Homes provided security and safety for some LGBTQ people when same-sex intimacy was condemned by society, and sexual activity between men was criminalised. As the location where men and women might live out their same-sex desires and commitments, the home could also be the place of greatest risk. For royals and elites, homes also served administrative purposes, and were never completely private. Neither were those of the overcrowded poor.
Many castles, palaces and grand country houses across England have their own LGBTQ heritage.
Servants and locals were naturally curious about wealthy employers and neighbours.
Homes offered privacy away from prying eyes and potentially dangerous attacks.
Gay men and lesbians have long been active in radical housing alternatives, both out of choice and out of necessity.
Rarely has a single house been the site of such important political and cultural developments as Millthorpe.
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