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‘Substantial hostility’: sex and sexuality in the RCP archives

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   Digging through the entries in the Lives of the fellows – the RCP’s
   series of obituaries of fellows, commonly known as ‘Munk’s Roll’ – it’s
   rare to find mention of sex or sexuality, let alone same-sex
   attractions. However, there are glimpses in a few of the thousands of
   published obituaries of how attitudes in society and within the medical
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   figure in LBGT history: he wrote the multi-volume Studies in the
   Psychology of Sex, which included the first serious study of
   homosexuality published in Britain. It was, inevitably, quickly banned
   by the UK government for being obscene. Havelock Ellis’ obituary in
   Munk’s Roll is, however, unusually impersonal and perfunctory. It
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   family planning within marriage. During debates about the Marriage Bill
   in 1937 (later called the Matrimonial Causes Act), his appears to be
   the first usage of the word ‘homosexuality’ in a parliamentary debate.
   These were the roots of change: while progressive at the time, Dawson
   argued that homosexuality was ‘not wholly in the realm of crime’.

   The psychiatrist Richard Desmond Curran (1903–1985) was, according to
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     [David Robert] Harvey was ‘never afraid to disclose his
     homosexuality, in spite of the homophobia in his profession
     prevalent at the start of his career’

   According to his RCP obituary, Harvey was ‘never afraid to disclose his
   homosexuality, in spite of the homophobia in his profession prevalent
   at the start of his career’. During his time as GLADD’s co-chair,
   Harvey wrote to the medical press to highlight discrimination against
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   anonymously I should be delighted: until I have achieved the relative
   autonomy of a consultant position, I do not think it in my interests to
   put anything in print which could raise a question about my sexuality.

   Harvey and the GLADD co-chair Susan Bewley replied in support of this
   trainee, commenting the policy that ‘gay and lesbian doctors in the
   armed services are liable to dismissal for no other reason than their
   sexuality’. They also addressed the ethical dilemma created by the
   requirement that all military doctors should report any service
   personnel they might know to be homosexual ‘even if this information