Catalogue Number
NMLH.2020.5.91
Object Name
Badge
Title
OFTEN THRASHED - NEVER BEATEN!
People
Ernest Hole; Countdown on Spanner
Events
Operation Spanner
Description
White, medium badge with an illustration of a pair of hands breaking a spanner in half. Above and below the illustration, text in black reads "OFTEN TRHASHED - NEVER BEATEN!"
This badge refers to protesting Operation Spanner, which was a criminal investigation into same-sex male sadomasochism, led by Londonâs Metropolitan Police. For three years from 1987, approximately 100 men were questioned by the police, resulting in 43 men named in the final report. 16 men were convicted for charges such as actual bodily harm or unlawful wounding, relating to consensual, private sadomasochistic sex between 1978 and 1987. Two activist groups, Countdown on Spanner and the Sexual Freedom Coalition, were formed to protest the charges and support the men affected.
There was some pushback at the time, including criticism of the investigation by the Gay London Policing Group, and Andrew Puddephat, general secretary of human rights campaign group Liberty, calling for a "right to privacy enshrined in law". The Spanner Trust was established in 1995 to continue lobbying for protections for sadomasochistic sex.
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