In 1970 gay campaigners in the UK began to come out on television, deliberately appearing as openly gay men to win publicity and visibility. Broadcasters had relied on interviewees in silhouette, in negative or with false beards, and the 1967 Sexual Offences Act had decriminalised only some sex between men. Nigel Cronin of the Elmwood Association in Northern Ireland proposed the tactic, and it spread across groups including the Gay Liberation Front and the Campaign for Homosexual Equality. In November 1970 GLF activist Warren Hague kissed the head of David Frost during a takeover of The Frost Programme. Coming out meant risking jobs, homes and family ties, and several people who appeared on air reported losing them. Their visibility helped straight audiences get used to gay people.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.