Timeline of LGBTQ history in the United Kingdom

This is a timeline of notable events in the history of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in the United Kingdom.

There is evidence that LGBT activity in the United Kingdom existed as far back as the days of Celtic Britain.

The then Home Secretary, Sir David Maxwell Fyfe, had promised "a new drive against male vice" that would "rid England of this plague."

As many as 1,000 men were locked up in Britain's prisons every year amid a widespread police clampdown on homosexual offences.

[105] Sir Fyfe also introduced ‘positive vetting’ for recruits to the Foreign Office to identify queer men and stop them from being employed in the service.

Antinous
Antinous
Alcuin of York, 8th-century cleric and scholar
The head of Piers Gaveston, 1st Earl of Cornwall, is delivered to Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster; Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford; and Edmund FitzAlan, 9th Earl of Arundel, for inspection.
The head of Piers Gaveston, 1st Earl of Cornwall, is delivered to Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster; Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford; and Edmund FitzAlan, 9th Earl of Arundel, for inspection.
King James I of England, VI of Scotland
King James I of England, VI of Scotland
Captain Edward Rigby
18th century illustration of a "Molly" (contemporary term for an effeminate homosexual)
The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah , John Martin , 1852
Fanny and Stella (Park & Boulton) on stage
Christopher Isherwood (left) and W. H. Auden (right), photographed by Carl Van Vechten , 1939
Radclyffe Hall
Radclyffe Hall
Alan Turing in 1930
Alan Turing in 1930
Quentin Crisp
The red ribbon is a symbol for solidarity with HIV-positive people and those living with AIDS
Activists target a bus operated by Brian Souter 's Stagecoach company at a rally in Albert Square, Manchester , on 15 July 2000
London gay pub bombing in 1999 killed three and injured 70
Angela Eagle
Tony Blair 's Labour government enacted the Civil Partnership Act 2004
Nicole Sinclaire
Andy Street