Coin to mark legalisation of gay sex ditched – over its ‘lack of public appeal’
THE Royal Mint vetoed plans for a coin to mark the 50th anniversary of the legalisation of homosexuality, fearing a ‘lack of appeal’.
Bosses at the Mint considered celebrating the landmark Sexual Offences Act 1967, widely regarded as one of the most important pieces of social legislation passed in the UK. But documents obtained by The Mail on Sunday under Freedom of Information laws reveal officials did not feel creating a coin would be ‘commercially viable’.
Gay rights activists last night said the decision was a ‘cop-out’.
The 1967 Act decriminalised consensual sex between men over 21 and secured cross-party support. While it did not introduce full equality, it paved the way for legislation that did.
Minutes of meetings held in 2015 by the Royal Mint’s advisory committee on the design of coins, medals, seals and decorations show that a coin to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Act and one to mark the release of The Beatles’
Sgt Pepper album were considered. ‘Having investigated the potential of the themes, the marketing department at Royal Mint ultimately came to the conclusion that neither would be commercially viable, the homosexuality theme because of the lack of appeal it was likely to have for collectors and the Beatles album because of the complexity and cost of dealing with the licensing elements,’ the minutes state.
Such considerations did not prevent the Royal Canadian Mint from producing a one-dollar coin in 2019 to mark the 50th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality there.
Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said: ‘It seems bizarre and quite appalling that the anniversary was not deemed significant enough. The argument that it was not commercially viable sounds like a cop-out.
‘For millions of LGBT+ people and straight allies, this would be a coin worth having.’
Last night, a Royal Mint spokesman said they were working on coins to ‘commemorate events and individuals linked to the British LGBT movement’, adding that all proposals go through a ‘rigorous planning and design selection process’ and that some ‘can be proposed on several occasions before progressing to a UK coin’.
l Mahatma Gandhi is set to become the first non-white person to appear on a British coin, it emerged last night. The Royal Mint is working on currency featuring the anti-colonial campaigner, who led the protest against British rule in India.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is supportive of a campaign to feature black and minority ethnic figures on coins, saying they ‘have made a profound contribution to the shared history of the UK’.