Peter Scott-Presland

I'm a veteran gay activist, went on the first Gay Pride March in 1972, and founded the Oxford Gay Action Group the same year - we had the first gay switchboard advice line in the UK the same year. A pioneer theatre practioner, I directed 'And What About Me?', about a bisexual love triangle - shades of 'Sunday Bloody Sunday'! - also in 1972. I have been writing and directing plays - mainly gay plays - since 1974. I have formed three queer theatre companies - One in Ten [1975-79], Consenting Adults [1980-87] and Homo Promos [1988 - present]. All have performed my work, among others. I won an Edinburgh Fringe First in 1977, and the International Lesbian and Gay Cultural Network Award 2021. I have also written for television and radio.

My two proudest achievements as a writer are 'AntiBody' [1983], cowritten with Louise Parker Kelley, the first play IN THE WORLD to deal with the HIV/AIDS epidemic and premiered in London in October that year; and 'Leather', a controversial piece about gay domestic abuse and rape written at a time when male-on-male rape supposedly didn't even exist.

'Amiable Warriors' is the first of three volumes of the history of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality, the most important gay rights organisation ever in the UK, now barely acknowledged. At its height it had over 150 branches and 6000 members, and it paved the way for the equalities legislation of the 2000s. High time it was recognised.

'A Gay Century' 1 & 2 is a collection of 17 playlets in verse traversing the 20th century in both iconic and eccentric moments of change for LGBT+ people. It was written both for performance on Zoom during lockdown and for setting to music as chamber operas. The 17 operas are written, and two have been performed so far - see 'Fishing' and 'Home Fires' on YouTube. When they are eventually performed end-to-end they will last 21.5 hours.

'Flash Dances' [2024], which I edited with Stephanie Dickinson, is a collection of 150 flash fiction stories arising from the regular writing workshops we run for fledgling LGBT+ writers. We're planning a sequel, 'Hot Flashes', in 2026. For details contact the Paradise Press website.