Homosexuality in Victorian England

At a Glance

Oscar Wilde, looking ravishingly gay

During the trial of Oscar Wilde a Victorian persecutor refereed to the offence of homosexuality as an "abominable traffic" in which Wilde and co. "engaged in giving their bodies, or selling them, to other men for the purpose of sodomy" he went on to claim that the act was a direct offense to the Queen,  her peace, and her dignity  (4). This viscous language used might deliberately denote a negative perception of homosexuality in Victorian England, but that wasn't quite the case. As a matter of fact, non-public homosexual acts had no legislation against them until 1885 (2). This was eleven years before the trial of Oscar Wilde and twelve years before the publication of Dracula. It would appear, also, that Britain was soon on the brink of a more tolerant (and I use this word pensively) approach towards homosexuality. Punishments of life imprisonment were, in the following decades, replaced by months imprisonment sexologists soon began writing on the diversity of sexuality (though what some considered the Magnum Opus on the subject: Sexual Inversion was promptly taken off the shelves) (5).

Mental Perversions or Relics of Greece?

"Two Seated Sicilian Youths" Circa 1900

After his prosecution, Wilde wrote a plea for release in which he claimed himself to be a "criminal lunatic" (4). This seems to be a notion that would gain momentum in the field of psychology, as the earliest literature of psychological diagnosis listed homosexuality as a "paraphilia", then a "sexual orientation disturbance" and finally an "egosyntonic behavior" before finally dropping it from the DSM all together (3). This sets the stage in terms of scientific speculation, a different take on it was also happening culturally. It is speculated that in William Mallock's The New Republic there exists a critique of homosexuality among the intelligentsia (the intellectual class of people which worked to shape culture) as a perverse continuation of Greek pederastic relationships, as a character found himself immersed in "pegan sexual preferences" as well as alluding to finding himself attracted to a young male student of eighteen (1). It seems as though at any given time, the British train of thought in regards to homosexuality was in one of two places: 1) that homosexuality was an external corruption that needed to be trained out of individuals, or 2) that is was a natural phenomena (occurring throughout history) that should be kept in check.

ca. 1900

Let Them Eat P***y

With all the talk of male homosexuality, it would be hard to believe that lesbianism would be tolerated much either. Well, it was and it wasn't. On one hand, lesbianism was viewed to be just as immoral as male homosexuality, and though it was set to be outlawed with the same 1885 act that made its male counterpart illegal, the clause was dropped from the law. As Queen Victoria saw it, Sapphic relationships were 'impossible' (if you're not laughing at the title I don't know what to tell you), and though this ignorance was rather insulting, a peek through the jailhouse bars saw it a 'welcomed ignorance' (5).

Works Cited

(1) Dowling, Linda Hellenism & Homosexuality in Victorian Oxford. Cornell University Press: Ithica and London. Web.

(2) The Victorian's Surprisingly Liberal Attitude Towards Gay Men. History Extra. <https://www.historyextra.com/period/victorian/the-victorians-surprisingly-liberal-attitude-towards-gay-men/>. Web.

(3) Homosexuality in DSM. Wikipedia Article. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_in_DSM>. Web.

(4) Janes, Dominic. Oscar Wilde, Sodomy, and Mental Illness in Late Victorian England. Journal of the History of Sexuality. London. 2014. Web.

(5) Sex and Sexuality in the 19th Century. Victoria and Albert Museum. <http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/s/sex-and-sexuality-19th-century/>. Web.