3. To Protect Public Morality

Criminally Queer: The Bolton 7 looks back at one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in recent British LGBTQ+ history, and examines how this scarcely-known legal case played a significant role in the fight for gay rights.

The men’s futures hung in the balance. It was a battle fought bitterly, rooted in archaic laws with complex histories. Hugh Sheehan also examines other similar legal cases from the time.

Hugh speaks to Booker Prize-winning author Douglas Stuart; author and host of the podcast Bad Gays Huw Lemmey; author and queer scholar Jack Parlett; founder and former chair of Greater Manchester Lesbian and Gay Policing Initiative Ian Wilmott; writer Robin Craig; Bolton 7 solicitor Nicola Hall; and gay activist and Bolton 7 barrister Terry Munyard.

Criminally Queer is a Reduced Listening Production for BBC Sounds Audio Lab.

Producer and Presenter: Hugh Sheehan Original Music and Sound Design: Hugh Sheehan Executive Producer: Anishka Sharma Mix Engineer: Arlie Addlington Artwork: Tom Cunningham Commissioning Editor: Khaliq Meer Archive material courtesy of Roger Bolton Productions.