To celebrate LGBT History Month here in the UK, we’ve asked the wonderful Queer academic Dr. Emily Garside, to create a weekly blog throughout February celebrating the fantastic LGBTQIA+ people and places of Britain.
This week Emily focuses on Queer Icons of British History as the UK has a long, rich history of Queer folks making an impact and making history. This list mixes up those Queer icons you might have heard of with a few who might be new to you. To celebrate the well-known but often overlooked contributors to LGBTQ+ history in the UK.
Miriam Margolyes
This absolute national treasure is known for her acting roles across multiple generations. She won a BAFTA Award in the ’90s for her appearance in The Age of Innocence and has also appeared in Blackadder, Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet and last year, she had a cameo in Call The Midwife. She became an Australian citizen back in 2013, admitting: “I fell in love with an Australian woman, in case anyone didn’t know I was a dyke, and I’m very happy and we’ve been together since 1968.”
Ivor Novello
Ivor Novello, originally named David Ivor Davies, was born in 1893 on Cowbridge Road East in Cardiff, Wales. He was an actor, singer, composer, and one of the most influential entertainers of the 20th Century. His work is still prevalent in the 21st Century. Despite being one of the queer community’s “hidden” queer people given the era he lived in, he did manage to live quietly ‘out’ within the theatre community with his partner of 35 years, Bobbie Andrews, and reportedly many other lovers as well. It was also widely speculated in fan magazines during his lifetime around his sexuality, yet still, he was hugely successful. Showing perhaps the safety of the theatre industry for queer folks and the ability to live a secret but also open life enjoyed by many of his era in the industry. Alongside all this, he is also one of Britain’s best-loved songwriters of the 20th Century.
Radclyffe Hall
More than merely influential, the author Radclyffe Hall arguably did more than any other person to make Western society acknowledge the reality of same-sex love and attraction between women. Her 1928 novel The Well of Loneliness chronicled the life and romances of Stephen Gordon, a woman who accepts that she’s a lesbian and proceeds accordingly despite society’s mores and restrictions.
Ending with the words ‘Give us also the right to our existence’, the book was expressly written to establish lesbianism as a fact of life. Still, scandalised critics who warned of its ‘depravity’ and ‘moral danger’ Despite being banned, the book became a totemic inspiration to many who’d been afraid to express their sexuality. ‘It has made me want to live and to go on,’ one grateful reader wrote to Radclyffe Hall, while another thanked her for expressing ‘many of the terrors’ of living in a time of oppressive homophobia.
Kenneth Williams
Williams is best known for his role in the British comedy film series ‘Carry On,’ produced from 1958 to 1978. The series made several famous British actors, including Barbara Windsor, famous. The films are filled with signature double entendres and politically incorrect humour (even for that time) and are the epitome of the British camp. Williams was a queer actor who played a camp character in the films and was able to “play gay” for all intents and purposes and be at the centre of the movie. Williams’ character was queer-coded in a mainstream film, loved by all sorts of audiences, including straight ones.
His sexuality has, to some degree, been conflated with his on-screen persona, and it assumed he was a gay man. He was certainly part of the ‘gay scene’ at the time, being friends with playwright Joe Orton and part of the arty, London queer set. It was, as they say, a different time, and how Williams chose to interact with the Queer community perhaps reflects that. Possibly, too, it was because the conversation around how Williams identified wasn’t- and indeed isn’t still- a common one. Williams frequently identified as Asexual in interviews, talking about being celibate. While this was often rebuked as a way for him to hide his ‘homosexual identity’ from his diaries, it seems accurate (and also, who is anyone to refute what anyone claims as their identity). Williams lived alone all his adult life and had no significant relationships.
Jan Morris
A successful journalism career for mainstream newspapers like The Times or The Guardian. This meant to reporting on many of the high-profile political and world events of the following decades. This included the Suez Crisis for the Guardian, which, along with Everest, was one of her most famous pieces of journalistic work and firmly cemented her as a leader of investigative journalism. Later she became known for documenting her transition, one of the first high-profile transwomen to do so. Morris was faced with a conundrum upon her transition- either do so in relative secrecy to avoid scrutiny and probable transphobia, but also, in the process, potentially lose the journalistic reputation she’d built up to this point. So instead, she leaned into what she had and wrote about it, publishing a book, Conundrum, in 1974, which documented her transition. It was hugely important in both lifting the lid on what went on during the gender transition but also in Morris keeping ownership of her identity and her career. She continued a hugely successful journalism and travel writing career. She had been married pre-transition and remained with her wife. They eventually divorced so they could re-marry as a same-sex couple when that became legal.
Lady Phyll
Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, commonly known as Lady Phyll, is a British activist who advocates for LGBT rights and anti-racism. She co-founded UK Black Pride, which began in 2005 as a day trip to Southend-on-Sea, England. The event has grown significantly and now attracts nearly 8,000 participants each year.
Lady Phyll established this event to foster unity and cooperation among LGBT individuals of African, Asian, Caribbean, Middle Eastern, and Latin American descent in the UK and their friends and families. Additionally, she serves as the Executive Director of the Kaleidoscope Trust, a charity that advocates for the human rights of LGBT people in countries where they face discrimination.
There are, of course, an array of icons- famous and not- who make LGBTQ+ history daily in the UK. We should also celebrate our community heroes along with famous people. But this LGBTQ+ history month, we should honour those who have impacted our history as a nation and as a community.
Alan Turing
Alan Turing, made internationally famous by the biopic The Imitation Game, is revered for his crucial role in breaking German cyphers during World War II. His work at Bletchley Park is believed to have shortened the war by at least two years. However, this was just one of many significant contributions he made to science, society, and culture throughout his life. In the 1930s, he invented the theoretical “Turing machine,” which became a foundational concept in computer science. Turing also made advancements in artificial intelligence and theoretical biology.
Tragically, his career was cut short when he was convicted of homosexual acts, which were illegal at the time. This resulted in his being subjected to chemical castration. Turing’s death from cyanide poisoning in 1954 is widely regarded as a suicide.
In 2013, he was pardoned for his crime, and in 2017, the government officially agreed to pardon men accused of similar crimes, meaning they would no longer have a criminal record. This pardoning is known as the Alan Turing Law. In 2019, Turing was named the most “iconic” figure of the 20th Century, and his image now appears on the £50 note.
A copy of this £50 note and the pardon issued to him is housed, along with some of Turning’s personal effects, at Bletchley Park where Turing worked. Bletchley Park has also carefully recreated Turing’s office, where he worked on the Turning Welchman Bombe, as well as other ways of breaking the infamous Enigma code. Want to visit Bletchley Park? Why not take our Tour.
Suzy Izzard
Initially known for her stand-up comedy, Suzy Izzard has become a charity campaigner, anti-Brexit advocate and Trans icon. She began as part of the alternative comedy scene in the 90s. She quickly skyrocketed to selling out arenas and becoming one of the decade’s most influential and successful stand-ups. She was known for irreverent humour, at that point referring to herself as a ‘transvestite’ for her well-known feminine-coded outfits on stage. She would later further lean into her trans identity in later life, and in 2023, asked to be known as Suzy and used She/Her pronouns. She’s had a hugely successful acting career alongside her stand-up, including roles in Hannibal and Ocean’s Twelve. But she also has never shied away from politics, being outspoken against Brexit and, in 2022, ran for MP in Sheffield. She wasn’t elected but continues to be active in the Labour Party and outspoken for Trans rights.
Allan Horsfall
In recent years, he has often been referred to as the grandfather of the gay rights movement for openly advocating as a gay man during a time when homosexuality was still illegal.
In 1964, Allan Horsfall and a group of friends founded the North West Homosexual Law Reform Committee, even using his home address as the organisation’s base. Being so openly involved at that time took considerable bravery. This committee became the first campaigning organisation outside of London set up and run by gay men, and its efforts directly contributed to the decriminalisation of homosexuality.
Eventually, the North West Committee evolved into the Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE), the largest LGBT organisation in the UK, boasting over 5,000 members and 120 local groups at its peak. His work in removing the stigma of criminality surrounding homosexuality remains one of his most significant achievements.
Virginia Woolf
She’s known for writing Mrs Dalloway, To The Lighthouse and A Room of One’s Own. She had close relationships with women, including English poet, novelist and garden designer Vita Sackville-West, who inspired Virginia’s novel Orlando.
Virginia Woolf was one of the key figures in Modernism, her dreamy, stream-of-consciousness prose helping transform literature in the 20th Century. Along with writing classics like To the Lighthouse and Mrs Dalloway, she penned the key feminist text A Room of One’s Own. Her personal life was also boundary-breaking – she had a now-famous affair with fellow writer Vita Sackville-West. Their letters convey the turbulent passion of the romance, with Virginia once writing to Vita, ‘Yes yes yes I do like you. I am afraid to write the stronger word’.
Vita Sackville-West inspired Woolf’s novel Orlando, whose hero magically changes sex and lives for centuries. It’s one of the first great tales of gender fluidity in the English canon, inspiring generations of writers and artists such as cartoonist Alison Bechdel, author of the landmark Dykes to Watch Out For comic strip, who mused ‘it’s hard to fathom how Virginia could play so freely with sexual identity in that much more conservative era.’
Mark Ashton
Despite being the subject of the beloved 2014 film Pride, Mark Ashton often goes unnoticed, even though he significantly influenced the course of gay rights in the UK. Ashton founded the activist group Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) after he and his friend Mike Jackson collected donations for striking miners during the 1984 Pride march in London. This organisation formed an alliance that supported the National Union of Mineworkers as they battled against mine closures under Margaret Thatcher’s government. This also meant the first shift to Labour supporting Gay Rights as part of their policies (With the support of NUM who were one of the most influential unions at this point). The impact of LGSM in terms of support of the miner’s strike and future policies around LGBTQ+ rights was huge. Ashton didn’t live to see all of it come to fruition, as he died of AIDS-related illness in 1987.
Sandi Toksvig
A comedian, TV presenter and author became one of the first celebrities to come out as a lesbian. She said that having three young children made her decide to come out because there were no out lesbians in British public life, and she didn’t want her children to grow up ashamed of having two mothers. She was warned she might never work again, and the family faced death threats, going into hiding for some time. Sandi has had an impressive career and is presenting QI and The Great British Bake Off.
Anne Lister
Anne Lister was an English diarist known for her groundbreaking revelations, earning her the title of “the first modern lesbian.” She had several lesbian love affairs, which began during her school days and continued throughout her life, often while travelling extensively abroad. With her muscular and androgynous appearance, Lister was typically dressed in black and was highly educated. She was later nicknamed, sometimes unkindly, “Gentleman Jack.”
Her most significant relationship was with Ann Walker, whom she notionally married at Holy Trinity Church in Goodramgate, York. This event is now celebrated as a landmark moment in the history of lesbian marriage in Britain.
Lister’s diaries provide valuable insights into contemporary life in West Yorkshire. They detail her development of Shibden Hall and her interests in various fields, including medicine, mathematics, landscaping, mining, railways, and canals. Her entries were written in code, which remained undeciphered long after her death. Her diaries, which contain explicit depictions of lesbian relationships, were so candid that they were initially considered a hoax until their authenticity was later confirmed.
Justin Fashanu
Justin Fashanu was Britain’s first openly gay footballer, and even after 30 years, he remains the only male footballer to have revealed his sexuality while playing professionally in the top tiers of the sport.
His career was promising; he rose through Norwich City’s youth ranks and, in 1981, became the country’s most expensive black player with his £1 million move to Nottingham Forest.
In 1990, he shocked the football world by announcing his sexuality in a newspaper interview. However, after this revelation, he faced a significant lack of support, enduring homophobic bullying and harassment from tabloid newspapers.
Fashanu passed away in 1998, and in February 2020, he was inducted into the National Football Museum’s Hall of Fame. His niece, Amal Fashanu, called him “one of the bravest men I’ve ever come across.”
Carol Ann Duffy
Became the first female LGBTQ+ Scottish poet to be a Poet Laureate. She held the position until 2019. This made her the first woman to hold the title, the first Scottish poet, and the first openly gay or bisexual person to do so. Her work has been studied extensively in British schools, and some of her most famous collections include the Whitbread Poetry Award-winning Mean Time and the T.S. Eliot Prize-winning Rapture. She has previously had long-term relationships with fellow poets Adrian Henri and Jackie Kay. She’s published dozens of poetry collections and is studied by many GCSE and A Level students.
Gareth Thomas
Iconic rugby player and, in later years, iconic Panto star Gareth Thomas made history by coming out as gay during his international Rugby career –the first player to do so. Significant for both his contribution as a rugby player and his commitment to activism for both LGBTQ+ issues and HIV awareness, he’s made a substantial impact on both the sporting world and queer representation.
He holds the Welsh record for most tries in a game (against Italy in 1999) and, until 2011, was the most capped player in Welsh rugby. He still jointly holds the record for most Rugby World Cup appearances (along with other Welsh players Jenkins and Alun Wyn Jones). He played 100 test matches and retired in 2011. Many more accolades associated with his rugby career could be listed, demonstrating his impact on the sport.
Ten years after coming out as gay, Thomas has also revealed he is HIV positive. His disclosing his HIV status was hugely influential; the condition is still hugely stigmatised both within the LGBTQ+ community and outside it. Thomas, who is a healthy athlete who is both living everyday life and able to perform his sport at an elite level, goes a long way in breaking the stigma and assumptions that some people still have about HIV and in shifting the narrative around gay men in the sport.
Jess Fishlock
Another footballer, Jess Fishlock, has had a hugely successful club and international career while advocating for LGBTQ+ rights and women’s sports. Born in Cardiff, Fishlock is one of six siblings and began playing football with her sister before joining the Cardiff City Ladies F.C. at age 9.
Across her career, Jess Fishlock has been open about her sexuality and vocal about the need to support queer athletes and have stronger stances against homophobia in sports. On joining her American team in Seattle, Fishlock began working closely with Athlete Ally, an American non-profit organisation that works to erase homophobia and transphobia in sports.