LGBT+ History Month - Grindr 1920 Style

In honour of the LGBT History Month, the British Library have just added a new publication to their British Newspaper Archives. 

The title which started life as Cupid's Messenger in 1915 became The Link in 1917.

The British LIbrary blog informs us

In 1920 the publication had come to the attention of the Metropolitan Police, and the surviving police file can be found in the collections of The National Archives.

Seemingly, against the original intentions a certain type of personal advertisement was increasing to be found, loaded with coded and suggestive language; these featured men looking for other men and women looking for other women.

The majority of these type of adverts were written between men, which was extremely risky in 1920s Britain when homosexual acts between men were criminalised. To express your intentions in a written form was an even greater danger; as it could be used as evidence against you, hence the use of coded language.

Below is a sample from the September 1920 issue (three full pages attached as a pdf at the foot of this post)

I'm surprised that no so long after the Wilde trial, there was anything so open. The British Library blog goes on to say:

The classified adverts show how it was possible to meet members of the same sex when your love was essentially criminalised or demonised by society. The small advertisements contained phrases such as ‘unconventional’, ‘jolly’ and ‘bohemian’. The language used links to gay stereotypes of the era, including allusions to literature, art and culture, to signal the writer’s sexuality.

and, it's perhaps of little surprise to read that:

'The Link' was ultimately investigated for conspiracy to corrupt public morals, which is why two copies are in the Metropolitan Police files at The National Archives, however the full run of Cupid’s Messenger and The Link are in the British Library collection. Four individuals were charged with conspiring to corrupt public morals, including Alfred Barrett, Ernest and Geoff. Each received two years’ imprisonment with hard labour at Wormwood Scrubs.