Their jokes about assigning gender to babies and to being transgender, dressing in drag, like all of it was a send-up.
Sure, they did punch down if you were a person who were in those groups, but the fact that it was large enough social event to be relevant enough to be a comedy skit on a television show or a movie seen by millions implies that there were some serious things going on back then that they could see and wanted to address.
What the hell was going on that put all of those things in their mind?
Lot’s of things were going on in the 70’s. The peace movement, people living together in collective housing, higher sexual freedom and more flexible sexual identity, generally rebelling against authorities, cannabis becoming popular. All this was also expressed in art, music, paintings and movies.
In UK this may have been further emphasized by a very backwards school system, with many attending boarding schools and wearing uniforms.
Something I remember when attending public school in Denmark in the 70’s as extremely backwards compared to conditions here.
I think older generations hated the 70’s, and they are probably still remembered as being a bit silly. But they are also remembered for being a time of optimism, where ideals and hopes for a better future were high.
I’m pretty sure that was the 60s