Sex, Guys and Videotape

“Sex, Guys and Videotape” charts the arrest, prosecution and conviction of seven men in Bolton, Lancashire, for having gay se which they filmed on a home video camera. This very amateur recording came into the possession of the police when one man´s home was raided on unrelated charges. In Britain, gay sex between men is illegal unless it takes place in private, and private is not defined as in the privacy of one´s home, but rather as being in the presence of no more than two people. As there was always a third man present, even if he was just recording the action, the men had little chance of avoiding conviction. For men such as these, living in small, working class communities, homosexuality is still widely considered shameful. The film raises issues such as whether consenting sexual relationships should be the business of the courts and whether this was a justifiable use of considerable amounts of money and resources. It also examines the gulf between the uneducated and mostly inarticulate men in the dock and the representatives of the British legal system. The documentary includes dramatic reconstruction of the court case from the trial transcripts.