Find me at: Spurriergate 

W3W: ///spark.tribe.wide

Researched by: Queer Arts

Designed by: Jade Blood

John Chesterman and Stuart Feather, both from York were instrumental in the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) which organised the first ever Pride march in 1972.

They met in a public toilet near here and quickly fell in love. Stuart was outed in his workplace after being seen with John reading newspaper articles on the Wolfenden Report in 1957, which proposed reforming laws against homosexuality. They moved to London and became involved in LGBTQ+ activism, protesting against discrimination. Stuart also co-founded Bloolips, a radical drag performance troupe which performed into the 1990s.

John Chesterman passed away in 1996, leaving a huge archive of documents to the British Library which show the development of the GLF and the gay rights movement in London. Stuart Feather is an author and painter who regularly speaks about LGBTQ+ activism.

The public lavatory which used to sit here was the place that John Chesterman met Stuart Feather in 1956. They quickly formed a relationship, which was not an easy thing to do in a time when homosexuality between men was illegal. The Wolfenden Report of 1957 argued that laws around homosexuality should be changed to allow relationships between two men. Colleagues of Stuart’s spotted him and John reading newspaper reports of the Wolfenden decision and outed him at work. This forced them both to move to London.

Their Legacy: In London, Stuart and John went to the second-ever meeting of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) in 1970. This organisation was set up to campaign for the rights of gay men and women and held many important protests fighting for equality. John Chesterman drafted the original demands of the GLF - they wanted freedom for all oppressed people and campaigned against discrimination at work, in schools and by doctors. In July 1972, the GLF organised the first Gay Pride march in London, an event which is still held today. Some of the images you see on this sculpture are from GLF posters and documents – you might be able to see some of John Chesterman’s handwriting on the original draft of the demands from 1970.

After the Gay Liberation Front ended in the mid-1970s, John Chesterman went on to found Gay News, the first newspaper focusing on the LGBTQ+ community in the UK. Stuart Feather was a member of the radical drag theatre group Bloolips, which performed across Europe and the United States. The fight for LGBTQ+ equality in the UK continued. Although homosexuality was partially decriminalised in 1967, many gay men were arrested for ‘gross indecency’ for years afterwards, sometimes for just showing affection to their partner. This law was only repealed in 2003. The age of consent for gay men was made equal in 2000 after decades of campaigning by LGBTQ+ community groups, and same-sex marriage was made legal in 2013.

John Chesterman passed away in 1996, leaving a huge archive of documents about the GLF and LGBTQ+ activism. Stuart Feather is still an activist and has recently published the book ‘Blowing the Lid: Gay Liberation, Sexual Revolution and Radical Queens’. Stuart recently spoke at the York Festival of Ideas about his five decades as a campaigner for LGBTQ+ rights. The team that made this sculpture asked him what he would like the main message of this sculpture to be, and he said that if he had one message it would be the importance of community. This sculpture was made by local artist Jade Blood and members of QueerArts, a charity for LGBTQ+ people and allies which runs a choir, dance nights and creative workshops in York. Alongside this sculpture, Jade and QueerArts have developed a zine which will be updated with artwork and messages from people in the LGBTQ+ community in York.