John Davies on Welsh LGBT History

John Davies, the highly influential Welsh historian, came out in 1998 and turned his attention to look at LGBT History before his death in 2017. He gave his first speech on LGBT History at the first LGBT exhibition in Wales, at the Senedd in 2012.

Davies speaks of the ‘mute centuries’ of LGBT history. He applies this phrase particularly to LGBT people in Wales, who did not develop a ‘subculture until the late 20th century,’ and previously found refuge in London’s gay subculture.

The 18th century couple, the Ladies of Llangollen, are an exception to this, ‘the most famous lesbian couple in Europe.’ Davies notes, however, how the guides around their house, Plas Newydd, were forbidden from uttering ‘the L word,’ until ‘recent years.’

In the mid-twentieth century, Cardiff’s Ivor Novello composed ‘Gay’s the Word’ and reputedly popularised ‘gay’ as the synonym for homosexual.

Wales’ greatest contribution to the ending of the ‘mute centuries’, Davies says, came in 1967 with the decriminalisation of male homosexuality. (Leo Abse, MP for Pontypool, promoted the bills to decriminalise.)

Other developments included Jan Morris becoming one of the most famous trans women when she published Conundrum in 1974, an autobiography that told the story of her transition. Others were the development of CYLCH and Stonewall.

Davies concludes: ‘Waldo Williams also wrote the line “Gobaith fo'n meistr: rhoed Amser i ni'n was.” “Hope is our master: time was given to us as a servant.” And I’m sure that through the mute centuries there were those who lived in hope. At last, time has fulfilled some of those hopes but, as everybody’s stressed, much more needs to be done…

There is only one community and we are all members of it, but within that one community there should be a myriad of multiple identities: that is the way ahead.’