, Linenhall Library, Liverpool, Oliver J Flanagan T.D., sgtreet-boys, Teardrops on my Drum

The Boys on the Rock by John Fox – a gay book review by DTerry McFarlane

22/08/2021 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

The Boys on the Rock by John FoxThough our copy of the Boys on the Rock by John Fox is a proof copy,  I could find very little that was in need of correction; except for the basis of the story.

The story is one of these: Boy has girlfriend, but fantasies about his best mate in his mind – finally he meets his first gay and gives his girlfriend up, with little compassion on his side – then he goes to college where he falls in love with this ‘ good looker’ who turns out to be gay and they become lovers.  However, his lover is fickle and goes his own way, leaving Billy to look after his crippled friend!

As you will see, the story is not very original and shows it!  Many books come to mind which cover the same themes in a vastly superior way – indeed even some of the pulp magazines carry stories that have considerably more literary merit.

In conclusion, therefore, if you enjoy reading a rehash of other people’s work, and the rehash is not put together work, then I recommend ‘the Boys on the Rock by John Fox’ – otherwise pick up your local newspaper. 

 

 

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ SMP Paperback; New edition (15 Jan. 1994)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 156 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0312104332
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0312104337

Links:

  • Amazon – The Boys ON The Rock (1984)
  • Amazon – the Boys On The Rock P (1994)
  • Firestorm by Gerald Wening

Originally published in Gay Star Issue No 16 – currently held in Linenhall Library

Filed Under: Book Reviews, Reviews

Firestorm by Gerald Wening – a gay book review by DTerry McFarlane

22/08/2021 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Firestorm by Gerald WeningFirestorm by Gerald Wening is a book that follows a standard format, including that of the homophobic minister, and “we can save you” doctor.  As I don’t wish to destroy your reading enjoyment, let me say that the book provides a quick, ‘light’, read (all 170 pages in total).

The cover of the book is quite attractive, and the print quality is good.

Wening,  has produced a “normal” fictional gay book – but how I do wish authors would attempt to write about characters with depth and feeling, and not just superficial characteristics!

 

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Alyson Publications Inc; First Edition, First Printing (1 Jan. 1985)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 177 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 093287052X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0932870520

Links:

  • Fellow Travellers by T C Worsley
  • Amazon – Firestorm by Gerald Wening

Filed Under: Book Reviews, Reviews Tagged With: gay book review, Gerald Wening, lgbtq+ gay book review

Fellow Travellers by T C Worsley – a gay book review by Vincent Geoehegan

13/08/2021 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Fellow Travellers by T C Worsley

 

Fellow Travellers by T C Worsley explores the impact of the political upheavals of the 1930s on five characters:  Harry, a working-class ex-guardsman; Gavin, a feckless undergraduate; Pugh, a young and exuberant ex-public schoolboy; Martin, a priggish poet; and Lady Nellie, a somewhat naive left-wing aristocrat.  The first three are gay; Martin, as they say, swings both ways; while Lady Nellie doesn’t.  Against the intrusive backdrop of world Stalinism and fascism, and in particular the great moral drama of the Spanish Civil War, these individuals have a complex series of sexual, emotional, and political inter-relationships.

Worsley uses a clever formal device to present his material.  An anonymous narrator, who acts as the guiding thread throughout the book, reveals documents he has accumulated for an unwritten novel.  These documents are eyewitness accounts by our five characters – accounts of their dealings with the world and with each other.  This enables Worsley to portray effectively the complicated personalities of his subjects and to show how they differ in their perceptions of the same political;  and personal events.

The price to be paid for this formal novelty is that the characters remain as fragments, disembodied subjects, and objects, never really coming alive, and consequently one feels rather uninterested in their fate.  Only at the end, in war-torn Spain does the book’s method really pay off, as the immense tragedy, impossible to capture ‘objectively’, is graphically revealed through the very different eyes of the five.

The book is a novel with gay characters, rather than a gay novel.  Gayness is neither the theme nor an agnosied issue, but provides rather the texture of the work.  It is, in this respect, a welcome addition to the literature.

 

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ London Magazine Editions; First Edition (1 Jun. 1971)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 249 pages

Links:

  • Amazon – Fellow Travellers by T C Worsley
  • Homophobia and Terrorism are not limited to Muslims.

Originally published in Gay Star No 16 held in the Linenhall Library, Belfast

 

 

Filed Under: Book Reviews, Reviews Tagged With: Fellow Travellers, gay book review, LGBTQ+ Book Review, Linenhall Library, T C Worsley

Parallel Lives by Peter Burton – a gay book review

10/08/2021 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Parallel Lives by Peter BurtonParallel Lives by Peter Burton, is a  memoir that falls into three unequal parts:  the first section sees PB (Peter Burton) coming to terms with his adolescent self.  this is very gracefully written as is the very end of the book describing the last few years.

The rest is a carnival of name-droppings and descriptions of unpleasant people getting unpleasingly blotto and/or pilled.

Peter Burton has no time for the ‘Gay’ movement because it is dominated by middle-class types who look down on working-class people like himself.  He also exalts the commercial scene over the efforts of the ‘politicals’, and glossy mags over the likes of … GAY STAR(?), THE PREDECESSOR OF ACOMSDave (the Blog).

This class (ill-) feeling without any impetus towards change is a very English thing – mysterious to a simple Irish queen like myself.  And the inability to spot the symbiotic relationship between the ‘scene’ and the ‘community is very London-village.

Despite these rather sharp criticisms, I look forward to a real autobiography from Peter Burton.  Towards the end of this volume, he edges towards real self-analysis.  He has a good brain, a sharp eye and commonsense, an assessment of himself and the sub-culture and also the general community could be a masterpiece.

 

Product details for Parallel Lives by Peter Burton

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Gay Men’s Press (18 April 1985)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 128 pages

 

First published in Gay Star No 16, paper copy held at The Linenhall Library, Belfast

 

Links:

  • Amazon – Parallel Lives by Peter Burton
  • The Glass Boat by Alison Ward

 

Filed Under: Book Reviews, Reviews Tagged With: Alison Ward, gay book review, gay star, LGBT+ book review, LGBTQ+ Book Review, Linenhall Library, Peter Burton, The Glass Boat

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