‘We didn’t grow up like that’: Queer youth in England, 1967–2003

This thesis explores how the lives of queer young people in England changed between 1967 and 2003. Using twenty-four oral history interviews supplemented by archival materials, I present a social and cultural history of how queer young people developed understanding, accessed information, and explored queer desires across this period. Across thematic chapters I examine queer young people’s family relationships; their navigation of school and queer spaces; and their engagement with television and music. In doing so, I consider how young people’s experiences were impacted by changes in the social acceptance and legal position of queer identities, as well as the intersecting factors of gender, race, culture, class, and location. I also outline methodological and theoretical considerations for doing oral histories of queer youth, and test approaches that may help us get closer to queer young people in history.

In doing so, I respond to a significant gap in British queer history, which has seen only a handful of histories about queer youth focused on a specific event, organisation, or thematic area. Even in queer oral history, where childhood and adolescence hold important narrative positions, research has been sparse. This thesis therefore provides a broader and connected account of queer youth in late-twentieth century England that centres lived experiences. I bring together approaches from queer and gender history, oral history, and children’s geography to identify trends, test new approaches, and highlight opportunities for further research in this field. Through this approach, I seek to destabilise hegemonic representations of queer young people as passive victims and argue for the wider adoption of youth approaches within queer history.