On this date in 1916, Roger Casement was hanged for treason by the British crown. England circulated the “Black Diaries” that implicated Casement as being a homosexual. International calls for his clemency immediately ended once he was suspected as being a homosexual.

On this date in 1916, Sir Roger Casement was hanged for treason in London, England. He was implicated in the Easter Rising which was an attempt by militant Irish republicans to win independence from Britain. It was the most significant uprising in Ireland since the rebellion of 1798.

The evidence against him was weak and pleas from all over the world asked for clemency, including from US President Woodrow Wilson. To stop the demands and shift attention away from their plans to hang him, the British government released the infamous “Black Diaries” that implicated Casement as being a homosexual. Once the public suspected he was a homosexual, all calls for his release immediately ended and he was hanged.

This dirty trick was successful.

The gay rights movement has seen a posthumous redefinition of Casement; although homosexuality was not on the indictment against him, one could argue that it was the reason he hanged. Given recent handwriting forensics that support the diaries’ authenticity, the general‡ consensus about the Black Diaries has inverted with the effect of only heightening sympathy for their alleged author, albeit at the expense of some tension over how to situate that characteristic within the whole of Casement’s life and thought. – Source: ExecutedToday.com

Irish ballad about Sir Roger Casement