The Light of Day

Electronic book text

The first man to come out at the dawn of gay liberation

In June 1960, several British newspapers received a letter so shocking some thought it was a hoax. Beginning 'Sir, we are homosexuals . . ', it was signed by Roger Butler and two others.

Publishing such a letter seven years prior to the decriminalisation of homosexuality was a radical and dangerous move. But it was a risk that marked a huge milestone in the fight for gay rights. By the 1970s, the Gay Liberation Front was calling on people to come out to help reduce stigma, and it continued to be a core tactic in the 80s and 90s. Roger, however, had done this a full decade earlier. This is the story about the first man to voluntarily come out in his own words, using his own name, to the entire British public.

Taking us through a criminalised underworld of pubs, parties and campaign gatherings, The Light of Day charts how Roger helped bring about a change in the law, legalising sex between men, but soon found himself marginalised from the movement he kickstarted after becoming completely blind in his early 30s. Worn down trying to navigate life afresh in London, he left for Oxford, where he became increasingly isolated and never found the life partner he so desperately wanted.

Enter Christopher - an Oxford University student asked by a friend to visit and read to an old, blind man. Though their intergenerational friendship bloomed, Roger never spoke of his revolutionary act. Instead he wrote about it secretly, leaving his account to Christopher after his death, along with a sealed pink folder. It was in that folder that the Roger revealed his final wish, for Christopher to tell his remarkable story.

A hugely moving and powerful story about sexuality, disability, friendship, isolation, love and more, The Light of Day is a vital piece of missing history about a brave revolutionary in the fight for equality.

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