he was understood to be gay. despite the severe legal situation in britain until the sexual offences act 1967 decriminalised homosexual acts in private, it would not have been a disadvantage for stigwood's career, as other important figures in the music industry were also gay. some australian music writers have suggested that the main reason why so few australian acts were able to break into the uk music scene in the 1960s was that they were locked out by the so-called "pink mafia" that supposedly dominated british show business.