As HRH Queen Elizabeth II celebrates sixty years on the throne by sailing down the Thames on a canoe this weekend, QX presents a look back at the changes our wonderful gay scene has witnessed over the past six decades through the eyes of our very own First Lady of Soho and Supreme Ruler of London’s Homos, the divine HRT Queen Lizzy…
1950s – “THE GOLDEN AGE”
The UK had just emerged from a devastating war, the Empire’s days were numbered and the Commonwealth was taking its place as the new international British colonial members’ club. Think Soho House but with ethnic minorities as members and not just as toilet attendants and waiting staff.
In the early 50s nobody could have possibly predicted that in sixty years time, the life of queens and the face of this glorious land would be so radically different. From the diversification of the UK’s cultural profile to the advancements in gay rights, back in 1952 when Elizabeth II was crowned, our own Queen Lizzy was still but a closeted homosexualist with tendencies towards drag.
1960s – “DECADENT TIMES BEHIND CLOSED DOORS!”
In 1960s Britain the swinging Sixties saw the heterosexuals enjoying a more libertarian society, the emergence of a new British pop sound and the female of the UK species were taking control of their sex lives when some geezer invented the Pill. Meanwhile, the Gays still couldn’t be out and proud just yet as it was still illegal to poke another bloke’s sphincter, be it in public or the privacy of your own cottage.
Although that still didn’t stop them having private orgies with the hired help at any given opportunity! Oh yes, it was a different story behind closed doors, as gays gathered in growing numbers and with an increasing sense of pride.
After several high profile Gays were arrested for indiscreet homosexual activity, finally in 1967 the Sexual Offences Act declared that it was no longer an illegal act to pork a queer in private – although one had to be over 21 to partake.
1970s – “OUT AND PROUD”
Following the sexual revolution of the 60s, the raging 70s saw the explosion of free love and, well, freedom! By the end of the last decade the Gays no longer had to congregate in private and could finally begin to leave the confines of their homes or secret clubs to meet and practice their Polari.
The Gays were no longer criminals and the new Pride movement saw them take to the streets en masse and go all vocal for their rights. The club scene started to emerge with disco being the music that pulled them together.
No longer confined behind closed doors, the Gays started to hold regular events in clubs and bars across the city. Fashooorn was also central to the Gays identity, with the popular 70s style clone and the punk look adopted across the queer spectrum, becoming iconic to this day.
Even her Majesty (not Madonna, we’re talking Elizabeth II now) threw her own party on the streets of the UK when she invited us all to celebrate her glorious Silver Jubilee, marking 25 years on the throne in 1977. Oh yes, it was good times for all…
1980s– “A TIME OF CHNAGE, PROTEST AND UNREST ”
What goes up must come down! After the rollicking 70s there had to come a giant crash. The gay world was stricken by HIV and AIDS, which arrived so suddenly and brutally.
At its worst, a week wouldn’t go by without the news of another close friend succumbing to the disease. It devastated the community. What made matters worse was that governments on both sides of the Atlantic were slow to react to the crisis.
The result of this meant we would lose hundreds of thousands of dearly loved friends and relatives at the time, and in the decades to come.
As if this wasn’t enough, the ultra-Conservative right-wingers (lorded over by The Grocer’s Daughter, aka an increasingly dominating Margaret Thatcher) introduced Section 28, a gross piece of legislation that would effectively ban any discussion on homosexuality in schools.
The result of this would be a message to generations of children that being a Gay was indeed shameful, never mind the open door policy it gave to homophobia in our schools.
During this time, our delightful Lizzy turned a blind eye, never once publicly coming to our defence or declaring her support for our besieged community.
After all, she was very busy at home in her palace, and over the moon after celebrating the biggest royal wedding in decades! Set against a backdrop of the Scots vying for independence, a painful recession and endless strikes by the unions. It was a decade of severe struggle and deep unrest – sound familiar?
1990s – “THE ANNUS HORRIBILIS”
There was good and bad news for the Gays during the 90s. There was celebration in 1994 as equality took a step closer to reality when the age of consent for homosexual private party games was lowered to 18, although many protested that it should be equal to the heterosexual age of 16. Tragedy also struck at the heart of the gay community when racist, bigoted nut case Neo-Nazi David Copeland bombed the Admiral Duncan pub in 1999, striking fear in the heart of Gay Land, killing three people and injuring over 70 others.
Back at the palace, after a turbulent 80s that saw the rest of her glorious Kingdom suffering economically and socially, it was our Lizzy’s turn to see her life unravel in the 90s. Only her traumas would strike her at the heart of what she was most proud of… her family!
Her glorious local gaff The Windsor Castle burned down and she was forced to pay taxes – and we all know how any queen hates to pay for something they used to get for free! Worst of all, the Kingdom’s golden couple, Charlie and Di (a former Bel Ami porn star and a drag queen with a penchant for posh ginger guys) decided that monogamy wasn’t for them.
Faced with the prospect of porking each other for the rest of their lives, they decided instead to shag around. Only Lizzy frowned upon open relationships (at least in public and on the front page of The Sun) and so it was inevitable that the pair would D.I.V.O.R.C.E.
Her Majesty was, like, well pissed-off, ‘cos that wedding didn’t come cheap and she was still raging about her other daughter-in-law being caught noshing on the toes of some bloke at Feet on Friday [monthly at Central Station]. It was, as the Queen said in her annual address to the nation at Mardi Gras, her ‘Annus Horribilis’ or as she referred to it in private, her ‘horrible arse’. 
2000 – “I’M STILL HERE!”
With Di out of the way, Lizzy took some advice from New Labour and got a shit-hot PR team on board (according to the film starring Oscar winner Dame Helen Mirren) to turn the tide of the nation’s feelings towards her around. The first bit of good news for the Gays came when the age of consent was finally made equal to 16. In the decade to come the Gays would even be able to get Civil Partnered, while the battle for full marriage equality was beginning to stir in the loins of hardened activists.
Back at her gaff at the Windsor Castle in Hounslow, our Lizzy put a smile on, painted some lippy on it and decided she was determined to show the world she was still Queen Bee of this Scene and at 70 could still work a crowd like the best of divas! Think Mariah, Whitney, Tina, Cher and Letitia Dean in EastEnders – God knows the Gays love a come back!
Her Golden Shower, ummm, Golden Jubilee in 2002 was a huge success. She gave everyone the day off work and held a big concert in her back garden featuring such stunning artists as Mis-teeq and S Club 7.
Scoop No. 2 came when her grandson Wills picked a common-as-muck rich girl from the countryside to be his wife. Their wedding was watched by 82 million trillion gazillion people in China and propped up the ailing British economy. Oh, and we got another day off!
But with those two young whipper-snappers nipping at the paparazzi’s heels and hogging the cover of Hello magazine every other week, Lizzy, now 86, wasn’t ready to hang up her slippers just yet!
After all these years on the throne and after the most dramatic of evolutions in the UK’s history, our Lizzy is ready to celebrate 60 years of service to us fickle homos this weekend as she shows us how there’s more to being a Queen than having a tendency to stay out all night in a Vauxhall night club or sashaying down Old Compton Street in short-shorts in summer.
Oh yes, bold, resolute and still standing after six decades at the top of her game, despite all her troubles and tribulations, Lizzy has indeed “still got it!”
• Photos by Mike Kear, mikekear.com, Starring Dusty O as HRT Queen Lizzy, Special guest stars: gay rights activist Peter Tatchell; RVT manager Jason Dickie; Eagle general manager Simon Kilner; Comptons general manager Neil Hodgson; cabaret star Myra DuBois; and DJ Dmitry Strygun.
