Kissing Coppers is a Banksy stencil of two British policemen kissing. It was originally unveiled on the wall of the Prince Albert Pub in Brighton, England in 2004 and gained significant attention due to Banksy's notoriety as a provocative street artist and activist.

 

This piece was intentionally placed in Brighton, a city which has been referred to as the LGBTQ+ Capital of the UK.  It has frequently been regarded as one of Banksy’s most notable works for supporting gay rights.

In the UK, up until the year 2000 homosexuals were barred from serving in the British armed forces. Section 28, an act introduced by Margaret Thatcher to ban councils and schools from promoting homosexuality in 1987, was also not replaced until 2003. It was only in the same year that gay policemen were allowed to march uniform at gay pride events. The Civic Partnership Act, giving same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual couples, was not introduced until 2004. In other words, when Banksy stencilled this piece, gay rights were still a big issue. (Tapies, Xavier: Where’s Banksy?, Graffito Books Ltd., 2019)

 

The original was replaced with a replica encased in Perspex after being carefully removed in 2011. It fetched $575,000 USD at a US auction after being removed from the wall of the Brighton pub.