And now for National Trust’s latest PC stunt: A rope tribute to men hanged for being gay
THE National Trust has sparked a fresh row with an exhibition thatat includes 51 ropes to commemorate- men who were hanged for being homosexual.
Visitors to Kingston Lacy in Dorset hear a recording of the names of the men, most of whom were executed between 1810 and 1835. The installation is part of the programme by the Trust and many museums to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Sexual Offences Act, which decriminalised - private homosexual acts between en men over 21 in England and Wales.
A rainbow flag in support of the gay community is also being flown. The twoonday, twomonth project, which opened on Monday, commemorates William John Bankes, s, who inherited Kingston Lacy in 1834.
He fled into exile in 1841 after he was caught ‘in an indecent act’ with a soldier. It was his second offence and might have led to his execution, but his wealth allowed him to move to France and later Italy, where he died in 1855 aged 68.
Critics yesterday accused the Trust of failing to learn from the public backlash that followed its decision in July to out the writer Robert Wyndham Ketton-Cremer as gay. Ketton-Cremer bequeathed Felbrigg Hall in Norfolk to the Trust in 1969. Volunteers there were also told to wear rainbow ‘gay pride’ badges. Felbrigg volunteer Bob Gates, who resigned with his wife in disgust at their treatment, said the trust had become obsessed with ‘trendy PC thinking’. He added: ‘It’s just not the right place for it [gay rights campaigning].’
Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen said of the Kingston Lacy exhibition: ‘This is totally inappropriate. It’s not what people visit the National Trust for. If I want moral guidance I go to church – not the National Trust.’
Chris McGovern, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said that children visiting historic properties were being ‘traumatised and upset by the constant messages about who they are’. He added: ‘They don’t want to be burdened with the neuroses of the National Trust – and adults don’t want it to be politicised.’
The National Trust said: ‘Visitors are given the option of visiting the installation and are given information upon which to make that decision.’ John Orna-Ornstein, the Trust’s director of curation and experience, said: ‘There are going to be some people who come here and don’t like it, but that’s the case with any programming.’