Phil Polglaze, Carnaby Street, 19 Septmber 1991
Photographer Phil Polglaze in conversation with barrister Terry Munyard
Followed by exhibition viewing until 10pm
Join photographer Phil Polglaze and retired barrister Terry Munyard for a conversation about the circumstances in which Munyard commissioned Polglaze to produce photographic evidence in defence of men accused of ‘cottaging’ between 1979 and 1996.
Homosexuality was partly decriminalised in the UK by the Sexual Offences Act of 1967, but a conservative climate, Section 28 and the AIDS crisis meant that in the decades after 1967, an estimated 15,000 gay men were prosecuted and convicted on charges of gross indecency by ‘cottaging’ or cruising in public spaces.
The photographs produced by Polglaze became instrumental documents in the effort to challenge the prosecution’s statement, expose police entrapment tactics, and exonerate defendants.
This is event is free but booking is essential due to the very limited space.
Speakers
Phil Polglaze is a self-taught London photographer whose early commission to support the defence in 'cottaging' cases with photographs of London's public toilets taken between the 1970s and 1990s has created an unprecedented archive.
Terry Munyard is a now retired barrister who did criminal law and inquests for 40 years. He specialised in political cases, including gay rights and Section 28 battles. He was involved in protest cases such as the Brixton Riots (1981) and Broadwater Farm uprising (1985) against police brutality towards the Black community in the 1980s. He represented striking miners during the Great Strike of 1984-85 and families in the Hillsborough inquests in 2014-16. More recent cases included the Stansted 15: the human rights activists who stopped a plane from deporting refugees to West Africa in 2017 (convictions overturned in 2021). Munyard became instrumental in legalising gay sex in Scotland and Nothern Ireland.
The Jolly Farmers
6–8pm, Friday 14 November
20 Paradise St,
Oxford,
OX1 1LD
Free. Booking required.