Difference between revisions of "David Maxwell Fyfe"
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| − | '''David Maxwell Fyfe, 1st Earl of Kilmuir''' was a | + | '''David Maxwell Fyfe, 1st Earl of Kilmuir''' (1900–1967) was a British lawyer and Conservative politician. He was an opponent of gay rights, and led the opposition in the House of Lords to the decriminalisation of homosexuality, despite having set up the Wolfenden Committee which recommended decriminalisation. |
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| + | After World War II he took part in the prosecution of Nazi war criminals at Nuremburg, including the cross-examination of Hermann Göring. | ||
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| + | In 1950, as a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, he played a leading role in drafting the [[European Convention on Human Rights]]. | ||
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| + | In 1954, as Home Secretary, he appointed the [[Wolfenden Committee]] to look into the questions of homosexuality and prostitution. It has been speculated that he expected the Committee to come out against relaxing the law on gay sex.<ref>http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2007/jun/24/communities.gayrights Geraldine Bedell, "Coming out of the dark ages", ''The Observer'', 24 June 2007.</ref> Later that year he was raised to the House of Lords and became Lord Chancellor. When the Wolfenden Report was published in 1957 he was strongly opposed to its recommendations, saying to [[Robert Boothby]] "I am not going down in history as the man who made sodomy legal." | ||
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| + | He died in 1967, the year in which the Wolfenden recommendations were partially implemented. | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||
Revision as of 22:48, 27 May 2012
David Maxwell Fyfe, 1st Earl of Kilmuir (1900–1967) was a British lawyer and Conservative politician. He was an opponent of gay rights, and led the opposition in the House of Lords to the decriminalisation of homosexuality, despite having set up the Wolfenden Committee which recommended decriminalisation.
After World War II he took part in the prosecution of Nazi war criminals at Nuremburg, including the cross-examination of Hermann Göring.
In 1950, as a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, he played a leading role in drafting the European Convention on Human Rights.
In 1954, as Home Secretary, he appointed the Wolfenden Committee to look into the questions of homosexuality and prostitution. It has been speculated that he expected the Committee to come out against relaxing the law on gay sex.[1] Later that year he was raised to the House of Lords and became Lord Chancellor. When the Wolfenden Report was published in 1957 he was strongly opposed to its recommendations, saying to Robert Boothby "I am not going down in history as the man who made sodomy legal."
He died in 1967, the year in which the Wolfenden recommendations were partially implemented.
References
- ↑ http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2007/jun/24/communities.gayrights Geraldine Bedell, "Coming out of the dark ages", The Observer, 24 June 2007.
