PRIDE COMES BEFORE A FALL
Gay rights trailblazer and Brighton Pride parade fixture George Montague’s 98 years charted the shifts of societal attitudes regarding the LGBT community, from the longtime criminalisation of homosexuality to more widespread acceptance. He realised his sexual orientation in his 20s, though as a result of the era attitudes he was married to a woman until coming out in the early 80s and was not in a proper same-sex partnership until the 90s. Convicted of gross indecency in 1974 under antiquated laws and fired from his senior scout commissioner role as a result, he was justly irritated by the 2016 governmental mass pardon of him and thousands of gay men convicted under these circumstances, for it implied he was doing something wrong to begin with. He would not rest until getting a proper apology from the government, which he received a year later.
Never forgetting his fearful closeted youth, he proudly relished in being able to freely be himself in his final years, self-titling himself “the oldest gay in the village” and routinely appearing at Brighton Pride in his rainbow-draped mobility scooter. Though he quipped in an interview several years back that “this old queen is looking forward to getting a birthday card from a real one”, he’s instead fallen two years short and scores points for Passing of the Passed, a theme team of people that the team runner has passed by on a street. Despite being one of the more eclectic themes around, she has now scored points in 4 out of 5 years of running it!
George Montague
5 June 1923 – 18 March 2022, aged 98
💀💀💀💀💀 + 👻 = 9 POINTS