A new short film from Loughborough University reveals the story behind a remarkable BBC radio documentary about homosexuality first broadcast nearly 70 years ago.
The radio programme, The Homosexual Condition, aired on the BBC Home Service in July 1957 at a time when male homosexuality was still illegal in Britain and public discussion of the topic was extremely rare.
The documentary featured doctors, legal experts and a former prisoner discussing the causes of homosexuality, possible “treatments,” and whether the law should change.
It was broadcast just before the publication of the landmark Wolfenden Report, which recommended decriminalising homosexual acts between consenting adults.
The transcripts of the programme were rediscovered in the BBC archives by Marcus Collins, Professor of Modern History at Loughborough.
Prof Collins said the discovery opened a window onto a very different era of public debate.
“The world revealed in these documents can feel almost upside down to modern audiences,” he said. “What counted as a ‘liberal’ position in the 1950s was often the belief that homosexuality could be cured, rather than punished.”
The newly produced film explores how the BBC struggled to address such a controversial subject and how attitudes to sexuality have changed dramatically since the mid-twentieth century.
By revisiting this forgotten broadcast, the project highlights how debates about sexuality, science and the law were unfolding in public long before homosexuality was partially decriminalised in Britain in 1967.
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Notes for editors
Press release reference number: 26/57
Loughborough is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.
It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme and named the best university in the world for sports-related subjects in the 2025 QS World University Rankings – the ninth year running.
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In the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 over 90% of its research was rated as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally-excellent’. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, Loughborough has been awarded eight Queen Elizabeth Prizes for Higher and Further Education.
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