Queer Beside the Sea: Male Homosexuality in British Coastal Resorts, 1918-1990

This project explores how British coastal resorts became central to queer sociability during the twentieth-century. The reputation of seaside resorts as sexually liberal environments, coupled with abundant cheap accommodation, saw them rival the metropolitan landscape as sites where a distinctive queer culture was established alongside opportunities for sexual and affective encounters. Further, vibrant commercial entertainments in which many performers transgressed gender norms - also popular among heterosexual visitors - provided a safer way for men to negotiate a more public queer world. Building on personal testimonies as well as archival sources, this project moves beyond the overwhelming scholarly focus on the relationship between city spaces and sexual identities. It also challenges existing geographies of urban sexual 'discovery' to understand how queer identities flourished both in an alternative cultural landscape and among heterosexual peers. The 'liminal' seaside resort - a more carefree environment with fewer behavioural restrictions - with its own liberal and conservative tensions, provides a sound context for reassessing historic expressions of sexuality.

By the 1970s the British seaside resort saw a sharp decline in visitors. Following this, however, several re-emerged as centres of queer culture. This project analyses the transition in relation to homosexuality in British cities both before and after the 'permissive moment' signalled by the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality under the Sexual Offenses Act of 1967. A rich historiography presents cities as the most significant location of queer sociability for much of the twentieth-century. The project uses the 'liminal' space of the British coast as a lens for enquiring how those unable or unwilling to fulfil the requirements of 'respectability' found a space for self-expression.

The British coast's historiography highlights the spaces as more tolerant of 'deviant' (although heterosexual) practices such as adultery. References to 'camp' entertainment subtly suggest a queer presence in coastal resorts, however the emergence of a 'gay scene' is dated as after the resorts' decline, with 'the pink pound' being an opportunity capitalised on by entrepreneurs in the 1990s. Further, tensions existed between the 'liberalism' of tourists and business owners, and their mostly Conservative local councils. The project interrogates how seaside towns had significant longstanding queer cultures - just like inland towns - as their later emergence as queer spaces requires a more substantial explanation than merely opportunity. The experiences of queer residents and tourists of seaside resorts are used to understand whether the liberalism seen in heterosexual visitors (underscored by the commercial imperative of encouraging hotel stays) was extended to homosexual encounters. This project examines how resorts were resourceful in accommodating queer culture by drawing upon their more liberal yet conflicted pasts.

This project examines five coastal resorts: Brighton, Blackpool, Bournemouth, Margate, and Torquay. Court records form the starting point, followed by analysis of local council and tourism committee archives, show programmes, seaside ephemera, and tourism publications. The papers and diaries of prominent queer activists provide insights into how homosexual men perceived spaces beyond larger cities. Local newspapers and trade press are drawn upon to understand how businesses utilised queer presence. Oral History interviews with past visitors and residents of the resorts are used to form the backbone of the later period of research. Examining the impact of social, legal and cultural change through the alternative prism of the coastal resort will advance on current work, owing to the unique character of the seaside.