ABSTRACT
Chapter 5 analyses the impact on the Foreign Office of the 1967 Sexual Offences Act, which partially decriminalized homosexuality in the UK. The Foreign Office imposed a bar on gay men (and technically lesbians as well) from serving as British diplomats that lasted until 1991. This chapter conducts a close reading of the internal debates about whether or not the policy ought to be upheld – debates which took place throughout its lifespan. It demonstrates the degree of blurring that occurred between personal ethics, sexual taste and diplomatic culture, as diplomats wrestled with the notion that homosexuality was always already present within their collective group identity. Oral history interviews with men who were affected by the bar are deployed to enrich the analysis.
