LGBT+ History Month – Young People’s Responses

We have recently celebrated LGBT+ History Month. This year’s theme was Mind, Body and Soul: Claiming our past, celebrating our present and creating our future.

All month long, older LGBT+ people have been answering questions from the young people, and now we’ve turned the tables, and the Youth Pride group will be answering some questions in return.

We asked some of the 14-18 year olds to answer some questions posed to them from our older LGBT+ community.

If you think ahead to when you get a job and start your career, how do you expect being gay to impact your career choices? And how you think your future employers will react to you being gay.

Lots of big companies have intercompany LGBTQ+ networks so I’m hoping it won’t be an issue.

I’m hoping it won’t be a big deal, but I am a little scared about having to constantly be coming out to any colleagues or bosses throughout my life.

I would like to be a police officer in the future and I was originally scared to be gay and have this career path but now I am alright with it as today’s society is more accepting.

I’m very thankful for previous generations paving the way to create safe spaces in the workplace and being role models.

How do you find it growing up now as LGBT+, do you find acceptance in the family and community?

There’s a lot more acceptance / not caring I think, but there’s still people who say stupid stuff which make you scared. It’s still really scary to come out, I’m still scared about people not accepting me, but I think it is easier.

I live in a small village so there isn’t many queer people or groups which makes it harder to come out. And it’s not spoken about at school.

My family quickly came around and my friends were immediately accepting. Strangers in the community can be negative but I have strong support networks to turn to.

I think it’s so much easier now as many young people have access to things like GSA clubs at school and have more confidence in who they want to be.

My family is very accepting of everyone however I haven’t found the confidence to come out to them yet.

When young people hear these stories about the inequalities we faced, are you surprised or shocked by our stories? Is it something that you’re aware of?

I am shocked; it’s easy to just be in the present and consider what it’s like to be LGBTQ+ now, and forget what happened not so long ago. I’m also really shocked by how much I don’t know about it.

I was surprised but not surprised at the same time, if that makes sense. I expected injustice, but reading the stories made it more real.

It is upsetting to hear the struggles of others but I am not shocked by it because discrimination towards the LGBTQ+ community has always been present.

When I hear about the stories it does make me really sad and somewhat guilty as we have it so easy now compared to then.

It makes me very upset thinking what people had to go through for something they couldn’t help. There is (still) no education in school however, I had to do my own research.

Do you feel like it’s easier to come out now, does it feel like part of everyday life?

It is a lot easier to come out now compared to the past however I still haven’t come out as I worry about the people who are homophobic in my area and school.

Personally I found it harder to come out to myself than other people.

I feel that coming out is definitely easier now than it was in the past; however, there are still people who aren’t accepting. Overall, though, it’s much safer and easier to come out now.

Being gay was something I always tried to hide but then in high school I was surrounded by teachers who were such role models and made me confident in who I am.

Yeah I feel comfortable telling people about my sexuality, for gender it’s more difficult because I don’t fully understand it myself I suppose and it’s a hard concept to explain.

Have you identified for yourself who you want to be?

I roll with the punches; I haven’t yet planned out everything that I want my life to be. I think that with more self-discovery, I’ll be able to figure out who exactly I want to be!

I have identified I want to be happy in the future and love myself and if that’s in a career I want or being open as a part of the LGBTQ community then yay!

I’m just going with the flow really, I don’t want to restrict my view of myself, and my opportunities and possible life paths.

Not really, but I definitely feel a lot more at home in my skin than a few years ago, before coming out to myself and my important people. I know what I want to do with my life. That feels like enough for now, I’ll figure the rest out as I go.

How do you think your allies in the LGBT+ movement can help with broader activism?

I think that allies can help by learning more, spreading awareness, being supportive, and understanding how their perspective affects the LGBTQIA+ movement.

Thinking more about how different activist groups can help each other, there’s so much linking as minorities, or groups who have to fight so hard for what is right. Understanding and helping each other to make change, whether that’s in BLM movements, LGBTQ+ rights or fighting the climate crisis etc.

Make us feel loved.

Are you aware of the political struggles of the past which brought us the rights and freedoms we have today?

I am aware of the political issues and how brave people were fighting for rights.

Yes, although I think looking back you can miss how long it takes for change to come around, how much fighting is needed. I understand rights being taken away because of other countries not having the same rights we have. It makes me really sad about the freedoms being taken away, so much progress going backwards.

Yes but I’m always keen to learn more about our history and fights that we have won and their relation to how we must act today, the fragility of our rights is something which scares me and what pushes me towards a career in politics.

 

Manchester University accused of ‘wokery gone mad’

The University of Manchester has been slammed for advising the use of gender-neutral language such as “parent or guardian” instead of mother and father.

The university’s guidance on inclusive language circulated to staff on 10 March now encourages gender-neutral terms rather than those that make sex distinction.

It suggest staff use “everyone / colleagues” as opposed to ladies and gentlemen or guys, “partner” rather than husband or wife, and “sibling” rather than brother or sister.

Other suggestions include “workforce” instead of manpower, “humankind” instead of mankind and “artificial or synthetic” rather than man-made.

The guidance follows feedback from colleagues who suggested they would like more advice on which terms and language to use, the university said. Many of the terms were well established and had already been in general use for years.

But the move was fiercely criticised on social media after misleading reports that the university was “sidelining” or “scrapping” the term mother – despite a university spokesperson insisting that it has not actually banned any words.

Jonathan Gullis, Conservative MP for Stoke-on-Trent North, Kidsgrove and Talke, said the guidance amounted to “wokery gone mad”.

Right-wing journalist Toby Young told the BBC: “Instead of focusing on educational standards, or supporting those students who’ve been short-changed during the pandemic, Manchester has wasted time and money on producing a guide on how to speak woke-ish.

Young people hate it when you call them snowflakes, but Manchester has done its students no favours by suggesting they might be offended by words like ‘mother’ and ‘father.’”

A University of Manchester spokesperson said it had “simply produced a guidance document for our staff that encourages the use of more inclusive language to avoid bias or assumptions. In that, we recommend the use of the term ‘parent / guardian’,” they added. “This is well established terminology and does not in any way mean that we are banning the words ‘mother’ or ‘father.’”

 

“LGBT elders are still here. I’m still here.”

SAGE USA is a national advocacy and services organisation that’s been looking out for LGBT elders since 1978. They interviewed trans activist and icon Gloria Allen, affectionately known as Mama Gloria.

Mama Gloria is a Black trans woman and an elder. She is an inspiration and mentor to Chicago’s Black transgender community. Her experience of coming out in the 1960s and being immersed in Chicago’s South Side drag ball culture inspired her to become a proud leader, activist, and mentor in her community.

In her elder years, Mama Gloria founded and operated a charm school for homeless transgender youth at Chicago’s Centre on Halsted, offering lessons on love, makeup, and manners that she received from her mother and grandmother.

At 75 years old, Mama Gloria is a shining example of one of the countless vibrant and resilient LGBT pioneers who have been advocating since Stonewall – many who are also trans people of colour – and still passionately advocating for change.

Who is your LGBT role model and why?

“My LGBT role model is Wilbur ‘Hi-Fi’ White, who was an entertainer in Chicago when I was a teenager. He would host balls that I’d attend and he was so talented. He was in movies and TV, he told jokes, he sang, he acted. He was such an inspiration to me as someone who was part of the community, and who gave me and others the space to be who we are. I would love more people to know about him.”

What did it mean to you to see Kamala Harris become not only the first woman, but also the first Black woman Vice President?

“I was so glad that Biden chose a Black woman as his Vice President, and that the election went the way it did. The fact that Black women like Vice President Harris are getting the chance to step up and be recognised in this way is awesome. With Vice President Harris and the rest of the new administration, there are so many doors being opened for other leaders to be recognised, too. The fact that there is a transgender woman, Rachel Levine, nominated to be the assistant secretary of health is just so amazing. More and more, members of our community are getting recognised for our work and I’m so proud of that. We still have a long way to go, but these steps are wonderful.”

Lastly, what is something you are particularly passionate about as an advocate in the LGBT community?

“I’m an advocate for fighting against violence toward LGBT people, especially trans women. Black trans women are being murdered at an alarming rate and they don’t televise it on the news. We see coverage of other crimes, but not enough about what’s happening for LGBT people. The news needs to start doing a better job of fully exposing this pattern of hate and violence, and so do politicians.

Trans women need to be recognised – we need to be visible. There are too many instances of trans people being portrayed in media in ways that don’t accurately represent our community. We need to be more included in all media, not just special characters on TV shows. People need to see that trans people are much more than what they’ve seen on TV. We are so talented, and smart, and educated, and they need to see that – including us elders. The elders are still here. I’m still here.”

 

What is Manchester Village Stories?

Manchester Village Stories is a research project at The University of Manchester. They are interested in learning about:

• Your experiences of Manchester’s Gay Village;
• Why and how the Village is important for you as an LGBTQ+ space;
• If and how your everyday experiences and feelings about the village have changed over time; and
• How you think the Village should look in the future.

All are welcomed to participate, but we are particularly interested in hearing the stories and experiences of older LGBTQ+ people. This research will help to inform policy about urban development in Manchester.

Sharing your thoughts:

You may wish to share a memory from decades ago or even yesterday. Perhaps you would like to simply provide a word or reflection that springs to mind as you think about a particular part of the Village or surrounding area that is significant to you. You can share as many stories as you like. Here are some ideas for inspiration:

• Which parts of the Village (or surrounding area) are important to you and why?
• What is your most significant memory of the Village?
• What three words would you use to describe your experience of the village now, and in the past?
• Why and how do you use the Village now, and in the past?
• How might recent developments in the area impact the Village, your use of the space, and its relationship to the wider Manchester area?

For more information visit the website:

https://mcrvillagestories.manchester.ac.uk

Make LGBT conversion therapy illegal

Parliament debated the petition “Make LGBT conversion therapy illegal in the UK” on 8 March 2021.

John Nicolson, Scottish National Party representing Ochil and South Perthshire made a contribution, which began:

““Converting gays” – just wonder for a moment about how primitive that concept is. It is a cruel hangover from a darker time – a time when to be gay, lesbian or trans was to be flawed or inadequate.

I do not know why I am gay. I do not know why I have green eyes or curly hair, but I do know that no one made me gay; I was born gay. When I was younger, to borrow from Alfred Kinsey, I would have taken a magic pill to make myself straight, but I now know that that was not because I hated being gay, but because I did not want to be the victim of prejudice. Who does? We know that there is no magic pill, nor do we need one. We need love and acceptance.

LGBT conversion is the very antithesis of that. It promises a cure where none is available and none is needed. We look back in horror at the tortures endured by our LGBT brothers and sisters, even in recent history – electro-shock therapy, lobotomy and the chemical castration endured by Alan Turing at the hands of a vicious and ungrateful political class and legal system.

Changing people’s sexual orientation is, as we know, scientifically impossible, but that does not stop bigots from trying. “Pray away the gay,” cry some religious groups, who somehow see no contradiction with the command that thou shalt love thy neighbour. People who hold out the promise of conversion are cruelly targeting the most vulnerable. It is abuse.”

For more information you can:

Watch the debate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vl38dzzn1wc

Read the transcript: https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2021-03-08/debates/552D6176-C4D5-47F1-A8C1-C900B58AEB7C/LGBTConversionTherapy

Read the research: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cdp-2021-0030/

See the petition: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/300976

Census 2021 will provide a snapshot of modern society

Households are being asked to take part in the nationwide survey of housing and the population. It has been carried out every decade since 1801, with the exception of 1941.

Information from the digital-first census will help decide how services are planned and funded in your local area. This could mean things like doctors’ surgeries, schools, housing or new bus routes.

Households will receive a letter with a unique access code in the post, allowing them to complete their questionnaire online. Paper questionnaires will be available on request. Census day is 21 March.

The census will include questions about your sex, age, work, health, education, household size and ethnicity. For the first time, there will be voluntary questions for those aged 16 and over on sexual orientation and gender identity. This will provide true data on the LGBT+ communities, so that resources and services can be supplied where most needed. Private, individual forms can be requested.

While there are estimates of sexual orientation at a national and regional level, it is not possible to produce robust estimates for all local authorities – that’s what census data will give.

There is no robust data available on gender identity at all. These data are needed by local authorities and service providers to inform the provision of services. The sexual orientation and gender identity questions will be voluntary for people aged 16 and over.

Without robust data on the size of the LGBT+ population at a national and local level, decision-makers are operating in a vacuum, unaware of the extent and nature of disadvantage which LGBT+ people may be experiencing in terms of health, educational outcomes, employment and housing.

There is also a separate new question asking people whether they have served in the armed forces.

Anonymous results will be available within 12 months, although personal records will be locked away for 100 years, kept safe for future generations.

For more information, visit www.census.gov.uk

International Women’s Day

German poster for International Women’s Day, 8 March 1914. This poster was banned at the time.

International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8 March around the world. It is a focal point in the movement for women’s rights.

After the Socialist Party of America organised a Women’s Day in New York City on 28 February 1909, German delegates Clara Zetkin, Käte Duncker, Paula Thiede and others proposed at the 1910 International Socialist Woman’s Conference that “a special Women’s Day” be organised annually.

After women gained suffrage in Soviet Russia in 1917, 8 March became a national holiday there. The day was then predominantly celebrated by the socialist movement and communist countries until it was adopted by the feminist movement in about 1967. The United Nations began celebrating the day in 1977.

Commemoration of International Women’s Day today ranges from being a public holiday in some countries to being largely ignored elsewhere. In some places, it is a day of protest; in others, it is a day that celebrates womanhood.

IWD 2021

The 2021 UN theme for International Women’s Day is “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world”, highlighting the impact that women worldwide had as health care workers, caregivers, innovators and community organisers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Manchester has a long list of impressive women who have lived and worked in the region, including the formidable Emmeline Pankhurst.

Other remarkable Mancunian women include Victorian writer Elizabeth Gaskell, women’s health trailblazer Marie Stopes, and one of England’s first female doctors, Eleanor Sykes.

Covid-19 Vaccines

 As part of their COVID-19 vaccination campaigning, LGBT Foundation is holding a Q&A event on Thursday 11 March at 6.00pm so LGBT people can get answers to questions may they have. Two of the country’s leading LGBT doctors are joining the panel:

• Dr. Michael Brady– National Advisor for LGBT Health, NHS England and NHS Improvement;
• Dr. Luke Wookey– Clinical Lead for Indigo Gender Service, and GP Partner.

The event is being hosted by Reeta Loi, Music Artist, Forbes 100 Founder & CEO of Gaysians, Contributing Editor at Gay Times and Documentary Reporter at Vice.

Tickets are free and can be accessed here

 

Pride in Ageing’s Virtual Rainbow Death Café is back

Monday, 15 March from 4.00pm to 5.00pm

This event is a chance to talk openly about death and dying in a relaxed, LGBT-friendly group space. Free tickets can be booked here

Tickets are free and a link to access this event will be sent to you on the day. Spaces limited to 12 per session, please book early.

This event will be hosted on Zoom (video conferencing application). Please email lawrence.roberts@lgbt.foundation if you have any questions about connecting or additional access requirements for this session.

This event is presented by the Pride in Ageing programme at LGBT Foundation. Find out more about their other events here: https://lgbt.foundation/prideinageing

 

The health and care needs of older LGBT+ people

Age UK have published a new article on the health care needs of older LGBT people, which argues that more research and considerations need to be given to this area. 

Among its many effects, the outbreak of COVID-19 has brought healthcare requirements into sharper focus. Even before the emergence of the pandemic, however, Age UK was working to highlight the specific needs of groups within society, including older LGBT+ people and their experiences of care, and what can be done to improve those experiences.

Many older LGBT+ people have experienced lifetimes of persecution and prejudice. While the Equality Act of 2010 offers legislative protections for non-heterosexual and non-binary people, and progress has been made, experiences of discrimination, past and present, can directly impact health. It can exacerbate mental and physical health issues, making LGBT+ people more likely to engage in unhealthy behaviours and habits, such as excessive alcohol consumption and drug use. And as LGBT+ people grow older, there’s an extra level of complexity to the issues they face, an intersection between sexuality/gender identity and age.

“I was comfort eating, and I ate to excess and that damaged me physically. My pancreas has practically packed in.” Norm

The healthcare needs of older LGBT+ people

There is limited evidence on the health and care needs and outcomes for older LGBT+ people, however analysis of evidence that does exist suggests that there are health inequalities between older LGBT+ people and the rest of the older population. For example, non-heterosexual men aged 50+ have lower life satisfaction and are more likely to have attempted suicide in their lifetime, and non-heterosexual women aged 50+ are more likely to smoke. Evidence also suggests that there is a higher prevalence of mental health in older LGBT+ people.

Furthermore, there is evidence that some older LGBT+ people have worse experiences of accessing healthcare than their peers. In a recent Government survey of LGBT+ people of all ages, 16% had a negative experience while accessing (or trying to access) public health services. Meanwhile, at least 38% had a negative experience because of their gender identity. Poor experiences of health services can lead to people delaying treatment and in turn lead to worse health outcomes.

Norm, 63, is bisexual. He came out in 2011, having kept his sexual orientation a secret from his family, who subsequently ostracised him, leading to a complicated series of issues. “The main problem I had when I came out was the mental health — depression,” explains Norm. “I was comfort eating, and I ate to excess and that damaged me physically. My pancreas has practically packed in.”

Norm continues: “Because of my diabetes… I lost my job. That made me even more depressed.”

Transphobia and healthcare

At present, there’s little UK research focusing on the health needs of older transgender adults. A US study, however, has found that transgender older people were at higher risk of poor physical health, disability and depression when compared to cisgender respondents (people whose personal identity and gender corresponds to their birth sex).

Pauline, 71, a trans woman from Manchester, has shared her experiences with us. “My perception of the LGBT community is that everybody in it, to some extent, has mental health issues,” she says. “Although society is more tolerant of us than they were, and gay people probably got the first look at that, everybody I know has either been discriminated against or treated badly in all kinds of different ways.”

“There were two nurses… and they were saying some hideous things about me as a trans person.” Helen

Helen, from West Yorkshire, who describes herself as “very old”, has had direct experiences of transphobia, including within the NHS, having been misgendered and the subject of hate speech. “There were two nurses… and they were saying some hideous things about me as a trans person,” she explains. “I didn’t make a complaint. I didn’t want to get them into trouble.”

This has made Helen worry about the future. “I’m getting older and obviously think about long-term care and even though I’ve got a partner, how long is she going to be able to look after (me). Say I’d had (a) stroke or something, the fear of going into a care home or nursing home with staff like (those) I was telling you about fills me full of dread. And that is a really ongoing worry for me.”

Pauline has similar fears about needing care. “One of my fears is ending up in an old people’s home and having to be a man all the time. I hope that I die before I ever get into a care home.”

Concerns about care

Most of the older LGBT+ people Age UK has spoken to expressed confidence the NHS would meet their future needs — even those, like Helen, who have encountered discrimination while accessing healthcare. It’s complicated, though, by the fact that research shows that fear of discrimination and previous experiences of prejudice still remains an impediment to people seeking healthcare services.

This fear was much more significant when it comes to accessing social care services. People expressed a few reasons for this. First and foremost, with coverage of the underfunding and resourcing of the social care system in the press, many people will worry that the care system will be unable to meet their needs. This would be particularly problematic for those who would worry that a lack of care provision may result in the need for informal care from family members who have not accepted their sexuality or gender or without support completely from friends and family leaving people reliant on limited state support.

Additionally, there is an understanding that care services are potentially more frequent and have greater levels of intimacy than those provided by NHS and that this may interact more closely with their day to day lives and so their gender identities and sexual orientation. A professional working with LGBT+ older people has told us: “People hide their magazines, they take their pictures off the wall, because they don’t know who’s going to turn up.”

There were also high levels of concern about the people delivering these services, who may come from socially conservative countries and therefore hold homophobic and transphobic views.

The experiences of LGBT+ people with dementia

Everyone worries about what would happen to them if they were to be diagnosed with dementia. But what of LGBT+ people who fear their advocacy and identity will be neglected when they receive care? Dementia naturally results in distress and confusion, but this may be exacerbated in LGBT+ people with dementia who may struggle to deal with negative perceptions of their sexuality or gender while in residential care or face issues when they are not able to advocate for themselves. An older transgender person experiencing cognitive decline, for example, may forget who they have come out to, or indeed that they have transitioned.

David and Elmar, who live in London, have been together for 14 years. Elmar, who is 20 years older than David, has Alzheimer’s disease, and their experiences of healthcare have so far been positive, something they put down to London being a place of greater acceptance. The two men don’t access care services yet, though the possibility of it is something that David has some concerns about.

“Thinking about care homes, it’s difficult because the people who are employed there may not be so tolerant.” David

“I think we’re lucky that Elmar’s got me to look after him,” explains David. “Thinking about care homes, it’s difficult because the people who are employed there may not be so tolerant. For example, there may be people of different religions, who don’t accept gay people or people who don’t have the contact with gay people as well, so they just don’t understand their needs.”

These are worries that David, who found coming to terms with his sexual orientation challenging, considers when he thinks ahead to when he’s one day alone. “In care I’d prefer it to be specialist. You never know if you’re in a home which is mixed. You never know if you’ll get negative people.”

There’s more to be done

These insights help to build a picture of the health and care experiences and requirements of older LGBT+ people but are by no means the full picture. It’s also worth remembering that some of the stories we have shared have come from individuals confident enough to be interviewed and participate in research. But what of those whose experiences have been so unsettling and so damaging that individuals not only distrust health and social care services but are uncomfortable coming forward to discuss these issues?

It’s also important to note that it is not possible to generalise the needs of all older LGBT+ people, but understanding individuals needs and histories and what that might mean for their health and care needs will be key to delivering true personalised care and ensuring the reduction in health inequalities faced by older LGBT+ people.

Our research has also discovered good practice and examples from throughout the health and care sector to better support older LGBT+ people, but there is still room for further considerations and more research, and this is something Age UK will continue to advocate for.

Britain’s first LGBT+ retirement village to open in Vauxhall at Norman Foster-designed Bankhouse

The scheme hopes to help older people who feel forced to go ‘back into the closet’ in conventional retirement homes.

Britain’s first retirement community for older LGBT+ people is to be created in Vauxhall.

Housing association Tonic said it would purchase 19 already built flats at the Lord Foster designed Bankhouse development next to the Thames using a £5.7 million loan from the Mayor.

The one and two bedroom apartments will be made available on a shared ownership basis from “late Spring” with residents moving in from mid-summer. The scheme will have a restaurant, a roof terrace and gardens.

The flats are not exclusively for LGBT+ people and straight couples who support the values of the gay community are also welcome to apply. However it is expected that the vast majority of the residents will be from an LGBT+ background.

Occupiers will be able to purchase shares of between 25 and 75 per cent and pay rent on the remaining portion.

They will be able to buy support and care packages depending on their needs.

Deputy Mayor for housing Tom Copley said the scheme was a significant milestone because so many older LGBT+ people have been forced to go “back into the closet” in conventional retirement homes.

He said: “Many older people have grown up when society was a lot less accepting and to someone moving into a new community and you are not sure how accepting people will be towards you that can be quite intimidating.”

Tonic Housing’s chief executive Anna Kear said: “We are making history today, realising a long-held dream to provide a safe place for older LGBT+ people to live well, in a community where they can be themselves and enjoy their later life. We applaud the Mayor of London for recognising and supporting the needs of older LGBT+ Londoners.”

 

Derek Jacobi

Sir Derek George Jacobi CBE; born 22 October 1938 is an English actor and stage director.

A “forceful, commanding stage presence”, Jacobi has enjoyed a successful stage career, appearing in such stage productions as Hamlet, Uncle Vanya, and Oedipus the King.

“I knew I was gay very early on, although it wasn’t called gay back then. I knew that I wasn’t into girls in the way that I should be. I dated girls, and we sat in the back row of the cinema, and I did all that I was supposed to do, but I wasn’t enjoying it. I confessed to my mother while I was at university and she very typically and sweetly said: ‘All boys go through this stage.’

I was a loner for years, but I’ve been with my partner (Richard Clifford) for 43 years, which is quite an achievement. It remains a stable and loving relationship. It was another piece of luck in my life.”

 

Renee Richards’ journey from tennis outcast to trans pioneer

Renee Richards briefly broke into the top 20 of the women’s world rankings.

“I had death threats. I had people who hated me. People told me I was immoral.”

Transgender tennis player Renee Richards was already proving to be a divisive figure when the level of scrutiny surged.

Shortly before the 1977 US Open, the 42-year-old American won a legal battle to compete in the women’s events, leaving her at the centre of a polarising story which made headlines across the world.

“Everybody had a reaction. They were either for her or against her,” says Britain’s Sue Barker, who played against Richards twice in her career and remembers her being booed off court during one of the matches.

“I was a supporter of Renee, I was one of the few in a way.”

The dissent from the sport’s rule makers, which was backed by several leading players, centred on the belief the 6ft 1in Richards would dominate because of an unfair physical advantage over her rivals.

Others, even aside from those making the threats to her life, were less covert with their objections.

Wherever they were on the sliding scale of disapproval, their bottom line was Richards should not be allowed to play against the likes of Sue Barker, Chrissie Evert and Martina Navratilova.

Richards, who was born in 1934, excelled in a range of sports, got married and started a family.

After graduating from Yale University, the affluent New Yorker trained to be an ophthalmologist, going on to specialise in eye-muscle surgery.

Combining a medical profession with an amateur tennis career, Richards reached the second round of the US Open men’s singles in 1955 and 1957.

“I had a very good and a very full life as Richard. But I had this other side of me which kept emerging,” Richards told the BBC in 2015.

Shaving her legs and wearing skirts while dog-walking allowed her to do what felt natural. But being born a man and living as a woman was not widely accepted in 1960s America, stigmatised and classified as a mental illness.

“I kept pushing back until finally it was not possible to submerge Renee anymore – and Renee won out,” she said.

In 1975, aged 40, she had gender reassignment surgery.

Initially, her plan was to move to California and start afresh in a place where nobody knew her.

But her previous identity was unveiled when she started playing amateur tennis tournaments, leading to a newspaper exposé, more headlines and an insistence from United States Tennis Association (USTA) officials that she could not compete in women’s tournaments.

“I never planned to play professionally as a woman. But when they said ‘you’re not going to be allowed to play’ that changed everything,” said Richards, who is now 86 and living out of the public eye in upstate New York.

“I told them ‘you can’t tell me what I can and can’t do’. I was a women and if I wanted to play in the US Open as a woman – I was going to do it.”

To armour their blockade of Richards, the USTA introduced a chromosome test for the women’s players before the 1976 US Open. Richards failed the tests and was barred from entering.

That led her down the legal route and culminated in a year long battle for the right to play. The odds were stacked against Richards.

“The USTA had the top lawyers in New York, they brought in witness after witness saying I should not be allowed to play,” she said.

“My lawyer Michael Rosen only had one witness for me.”

That witness proved pivotal. Billie Jean King, who had played doubles with Richards, was a powerful voice after her tireless campaigning for gender and sexual equality.

In an affidavit submitted to the New York State Supreme Court, 12-time individual Grand Slam champion King insisted Richards did “not enjoy physical superiority or strength so as to have an advantage over women competitors in the sport of tennis”.

The judge agreed. Eight days later, Richards was playing in the 1977 US Open.

‘People wondered if it would be a gamechanger’

Tennis had never seen anything like it. Not only did the women’s players now have to take chromosome tests, their preparations for the Grand Slam were disrupted by constant questioning about Richards’ participation in a fervent media storm.

The sport was broadly split into two camps: rejection and a fear she would dominate the game, or acceptance and a show of empathy.

“I was open minded,” said Barker, who used to hit with Richards on the practice courts, “but the ruling frightened a lot of people. They feared she would serve-volley the rest of us off the court and wondered if it would be a gamechanger for the sport.”

Reigning Wimbledon champion Virginia Wade played Richards in the first round but was untroubled in a straightforward victory.

Richards did reach the women’s doubles final alongside Betty Ann Stuart, although they were beaten by top seeds Navratilova and Betty Stove.

Richards’ best finish in women’s Grand Slam singles events was reaching the third round at the 1979 US Open.

Frostiness in the locker room thawed when it became apparent Richards would not offer too much threat. Or, as Richards put it, that she would not “take their money away”.

While she beat some notable names, and climbed into the world’s top 20, Richards lacked the athleticism and mobility of her younger rivals to topple Evert and Navratilova at the summit.

Richards retired aged 47 in 1981 and went on to coach Navratilova to three Grand Slam singles titles.

“It didn’t become the story which a lot of people thought it might become,” says Barker. “She just melted into the tour and didn’t dominate. She won matches and she lost matches. It didn’t alter the game as some predicted. But she achieved what she wanted to do, to play professionally as a woman and was welcomed by the vast majority.”

‘Confrontational’ crowd forced Richards off court and into tears

Hostility and suspicion eventually faded in the locker room, but Richards still faced obstruction and abuse.

She was barred from competing in many tournaments, including Wimbledon and the French Open, where rulebooks said only players whose biological sex was female could play in the women’s events.

This meant most of her appearances came in the United States, travelling around new cities and being made to feel like a circus act as she played in front of a new crowd.

Barker remembers playing Richards in the American’s early days on the women’s tour and says the atmosphere was “confrontational”.

“There were probably about 7,000 people there in this huge arena and she was not well-received by most, if not all, of the crowd,” says Barker. “It was just horrible. They were shouting things, booing every time she hit the ball and cheering every mistake.”

Despite Barker and the umpire trying to simmer the crowd, tournament officials eventually decided to take them off the court.

The pair were beckoned to a room underneath the stand. Richards started to cry.

“It was really sad and I felt so sorry for her. I told her she didn’t have to put herself through it,” remembers Barker. “Eventually we went back out but it was clear she wasn’t thinking about the tennis. I think she wanted to just get off the court. All she wanted to do was to play tennis.”

Occasionally Richards used to open up to her colleagues, many of whom were curious about her life.

There was a feeling the scrutiny – with Richards later saying she couldn’t “go anywhere in the world without being recognised” – caught her by surprise and took its toll.

“We all admired her courage after the emotional and difficult journey she had been through,” says Barker.

“She used to talk about the emotions she went through and often asked whether she was doing the right thing. I’m not sure she realised the impact it was going to have. I can’t think of another athlete who has had anywhere near that level of attention. It was an incredibly brave thing to do.”

After retiring in 1981, Richards started coaching Martina Navratilova and helped her win several Grand Slam titles.

As LGBT+ History Month comes to an end, there are still lots of untold stories … here is something special and unusual as Rachel Oliver travels back to some important dates in our Transgender history. Tune in to 1930s Berlin, 1950s Copenhagen, 1960s Los Angeles and 1990s Eurovision and many more … well worth a visit plus the music is awesome as always.

Listen here.

Tony Openshaw is dedicating a playlist to his fellow LGBT+ community members with some facts and figures you may not have heard.

Listen here

 

The Year Without Pride?

Running time: 37 minutes (It’s well worth watching all the film, but Out In The City is featured at 9 minutes 30 seconds in.)

The film The Year Without Pride? was produced by members of the LGBTQ+ community on their online filmmaking project, EDEN Shorts. EDEN stands for Equality, Diversity, Educate and Nurture.

The film looks at the ways people have managed to maintain and embrace the community in a year when physical and in-person contact wasn’t possible.

EDEN Shorts launched February 2020 in Sheffield via in-person filmmaking workshops, where 16 members of the LGBTQ+ community were set to produce a short film raising awareness on important LGBTQ+ issues. The group had attended five in-person workshops that covered areas of filmmaking – however, due to COVID-19 the project had to be postponed in the planning stage.

Given the circumstances EDEN Film Productions decided to adapt the project online. The project included interactive online filmmaking workshops, online planning sessions and group discussions. The participants of the project filmed interviews via Zoom with a variety of organisations and individuals discussing the impact of the pandemic on the LGBTQ+ community and the hopes for the future.

Pride Interviews

LGBT+ History Month is an annual month long observance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history, and the history of the gay rights and related civil rights movements. The overall aim of LGBT+ History month is to promote equality and diversity for the benefit of the public. This year’s LGBT+ History Month theme is Mind, Body and Soul: Claiming our past, celebrating our present and creating our future.

To tackle isolation amongst young LGBT+ people, Manchester Pride launched Youth Pride MCR as a new strand of Manchester Pride Festival in 2019. The first event of its kind in the UK, it provided a safe, supportive, fun and inclusive space for young LGBT+ people to express themselves, connect with others and find community.

To mark LGBT+ History Month, the Youth Pride MCR group wanted to learn more about the history of their community. This intergenerational, youth-led project aims to connect our community and to learn more about what life was like for LGBT+ people in years gone by.

Here we speak to Christine, 71 and Linda, 74 about the importance of Pride, Section 28, discovering community and finding love.

How did people react to you coming out?
Linda: I didn’t come out until I was 50. I was teaching in a university and I didn’t feel comfortable talking to more than a couple of people about it. Coming out made me feel brave. No one reacted negatively to it. People were celebratory and people recognised it as a brave step. I discovered a lot of allies and I joined the lesbian and gay chorus.

Christine: I was 40 odd, and I was a senior manager, so I just came out. Gay liberation and the fight against Section 28 was rife and so I just came out. I was 40, senior, confident and political. Some people’s reactions were ‘what took you so long?’ I had lived with a lesbian in a flat share for years so I was comfortable with understanding it. People took it in their stride. I didn’t tell my parents, I just lived my life and wouldn’t refer to my ‘girlfriend’ but would refer to them by name. But later I told my father, after my mother had died, and he said ‘as long as you’re happy’ which was very sweet. In a way my journey was towards gay identity, and I was a confident woman so I took it all in my stride.

Do you remember your first Pride celebration?
Linda: Yes, I cycled down into town and standing with my nose pressed against the barriers and thought it was fantastic and was such fun. It would have been one of the first Pride marches in Manchester – I remember going into the concerts and provocative cabaret acts that were brilliant. The atmosphere was so positive and creative. It was all around Canal Street and it was an opportunity for people to dress up and have fun!

Christine: My first Pride celebration that I attended was in Manchester, and it was relatively recently. Between 2010 and 2015 I was a volunteer with the Lesbian Immigration Support Group. Being at Pride is a very important thing for Lesbian Asylum Seekers. I went to Pride several times in those years. The atmosphere was a huge highlight, and the solidarity and the way in which in Manchester, because of the history of gay liberation, the wider population welcomes Pride.

How difficult was it to express yourself in society? Did you experience discrimination?
Linda: None really because I didn’t come out until I was 50. Being gay has given me a lot of confidence to go and do other things in my life. Overcoming the fear of prejudice has given me a lot of courage to do other things in my life and I’ve been much less frightened about speaking up.

Christine: It was 1979, I went up to Newcastle to work and I got involved with Lesbians In the Voluntary Sector – working in projects like women’s refuge and women’s health projects. At that time I didn’t identify as lesbian. But I became aware of lesbian culture. Then we jump forward to 1988 and people would say things to me like ‘If you were gay you’d be very comfortable.’ I personally had a sense of difference for years, but I attached it to what I was passionate about, ie being anti-sexist rather than a lesbian. I was busy earning my own living as a solo independent woman. I haven’t been victimised but I have been stereotyped.

When was the first time you saw yourself represented on TV?
Linda: Probably it was a novel I read, something about the Woodshed. It was a novel about women who didn’t come out easily and it made me feel really lucky, and privileged.

Christine: The stereotype was ‘The Killing of Sister George’ which is a renowned film. Set in 1968, in a famous club which details the stereotypes of butch and femme lesbians. The big gay deal was Michael Cashman in Corrie. I didn’t watch it but my parents did, but that was the emergence.

Have you found someone you love?
Christine: Yes I have found someone I love. I have never been married. I first met Linda back in the 1980’s and we became partners in 1995. I was working as a community worker in adult education and she came to give a workshop, ironically about ‘Community History’ – just like this interview! We are planning to get civil partnered. As a feminist I was very critical of the institution of marriage.

Linda: We’ve been together for 25 years, and it takes a while to figure out if you do want to get married. I met Christine because we were working on an oral history project, we had something professional in common and we both found each other doing challenging work that we were both interested in. It was about finding something we had in common. It took a long time for us to realise that we liked each other more than just professionally.

Section 28 was the first new anti-gay law in over 100 years. As a result nearly 20,000 people from all over the UK marched through Manchester in protest. Do you remember this?
Christine: Section 28 was a massive attack on Lesbians and Gay men. Margaret Thatcher used the term ‘pretend families’. I came down to the big Section 28 demo in Manchester from Newcastle, a big coach load of us came down.

Linda: I was leaning out of the window as a huge crowd passed the university, in the battle against it and the huge demonstrations against it. It was outrageous and I was angry about it.

 

The group also interviewed Pauline, 72, and Phil, 57 about coming out, their first Pride experiences and the importance of representation.

How difficult was it to express yourself in society? If you experienced discrimination, how did you deal with it?
Pauline: In the 60’s there was no internet, we existed but it was more difficult to connect. I went to an all boys school so who was I going to talk to about it. I started expressing myself as a trans person when I was 9. I felt I was the only person in the world who did it. I had zero education about LGBTQ+ information until college when I went and bought my own book about it. When I was a teenager it was still illegal to go out dressed as a woman if you were assigned male at birth. I only ever did it in private when no one was home. I had no one to talk to and buried this part of myself so deeply it took a long time to understand and accept who I was.

Phil: I had no concept of being gay, despite knowing what I was attracted to, so I was in my 40’s before I came to accept my sexuality. I didn’t exist to experience discrimination. I grew up in Cheshire, not a large city, so for me it wasn’t even an option. I think repression is a more fitting word.

How did people react to you coming out?
Pauline: I didn’t come out until 1997, when I was 50. I was married to a woman, when my wife found out by finding some women’s clothes that I’d been hiding. We subsequently divorced.

I then told my parents and they were fantastic, and supportive and were great about it. Both parents were very sympathetic about how I’d had to hide such a big part of myself. I do feel fortunate to not have been ostracised by my family.

Phil: I told my sister first. I took her to lunch and on the way I told her and she was fine and fairly supportive. I felt unable to tell my Dad and asked my sister to tell my mum. I told my best friend, who was initially supportive and said he didn’t care but afterward decided that he didn’t want to continue our friendship. Now, I feel like I am against the idea of ‘coming out’. Straight people don’t have to come out and I feel like it shines a spotlight on the fact that I’m ‘different’ when in fact I’m not.

When was the first time you saw yourself represented on TV?
Pauline: I don’t think I ever did, because in my head I wanted to be a woman, I didn’t want to be an impersonator like Lily Savage for example, I wanted to be a woman. If you’d told me at fifteen that you could wave a wand and I could have gone to a girls school and worn a dress, I’d have been ecstatic, but I didn’t have those things, it was a different world.

Phil: I don’t think I have, sorry.

Do you remember your first Pride celebration?
Pauline: The first one I went to was in Amsterdam in 2000, they were hosting the Gay Games. I remember watching a drag cabaret show with the host as a KLM air hostess, it was the height of summer and the weather was glorious.

Phil: My first Pride celebration was not long ago through work about 6 years ago going to Manchester Pride Festival and watching the Parade. I live in Cheshire so it was a big thing to make the decision and get a train ticket and come along. Watching the Parade was powerful and made me realise that I wanted to be walking in it – it wasn’t enough to be stood watching. The energy was infectious.

What question would you like to ask a younger LGBTQ+ person?
Pauline: Have you identified for yourself who you are and who you want to be?

Phil: How do you expect being gay to impact your career choices, and how you think your future employers will react to you being gay?

Ian is 72 and lives in Manchester. He spoke to the Youth Pride group about coming out in his 50s, the discrimination he has faced, meeting the love of his life and his first ever Manchester Pride Festival experience 20 years ago.

How did people react to you coming out? Were there any barriers for you to overcome?

I didn’t ‘come out’ until ‘99 so much later in life. I was 51. I used to work in the Civil Service and I came out there, and overwhelmingly they accepted it. My Chief Exec was also LGBTQ+ so they were in full support. I did experience discrimination from neighbours though.

How difficult was it to express yourself in society?
I came out to a church I used to belong to and that was where I experienced discrimination but not too much with wider society. We were told we weren’t allowed to have communion because we were gay – I argued the point and could tell that they weren’t interested in listening, so we left the church. I have found a new congregation in the United Reform Church.

When was the first time you saw yourself represented on TV?
Through the soaps – maybe some like Anthony Cotton in Coronation Street, from there onwards there were several.

Do you remember your first Pride celebration?
My first experience with Pride was at Manchester Pride Festival with my late partner Alan back in 2001. The Parade was a highlight with all of its colour, and back then it was only small, about 150 people and it was the first time we’d been to it. I also remember the Candlelit Vigil, and having a minute’s silence for those who’ve passed away.

Have you ever been married to someone you love?
Yes, we had a civil partnership in 2006 in Manchester. That was the closest we got to marriage. I was single until I met Alan, we met on 11 November 2000 and were introduced through a mutual friend and it was love at first sight. Alan passed away before gay marriage was legalised.

What question would you like to ask a younger LGBTQ+ person?
I’d like to know how it is growing up now as LGBTQ+. Do you find acceptance in the family and community?

Tony is 65 and lives in Manchester. He spoke to the Youth Pride group about his Roman Catholic upbringing, the difficulties he faced growing up, and how volunteering for the Manchester Gay Switchboard gave him confidence.

How difficult was it to express yourself in society? Did you experience discrimination? How did you deal with it?
I was brought up in a Roman Catholic family and I went to an all boys school in Bolton. I found out there was a gay pub on the street I lived on, about one bus stop away from where I lived. I didn’t find out about that pub until I was about 20 years of age. I’m amazed by the secrecy, and how no one talked about it. I was going to pubs from the age of 17, but no one ever mentioned this. And then to find out there was a gay pub, so close to me was a real surprise.

I realised I wasn’t heterosexual when I was about 16. I went to see my priest and told him that I thought I was attracted to men, and he told me I had to be celibate. At the time the age of consent was 21. It was very difficult growing up as gay, because no one talked about it, there were no role models, nothing on TV, there was no education. So it was very hard to have the words to understand.

How did people react to you coming out? How did you overcome those barriers?
It was the mid 70’s, my parents thought it was a phase I was going through. They sent me to see a psychiatrist – because homosexuality used to be considered a mental disorder. The psychiatrist told my parents I wasn’t gay. I persisted that I was gay and my family ex-communicated me and ostracised me, to this day. Both parents are deceased but they never came around to accept me. I knew I was gay, you know you are and so there was no denying it for me. I strongly knew, in my head, that I was attracted to men. In 1980, in my mid 20’s I met Phillip (at Icebreakers in Manchester) – I was attending LGBT groups in Manchester at the time. Within six months we moved in with each other.

When was the first time you saw yourself represented on TV?
It was on a documentary in about 1970 about the life of Quentin Crisp – and this blew my mind. I didn’t feel as camp and showy as he was but it resonated with me. So I then went to the library to read his book, it was only on the reserved list, so I had to order it before I could read it.

Do you remember your first Pride celebration?
In the 70’s I went down to Pride in London, several times and there were coaches from Manchester – organised by the gay centre, and I enjoyed the parade and celebrations afterwards before coming back on the same day. In 1981, National Pride was moved from London to Huddersfield in solidarity with the LGBT community there because of continual police raids on the Gemini club. There were about 2,000 people in the parade that year, so it was much smaller but it was a real highlight! We faced more discrimination and people shouting things but it was important to stand in solidarity with The Gemini.

Did you marry someone you love?
In 1980, I met Phillip and we lived together for 31 years. That happened before marriage became available, there was no such thing as marriage or civil partnerships. Those things came about in 2005 and 2014 but we’d lived together for 25 years at this point. In 2011 Phillip went to the GP to get checked out, as he had lost his appetite. He was referred to MRI (Manchester Royal Infirmary), and was kept in over the weekend to get some tests done because they couldn’t identify the issue. I lost him within three days to advanced pancreatic cancer. He was 54 when he died.

The Manchester Gay Switchboard was formed in 1975 – do you remember this? How significant was that for Manchester’s community?
Yes, I became a member of the Switchboard. We were based at 178 Waterloo Place – near to Sidney Street. I used to go and answer the telephone there. And it was amazing, it gave me a lot of confidence and we had so many people ringing up, even though we didn’t have much information.

How did you learn about issues like this that were facing Manchester’s LGBTQ+ community?
I remember going to New York New York and there were no leaflets or magazines on show. There used to be a magazine under the counter called the ‘Pink Paper’ but you had to ask for the ‘Football Pink’ to get hold of it. It was really with these publications that you got to understand what’s going on and then from this you joined groups – like the switchboard and different organisations that were campaigning – like ACT UP.