A review by michaelontheplanet
Queer City by Peter Ackroyd

3.0

Cock and bull-dyke story: in an apt choice for Pride Month, Queer City might be better subtitled 'a history of bum-fun in the capital' and Peter Ackroyd does not deviate from bringing up every sort of sex and sexuality in a completely unabashed way. Gosh, there's a lot of it, and to paraphrase Mick Farren, if you can imagine it, somebody's probably writing a social history of it. Ackroyd's special focus is on the 17th to the 19th centuries, and as a result other periods get less of his attention. A quick whisk through Roman and medieval London may be understandable since what evidence there is may be ambiguous and limited, but the few pages devoted to the 1950s on are less forgiveable. It fairly romps, however, through the mollies and man-women of the Restoration and Georgian eras, and the sex scandals of the later Victorian period are worth revisiting. The arse-bishop is a particular joy - humorous contempt for the clerical didn't start with Father Ted. Much of this is a useful reminder of just how far we've come (I'm writing this on the weekend our rather charming gay Lord Mayor of Westminster led this year's parade) but also a warning: crowds are unpredictable and a population that takes you to its bosom can equally opt for pillorying or witch hunts. Don't put your marching sandals back in the closet just yet.