# Alan Bray

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For the British Olympic shooter, see [Alan Bray (sport shooter)](/source/Alan_Bray_(sport_shooter)). For the Australian vascular surgeon, see [Alan Edward Bray](/source/Alan_Edward_Bray).

**Alan Bray** (13 October 1948 – 25 November 2001) was a British [historian](/source/Historian) and [gay rights](/source/Gay_rights) activist. He was a [Roman Catholic](/source/Roman_Catholic) and had a particular interest in [Christianity](/source/Christianity)'s relationship to [homosexuality](/source/Homosexuality).

## Early life

Bray was born in [Hunslet](/source/Hunslet), [Leeds](/source/Leeds), to a working-class family.[1] His mother died when he was 12, an event that profoundly affected his relationships.[2] He attended [Leeds Central High School](/source/Leeds_Central_High_School), where he met his lifelong friend Graham Wilson. He attended [Bangor University](/source/Bangor_University) and spent a year at an [Anglican](/source/Anglican) seminary before beginning a career in civil service.

## Gay rights activism

He became involved with the [Gay Liberation Front](/source/Gay_Liberation_Front) in the 1970s and actively campaigned for gay rights.[2] His interest in sexual politics influenced his work on history, which culminated in two books. His groundbreaking book *Homosexuality in Renaissance England* was published in 1982. His second book, *The Friend*, was published posthumously after his death from heart failure in 2001.

## Legacy

The Roman Catholic Caucus of the [Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement](/source/OneBodyOneFaith), of which Bray was a member, instituted a series of Alan Bray Memorial Lectures on Catholic theology and homosexuality. British historians [Michael Hunter](/source/Michael_Hunter_(historian)), [Miri Rubin](/source/Miri_Rubin), and [Laura Gowing](/source/Laura_Gowing) co-edited the book *Love, Friendship and Faith in Europe, 1300–1800* ([Palgrave Macmillan](/source/Palgrave_Macmillan), 2005), a collection of essays inspired by Bray's idea of finding some universal component of homosexuality within the experiences of intimacy and friendship without "locating a discourse that identifies persons as homosexual."[3] Nick Rumens' *Queer Company: The Role and Meaning of Friendship in Gay Men's Work Lives* ([Ashgate](/source/Ashgate_Publishing), 2011), is also inspired by Alan Bray's scholarship.[4] Valerie Traub (*Thinking Sex with the Early Moderns*) is amongst many subsequent [LGBTQ](/source/LGBTQ) scholars who have engaged with and been inspired by Bray's scholarship.

## Bibliography

- *Homosexuality in Renaissance England* (Gay Men's Press, 1982)
- *The Friend* ([University of Chicago Press](/source/University_of_Chicago_Press), 2002)
- *The Clandestine Reformer: A Study Of The Rayner Scrutinies* (1988)

## References

1. Aldrich, Robert (2000). *Who's Who in Contemporary Gay and Lesbian History: From World War II to the Present Day*. Psychology Press.

1. Gee, Stephen (18 December 2011). ["Obituary: Alan Bray"](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/dec/18/guardianobituaries.gayrights). *The Guardian*. Retrieved 2 July 2012.

1. Gowing, Laura; Hunter, Michael; Rubin, Miri (2005). *Love, Friendship and Faith in Europe, 1300-1800*. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 1-4039-9147-2.

1. Nick Rumens, *Queer Company: The Role and Meaning of Friendship in Gay Men's Work Lives*, Ashgate, 2011, p. 29

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