Radio 4 Extra joins in the BBC’s Gay Britannia season marking the 50th anniversary of The Sexual Offences Act 1967 – which partially decriminalised homosexual acts in private between two men over 21 in England and Wales. Join BBC journalist Ben Hunte as he curates our season and interviews some of his LGBT heroes...

BBC Radio 2’s Paul O’Grady talks the secret gay slang of Polari ahead of The Bona History of Julian and Sandy (29 July) plus that bold edition of Round The Horne featuring Bona Law (30 July).

Ben Hunte meets Stephanie Hirst (29 July) discussing the BBC broadcaster’s gender reassignment – and talks to lesbian publisher, Linda Riley – ahead of the first of two episodes of EM Forster’s tale of early 20th-century gay love, Maurice (30 July).

HIV activist Greg Owen chats to Ben – ahead of Andy Kirby’s two-part 1980s drama about a hospital’s first ever AIDS patient, starring Michael Cashman: Compromised Immunity (31 July).

Inspirational gay journalist Dean Eastmond tells Ben about his brave battle with cancer – ahead of Armistead Maupin’s acclaimed tale of the denizens of the mythic apartment house at 28 Barbary Lane, San Francisco – set in the free and easy era of 1976: Tales of the City (31 July).

The Comedy Club welcomes Stephen K Amos telling Ben about the perils of coming out – ahead of the edition of What Does the K Stand For? where he tries to tell his family... (2 Aug) plus more chat with Paul O’Grady (3 Aug).

Get the confetti ready – as Ben meets BBC Three’s “Queer Britain” host Riyadh Khalaf – ahead of Ian and Adam’s 2006 Ambridge civil partnership in The Archers' Gay Wedding (4 Aug).

Week 2 of Gay Britannia kicks off with Ben’s chat with Stonewall’s CEO, Ruth Hunt – ahead of Patrice Chaplin’s Edwardian drama charting Meriel’s growing obsession with a local girl – chosen by a 4 Extra listener and starring Deborah Makepeace: The Tinker's Daughter (5 Aug).

Ben talks to Paul O’Grady about the impact of his alter ego Lily Savage (5 Aug) – and later PinkNews chief, Benjamin Cohen – ahead of the comedy featuring the only gay in the village: Little Britain (5 Aug) starring Matt Lucas and David Walliams.

Ben meets LGBT YouTuber, Calum McSwiggan – ahead of Nicholas McInerny's autobiographical tale of a husband coming out as gay after 19 years. Julia Ford and Greg Wise star in How To Have A Perfect Marriage (7 Aug).

Peter Tatchell chats to Ben about his role in gay activism – ahead of Phil Willmot’s drama about a 17-year-old and the lead-up to the 1994 age of consent protest by gay action group, Outrage, starring David Curtiz, Stealing the Scene (9 Aug).

And don’t miss the Comedy Club when Gina Yashere tells Ben about life as a lesbian comic – ahead of our special compilation of the best out and proud BBC Radio comedy from the past five years, Happy That Way (10 Aug).

You can find features and details of all the Gay Britannia programmes across BBC Radio networks, with links to TV programmes, here.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00snjn7

I was recently at the home of Hari and Matt (I've changed the names) - a friend from childhood and his partner, respectively - now new adoptive gay dads to two older children. The kids come from troubled backgrounds and are having difficulty settling into their new homes. They're testing both the limits and patience of their new parents.

But when I see Hari in action with the kids, I see and hear his dad, Mr Syed - who terrorised us all in childhood with his authoritative, sphincter-tightening reprimands. Hari who has definitely not been a fan of the type of parenting he received is now channelling his dad without even being aware of it.

It's been interesting to observe the parenting styles of my gay friends who now have children. Most of them are adoptive parents, who have spent years of time and energy negotiating with agencies and lawyers to gain custody. For some there has been little time or space - and certainly little in the way of cultural context - to imagine or interrogate the kind of parents they might want to become. Does the fact of their gayness necessarily mean a different approach to parenting? How to negotiate the discrimination that now might inflect their kids' lives? How do the sometimes non-traditional values and lifestyles of queer culture co-exist with parent-teacher nights and car pools?

In Leaving Normal, the new Woman's Hour comedy-drama I wrote and directed, Luke (Paul Nicholls) who abhors the traditional parenting he grew up with under his strict mother Nicki (Imelda Staunton), finds himself now wondering if maybe it's the way to go - after his orphaned niece and nephew are suddenly placed in his care. Sammi (Nikesh Patel) his partner, erased all prospects or possibilities of parenting when he came out. He now refuses to engage with the role of 'dad', believing it's a kind of sell-out to his hard-won gay identity and life-style - much to the chagrin of his mother Dolly (Meera Syal) who desperately wants her own grandchildren.

But the truth is that there are no rules on offer. Most of my friends are travelling through the parenting wilderness map-less. They're pioneers, moving forward, without even the benefit of cultural role models to emulate or use as a reference point. But that too is beginning to change. And I hope that Sammi and Luke and Leaving Normal will go a small way towards redressing that even further.

Ian Iqbal Rashid is writer of Leaving Normal on BBC Radio 4

Leaving Normal is in the Woman's Hour Drama slot at 0945 from today until Friday 11 June.
Ian will be interviewed on Woman's Hour on Monday today in an item about gay parenting.
BAAF, the adoption and fostering advisory charity, is on Facebook and Twitter.
There's a Leaving Normal group on Facebook.
The picture is by Darwin Bell. Used under licence.

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Gay Britannia on 4 Extra

You can find features and details of all the Gay Britannia programmes across BBC Radio networks, with links to TV programmes, here.

Leaving Normal: a new comedy about gay adoption