Andy Burnham apologises for historic police failings towards LGBT+ people

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has apologised for historic police failings towards LGBT+ people.

In a letter to the Peter Tatchell Foundation, who have been seeking apologies for “the past homophobic persecution” of LGBT+ people by UK police forces, Mr Burnham acknowledged the “unacceptable discrimination and the pain and suffering” caused by police failures.

He said: “There is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that the LGBT+ community historically were treated shamefully by this country and clearly subject to discrimination in many ways.

That discrimination did not only play out in policing, but in all public services and beyond, though I of course acknowledge the distinct consequences of discriminatory and targeted policing.

Fortunately, as you acknowledge, things have moved dramatically forward since the 1980s and 1990s.”

He continued: “As Mayor of Greater Manchester, I acknowledge the unacceptable discrimination and the pain and suffering it caused. I apologise to all LGBT+ people in Greater Manchester and across the UK for the past failing of GMP in this regard.”

Mr Burnham’s comment comes as Greater Manchester Police chief constable Sir Stephen Watson has faced criticism for refusing to apologise on behalf of his force, as he said that to do so could be seen as “superficial and merely performative”.

Activist Peter Tatchell has said that Greater Manchester Police was once “one of the most homophobic police forces in the UK”, citing comments made by 1980s chief constable Sir James Anderton who said that “gay men dying of Aids were ‘swirling around in a human cesspit of their own making’.

“Motivated by his homophobic religious beliefs, he ordered the police to ‘go after’ LGBTs.”

More than 20 chief constables across the UK have apologised for their history of homophobia, including those for City of London, Sussex, Merseyside, Police Scotland, Northumberland, and Durham. The Police Commissioner for the Metropolitan Police has also apologised.

Mr Tatchell said that “GMP has so far refused to do the same. We urge Stephen Watson to do so.”

The Independent understands that there is no change in GMP’s stance at this stage.

The Greater Manchester Mayor commented on Sir Stephen’s comments, acknowledging in his letter that while the Chief Constable hadn’t acceded Mr Tatchell’s request, he believed it was “considered and respectful.”

“It is important for me to point out that Mayors and Police and Crime commissioners have no statutory powers to instruct chief constables, as in law they are operationally independent.”

Mr Tatchell said: “I am grateful to Andy Burnham for his clear and unequivocal apology for the historic mistreatment of LGBT+ people by Greater Manchester Police.

“However, it is deeply disappointing that the Chief Constable continues to refuse to say sorry. A mayoral apology, welcome though it is, cannot substitute for an apology from the police force that carried out these abuses.

“An official GMP apology would be a powerful act of accountability, reconciliation and trust-building with LGBT+ communities. We urge the Chief Constable to follow the example set by Mayor Burnham and other police chiefs across Britain.

“Our foundation will continue to campaign for a full and formal apology from Greater Manchester Police.”

British Ice Skating will now allow same-sex partners to compete

British Ice Skating (BIS), which regulates official ice skating competitions in the United Kingdom, has announced that same-sex pairs will be eligible to compete in couples competitions, starting with the qualifying rounds in March 2026. The change opens the door for more diverse representation, moves away from outdated norms and may reduce the barrier to entry for some trans and nonbinary participants.

“We are pleased to inform you of several upcoming changes for the 2026/27 season,” BIS announced. “These updates follow recent reviews across all disciplines and reflect our continued commitment to supporting skater development, performance pathways and fair access to competition … Same-sex couples will now be permitted to compete in all events, including at the Championships.”

The move makes the United Kingdom only the third country to allow same-sex ice dancing couples to compete in championships. Skate Canada made its nation the first in 2022, when the rules were changed to allow any two skaters, regardless of gender, to partner.

Finland followed suit earlier this year, amending its rules under pressure from Millie Colling, a British ice dancer who moved to Finland at the age of 6, and Emma Aalto, with the support of their coach. The same-sex pair say they are “best friends who wanted to skate together,” and Colling added that there’s a “common misconception” that same-sex ice dancer pairs are in a relationship.

However, same-sex partners still face limitations in competitions. The new BIS rules allow them to compete all the way to the national level, but the International Skating Union (ISU), which governs international competition, still requires ice dancing pairs to be composed of one man and one woman.

While some smaller competitions have allowed same-sex pairing on the ice before, BIS’s move is a big step for inclusivity in national-level sports. In addition to allowing people to choose their own partners based on skill and compatibility, the change likely makes it easier for trans and nonbinary ice skaters to participate in couples competitions without concern for how their birth gender or gender identity might clash with specific rules.

There has been an increasing push from the ice skating community to repeal old-school rules. In February, Olympic gold medalists Madison Hubbell and Gabriella Papadakis left their male partners on the sidelines and performed an exhibition dance together to challenge people’s image of the sport.

“We made people see other realities,” Papadakis said. “The new generation just doesn’t relate to the requirement to have a male and female partner anymore.”

Canadian Olympic skater Kaitlyn Weaver, who waited until after her retirement to come out as lesbian, fearing it would damage her career, helped get the rules changed in Canada and has also been pushing for broader amendments. She criticised the insistence on requiring a man and a woman to partner, saying, “The conservative people don’t want to see two men skating together … It’s their homophobia.”

The policy changes also address a gender imbalance in the sport. As fewer men take up figure skating (owing to perceived homophobia), female skaters have been hard-pressed to find male partners. This has reportedly given too much power to one side in the sport, but allowing women to pair up has helped redress that issue.

Birthday

What I’ve Been Watching … Carry On Constable

LGBT survivors tell of ‘barbaric’ NHS shock therapy

More than 250 people were subjected to painful electric shocks, designed to change their sexuality and gender identity, in NHS hospitals between 1965 and 1973.

Three Electric Shock Aversion Therapy (ESAT) survivors have told of physical and lasting psychological pain they experienced as teens at the time. One, Jeremy Gavins, 72, said shocks were so severe he lost consciousness and woke up in hospital three days later.

The British Psychological Society has abandoned its use of ESAT but conversion practices in the UK are still not illegal.

The three survivors, who were teenagers when they were subjected to the procedure, described the physical agony of the electric shocks and the mental trauma of being labelled “perverts” with a “disease”.

Another survivor, Pauline Collier, 80, described her treatment: “He taped electrodes to my arms and gave me a series of shocks. They made me sweat and flinch.”

Many of those treated were referred to hospital by their teachers, priests or GP.

Some say they did not give informed consent, and say they were explicitly told not to tell their parents.

The findings have prompted calls for a formal apology from the government and NHS, led by Lord Chris Smith, who was the UK’s first openly gay MP.

What is Electric Shock Aversion Therapy?

Electric Shock Aversion Therapy was a form of conversion practice based on associating same-sex attraction with pain.

Patients were strapped to a chair and had electrodes placed on their arm or legs, they were shown images of men or women and then given painful electric shocks, sometimes for up to an hour at a time.

Through extensive research, old medical journals and books written by doctors in the 1960s and 70s have been studied to extract the data that mentions the use of this treatment on gay and transgender people.

The records show that while participants were described as volunteers, many were referred by the courts to have the treatment, some were classified as having psychological illnesses, and some were classified as children at the time. One of them was 12 years old.

Survivors were often coerced or threatened by teachers, courts or employers, with expulsion from school or loss of employment.

The largest known trial took place at Crumpsall Hospital, in Manchester, where 73 people were treated under Dr Philip Feldman and Dr Malcolm MacCulloch.

Both doctors are now aged in their 80s. Dr MacCulloch’s family said that given his age, he was not in a fit state to respond, and Dr Feldman did not respond to letters from the BBC.

Ms Collier, who was 19 when subjected to the procedure at Crumpsall Hospital in Manchester, said: “You could either get the electric shock immediately as the photograph came up, or you could get it after 30 seconds.

“During that waiting period, you become very anxious and very frightened.

I reckon I must have had about 20 sessions. Each session involved about, I suppose, a dozen, 12 shocks. It did damage me.

I was just 19 years old, I was a working class girl, brought up to be obedient and seek approval, particularly male approval. And there were these three important doctors telling me that they could get rid of this thing inside me.”

She added: “I don’t think they ever said, ‘We’ll be sitting you in a chair and giving you electric shocks’. I don’t remember that. And I think, at the time, I was just so psychologically vulnerable that I just accepted it all.”

Mr Gavins, now 72, of Ulverston, was 17 years old when he was referred by his GP to Lynfield Mount Hospital, in Bradford.

“A male nurse came to see me and said, ‘Come with me’.

“He said, ‘Take all your clothes off and put them in this locker’. I sat on this chair, he fastened a strap around my left hand, and then did the same with my right hand.

“He played with a switch, and I got a pain in my arm. He said, ‘Did it hurt?’ and I said, ‘Yes’ and he said, ‘Good, it’s meant to’.”

When he was asked to describe the pain, he said: ‘It’s like somebody sticking a jagged knife in the side of your arm and scraping it down.”

Mr Gavins says the trauma has lasted a lifetime. “I have PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), which gives me shooting pains in my arms and down my side, I’ve suffered terrible depression, I’ve never had a relationship 50 years later. I was too frightened.”

However, after he wrote to his old school – which told him he would be expelled if he did not go for the therapy – asking for an apology, he received a written response from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Leeds acknowledging his suffering, the lack of compassion from members of the school clergy at the time and offering a “heartfelt” apology.

Carolyn Mercer, 78, says she has always felt female despite being born male and having lived most of her life as a man.

At the age of 17, Carolyn confided to a local priest that she felt female rather than male and was sent to Blackburn Hospital for electric shock treatment.

“My hand shot up in the air, pain racked through my body, tears rolled down my face,” she said.

“That treatment wasn’t any sort of therapy. It was cruel, barbaric punishments – torture, not therapy.”

Like a ‘cottage industry’

Recent research by Prof Hel Spandler, a leading historian of psychiatry and LGBT+ health, suggests ESAT practice was far more widespread than previously documented.

While the BBC has found records confirming more than 250 cases, Prof Spandler’s analysis of medical archives and oral histories indicates the true figure could be close to 1,000 cases across the UK.

She explains many treatments were never formally recorded at the time, and describes the treatment as operating like a “cottage industry”, with hospitals and clinics quietly replicating the method across the country.

“The treatment was often presented as cutting-edge behavioural science,” she notes.

Early versions of aversion therapy were first trialled on animals and then on humans for conditions such as phobias, compulsions and addictions, for example, using mild shocks to reduce nail-biting or gambling.

“But in reality,” she said, when used to treat sexuality and gender expression, “it caused profound harm and lifelong trauma”.

Lord Smith said: “The use of forced electric shock aversion therapy to try and change someone’s sexual orientation, just 50 or 60 years ago, is horrifying.

The fact that this was imposed on people by the NHS makes it even worse.

The country, and the NHS, should at the very least make a formal apology.”

He added: “We were supposed to be a civilised country, but this was quite simply inhumane.”

Conversion practices still happening

In 2017, NHS England and the Royal College of Psychiatrists pledged to stop practising conversion therapy, including electric shock treatment.

Yet conversion practices still remain legal in the UK and continue to take place in private homes, churches, and through some counsellors or therapists.

According to campaigner Saba Ali: “People are still tortured and hurt in the name of conversion therapy.”

The government has promised to draft a bill to end conversion practices by the end of this year, but it has not happened as yet.

The government will now investigate the historical use of electric shock therapy in the NHS.

Minister for Equalities Olivia Bailey said: “My thoughts are with those who suffered from this inhumane practice.

The bottom line is that conversion practices are abuse – such acts have no place in society and must be stopped.

That is why this government is committed to bringing forward a full, trans-inclusive ban on conversion practices, as set out in our King’s Speech.

All people deserve to live freely and without fear, shame or discrimination, and as a member of the LGBT+ community myself, I will work tirelessly to ensure that is the case.”

The trial conducted at Crumpsall Hospital was overseen by academics at Manchester University.

In a statement, the university said: “The attitudes that informed the Crumpsall trials, now considered unethical and harmful, were widely and openly held in the 1960s.

“Knowing this, however, can only add to the trauma of those who had to endure such treatment, and we would like to express our regret and sorrow for being part of that environment.”

Festive Feast

We had a fantastic time at the Festive Feast on Friday, 19 December held at the LGBT Foundation. It was a lovely relaxing evening, with the opportunity to spend time with our community. The food was delicious and we were entertained by Dita Garbo.

Birthdays

Couple from 1890’s

Don’t believe everything you see on the internet! The first image is not real – it has been generated by AI (Artificial Intelligence) using the second image as the base.

Hope everyone gets the chance to rest, relax and enjoy the season.

Florida city sets up rainbow bike racks after being forced to remove Pride crossings

A city in the US state of Florida has installed rainbow-coloured bike racks after it was forced to remove Pride crossings.

In recent months, several cities across the Sunshine state have been forced to paint over Pride crossings under directives issued by the Trump administration and Republican governor – and failed US presidential candidate – Ron DeSantis.

DeSantis, who is well-known for enacting anti-LGBT+ policies, signed a law in July which directed the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) “to ensure compliance with FDOT’s uniform system for traffic control devices”, with the state’s transport department stating: “Non-standard surface markings, signage, and signals that do not directly contribute to traffic safety or control can lead to distractions or misunderstandings, jeopardising both driver and pedestrian safety.”

This came after the US’s transport secretary Sean Duffy penned a letter to all 50 US states alongside DC and Puerto Rico in which he claimed rainbow crossings “distract” drivers, saying in a statement: “Roads are for safety, not political messages or artwork.”

This included the removal of a rainbow crossing in Miami Beach and the memorial rainbow crossing outside the site of Pulse nightclub in Orlando, where 49 people were killed in an anti-LGBT+ mass shooting in 2016, being painted over.

Locals have protested the erasure of the Pride crossings by re-colouring them using chalk, which has led to arrests.

In response, city of St Petersburg, located in the Tampa Bay area, has installed Pride-inspired bike racks, with the city’s mayor Ken Welch writing in a joint Instagram post with the city’s official account: “Pride on the streets! We’ve just installed 11 Pride-inspired bike racks along Central Ave and 25th St – a vibrant way to honour the Pride street murals that were removed earlier this year due to state requirements.”

The racks were funded through the City’s long-standing public bike rack programme.

This small gesture of inclusion and celebration will be a symbol of our resolve to not be silenced.

Monday, 22 December 2025 – 5.00pm – 7.00pm – Manchester Proud Chorus – Free (but booking required)

The Social, Aviva Studios, Water Street, Manchester M3 4JQ

Get festive at Aviva Studios with free live music from Manchester’s favourite choirs.

Founded in 2000, the Manchester Proud Chorus is one of the largest LGBT+ choirs in the UK, welcoming LGBT+ people and allies, young and old, to sing together. The chorus has performed nationally and internationally, taking part in Pride events in Greater Manchester and beyond.

Book here.

Saturday, 3 January 2026 – 12.00pm – 2.00pm – Digital Cafe – Free

LGBT Foundation, 72 Sackville Street, Manchester M1 3NJ

Meet new people, have fun and pick up new skills at the Manchester ‘Pride In Ageing’ over 50s social group.

This event is for LGBTQ+ people over the age of 50. If you have any further questions or access requirements, please email prideinageing@lgbt.foundation

Free, but booking required here.

Monday, 5 January – 7.00pm – Odeon Pride Nights – “The Bearded Mermaid” (1 hour 37 minutes) – £8.00 – £6.50 if booked online.

ODEON Cinema, Great Northern, 235 Deansgate, Manchester M3 4EN

Odeon Pride Nights are a community focused event, where they will be screening LGBTQI+ films.

The drag queens of the La Sirène à Barbe cabaret put on a grandiose show of song, circus and dance, the likes of which Dieppe has never seen before.

More info here.

Next Outings

Have a look at – https://outinthecity.org/next-outings/ – for future outings and meetings, Bridgewater Hall concerts and theatre trips. This page is updated on a regular basis.

If you wish to book a place on an outing, please contact us – https://outinthecity.org/contact-us/ . Some have a limited number of places and are available on a first come basis.

Christmas Meal at 1853 Restaurant

This year, the Christmas meal was held at the 1853 Restaurant, which is run by students studying Hospitality and Catering at Manchester College.

There were 74 of us, but the capacity of the restaurant is only 50, so we had two Christmas meals! Fifty of us attended on Thursday and twenty-four attended on Friday.

Guests enjoyed festive dining in a warm and welcoming atmosphere, with delicious seasonal dishes carefully prepared to celebrate the occasion.

Everyone was able to relax and savour the experience without feeling rushed, making it a perfect way to mark the holiday season.

More photos can be seen here.

Christmas Cracker Show at The Bridgewater Hall

A HUGE thanks to Auto Trader who sponsored 24 members of Out In The City to attend the Christmas Cracker Show on 12 December.

The Hallé added a little extra sparkle to our festive season with a selection box of our all-time favourite Christmas hits.

We decked the halls and got ready for the most wonderful time of the year with the Hallé’s Christmas Cracker – a festive extravaganza bursting with toe-tapping classics including Merry Christmas Everyone and All I Want for Christmas, the magical sounds of Polar Express, the sultry delights of Santa Baby and nostalgic hits like Last Christmas and Driving Home for Christmas.  

Incredible vocalists Katie Birtill and Oliver Tompsett joined conductor Stephen Bell, the Hallé Workplace Choirs and the Hallé Ancoats Community Choir, alongside the full force of the orchestra for this massive Christmas celebration. 

Thanks again to Auto Trader who treated us to a free concert, a complimentary drink and a “goodie” bag. 

Meet Gay Bob

Do you know the story of Gay Bob?

He was the first out and proud gay doll in the United States, and his boast was that he was anatomically correct!

Gay Bob came out of his closet in 1977 and was available through mail-order catalogues and at select stores in San Francisco and New York City. He was priced at $14.50 and $19.50.

The 13-inch novelty toy was sold to adults and was risqué. He was designed to look like a cross between Paul Newman and Robert Redford.

The trailblazing toy wore a plaid flannel shirt, cuffed blue jeans, cowboy boots with a gold chain around his neck and a leather man bag on one arm. He had one ear pierced.

Gay Bob’s packaging and the advertising were risqué and campy as the box looked like a closet.

The box also suggested tips on “how to enjoy” Gay Bob: taking him to parties (he knew “all the latest dance breaks”) and introducing him to the family because “mom will love talking to” him.

Trailblazing toy

Gay Bob was Harvey Rosenberg’s idea. He was a straight advertising executive who invested $10,000 of his own money to kickstart the project.

“We had something to learn from the gay movement, just like we did from the black civil rights movement and the women’s movement,” Rosenberg said in an interview at the time, “and that is having the courage to stand up and say, ‘I have a right to be what I am.’ ”

But Gay Bob also had a message. Gay Bob’s packaging proudly explained how “coming out of the closet” related to courage, honesty and living authentically.

“Hi boys, girls and grownups, I’m Gay Bob, the world’s first gay doll. I bet you are wondering why I come packed in a closet. ‘Coming out of the closet’ is an expression which means that you admit the truth about yourself and are no longer ashamed of what you are …  A lot of straight people should come out of their ‘straight closets’ and take the risk of being honest about what they are. People who are not ashamed of what they are, are more lovable, kind, and understanding. That is why everyone should come out of “their closet” so the world will be a more loving, understanding, and fulfilling place to live. Gay people are no different than straight people. If everyone came out of their closets, there wouldn’t be so many angry, frustrated, frightened people …  It’s not easy to be honest about what you are; in fact it takes a great deal of courage. But remember, if Gay Bob has the courage to come out of his closet, so can you!”

Gay Bob came out of the closet at a pivotal moment in LGBT+ history. His arrival coincided with LGBT+ people seeing incremental advancement in treatment by society. For example, Harvey Milk was the first openly gay person elected in California, and Dade County Florida passed an equality ordinance for gays and lesbians.

Gay Bob backlash

But some people wished Gay Bob had stayed in the closet.

Singer, orange juice spokesperson, and anti-gay activist Anita Bryant founded Save Our Children, which opposed LGBT+ equality in Florida and elsewhere.

Her campaign was based on the lie that LGBT+ people were targeting and recruiting children.

Bryant’s fear-mongering rhetoric gained traction, and her anti-gay crusade gained widespread media attention and sparked campaigns in other states.

Bryant convinced voters to overturn Dade County’s gay rights ordinance and her vile comments lead to more gay rights protections being repealed across the county.

Protect America’s Children was an offshoot of Bryant’s business and ministries were led by Edward Rowe.

Rowe called the Gay Bob dolls, “evidence of the desperation of the homosexual campaign has reached in its effort to put the homosexual lifestyle, which is a deathstyle, across to the American people. I can only hope that the children who are given these Gay Bob dolls will not comprehend the meaning and intent of the campaign that is behind their manufacture and distribution.”

Gay Bob was initially popular with collectors who snatched up the first production run of 2,000 dolls.

Another 10,000 were produced, but Rosenberg didn’t produce the promised line of Gay Bob’s family and male friends or any of the clothing items that appeared in the clothing catalogue that was included in Gay Bob’s closet box.

Eventually, Gay Bob faded from public view.

Stanley Baxter

Scottish actor and comedian Stanley Baxter died on 11 December 2025 at the age of 99.

He was one of the biggest stars on British television for several decades.

At the age of 94, he confirmed he had always been gay but said he had initially hidden the truth to avoid arrest in the years before decriminalisation.

He said his wife Moira had been fully aware of the situation. The couple, who married in 1951, had lived apart since the 1970s but remained close and never divorced.

Moira died in 1997 and Baxter’s long-term partner, Marcus, died in 2016.

Birthday

Noël Coward (born on 16 December 1899 -1973), English playwright, composer, actor and singer.

He was known for his wit, flamboyance and what Time called “a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise”.

Play the Rainbow Lottery and support Out In The City

The Rainbow Lottery is the UK’s first and only lottery supporting LGBT+ good causes.

Welcome to the Rainbow Lottery, the exciting weekly lottery that raises money for over 200 LGBT+ good causes totally, openly and exclusively.

The hope is to make a difference to good causes so they can carry on their vital work – which helps us all. Play the lottery, support the community – it’s fun, it’s simple and everybody wins!

How the lottery works:

• £1 per ticket – that’s right, unlike many other lotteries, the lottery tickets are only £1 per week.
• For every ticket you play, 80% goes to good causes and prizes.

£25,000 jackpot prize

• Match all 6 numbers and you win the JACKPOT! There are also prizes of £2000, £250, £25 and 3 free tickets for following week.
• Every month there is a Super Draw.

Our ever-popular Christmas blockbuster Super Draw is BACK for another festive season, and we’re looking forward to spreading some holiday cheer!

Your The Rainbow Lottery tickets mean that, this December, you’re in with a chance to win a whopping £3,000 Christmas cash bonus! It’s our biggest prize of the year, and MUST be won this Christmas – and don’t forget, you can top up your tickets, for extra chances to win!

The possibilities for spending your prize are endless: you could hit the January sales in style, spread the joy by giving back to a cause that holds a special place in your heart, plan your dream holiday getaway, treat yourself to the latest tech and gadgets, spruce up your living space for the new year; the choice is yours!

Buy tickets here.

National Science and Media Museum

The National Science and Media Museum is a must-visit destination for anyone interested in the wonders of science, photography, film and television.

The Museum is centrally located in Bradford within a 10-minute walk of Bradford Interchange, but we stopped off for lunch on the way at The Turls Green pub in Centenary Square.

We explored fascinating permanent galleries such as Wonderlab, and enjoyed the interactive exhibits which were perfect to engage directly with the science and technology behind media. It was an inspiring and educational outing.

The museum café, located on the ground floor, offered a selection of hot drinks and cakes to round off our visit.

More photos can be seen here.

Emily Dickinson’s Sapphic Love Letters

Next to Sappho, Emily Dickinson is one of the most famous sapphic poets ever to walk the Earth – and somehow there are still people who deny her sexuality.

Perhaps that’s the exact reason why Dickinson remains a figure of such passionate interest to us to this day. Have we got her story all wrong? Or have we allowed other peoples’ revisionist histories to get in the way of Dickinson’s true unabashed lesbianism?

On the anniversary of what would be the poet’s 195th birthday (born 10 December 1830), let’s take a minute to set the record straight.

If you know of Emily Dickinson at all, you will be aware of her as a poet who rarely left her Amherst home and most of her work wasn’t published until after she had died. And yes, that’s partly the truth. Dickinson was a reclusive figure in later life who kept her social circle small. But one woman in her life, whom she met in her 20s, remained hidden in plain sight from Dickinson scholars for decades.

We are referring to Susan Gilbert, who would end up marrying Dickinson’s brother Austin while carrying out a completely separate, but nonetheless passionate and real, Boston marriage with Dickinson. Dickinson lived next to Gilbert and her brother, and according to academic and Dickinson scholar Martha Nell Smith, “the 40-year relationship between Emily and Susan was of a committed lesbian character; that they lived together, if not in the same house, then side by side.”

When Smith wrote a book concerning this theory in the ’90s, it was seen as scandalous. But by the end of the decade, new information came to light that made Smith’s theory more than credible.

When Dickinson died, her brother Austin’s lover Mabel Loomis Todd managed to take up the mantle of Dickinson executor, despite having had no more than a passing acquaintance with the poet. It was Todd, scholars believe, who censored Dickinson’s work, crossing out any reference to Susan Gilbert and neutering many of the obvious love poems and letters that Dickinson wrote for her lover.

By 1998, scholars were able to use infrared technology to see exactly what had been crossed out, and a new story took hold. Not only were Gilbert and Dickinson obviously lovers, their letters to each other were just about as explicit as it gets. The collected letters can be read in “Open Me Carefully”, edited by Martha Nell Smith and Ellen Louise Hart.

And if you want further evidence of just how saucy those letters got, see one note Emily wrote to Susan in 1855 when the latter travelled to the West Coast. “I love you as dearly, Susie, as when love first began, on the step at the front door, and under the Evergreens, and it breaks my heart sometimes, because I do not hear from you,” she begins.

The note continues, “I wrote you many days ago – I won’t say many weeks, because it will look sadder so, and then I cannot write – but Susie, it troubles me. I miss you, mourn for you, and walk the Streets alone – often at night, beside, I fall asleep in tears, for your dear face, yet not one word comes back to me from that silent West. If it is finished, tell me, and I will raise the lid to my box of Phantoms, and lay one more love in; but if it lives and beats still, still lives and beats for me, then say me so, and I will strike the strings to one more strain of happiness before I die.”

After another short separation during one of Susan’s trips to Baltimore, Dickinson pined:

“Susie, forgive me Darling, for every word I say – my heart is full of you … yet when I seek to say to you something not for the world, words fail me … I shall grow more and more impatient until that dear day comes, for til now, I have only mourned for you; now I begin to hope for you.”

So essentially, Emily herself wasn’t worried about keeping her grand passion secret, but the keepers of her legacy – including Mabel Loomis Todd – certainly were.

Thankfully, we’re living in an era when Dickinson’s lesbian legacy cannot only be seen plainly, but appreciated for how romantic it was. The poet might not have experienced fame or renown in her lifetime, and she stayed close to home while she lived. But her wild, passionate yearnings on paper have given us some of the best sapphic representation this side of the 21st century.

Survey on HIV and conversations with healthcare professionals

Queen Mary University of London are completing a Europe-wide study of people living with HIV and their conversations with healthcare professionals. They are looking for more respondents aged over 50.

The survey is open until 31 December 2025 and is open to anyone living with HIV and on antiretroviral therapies – please see the attached flyer. Please share or complete the survey here.

Student Research

We have received the following message:

“My name is Mae Murphy and I am currently a third year student at the University of Manchester. At the moment, I am researching for my dissertation which is exploring the relationship between class and gay liberation in Manchester from 1970-1990.

I am contacting you as I would like to speak with you about the experiences of Out in the City group members. Their insights will provide an invaluable dimension to my research. I’m currently looking at local groups based around Manchester. Alongside primary materials such as newspaper articles, magazines and posters, I am speaking to people such as yourself in order to provide my research with more personal views of the period in question.

I am still currently in the initial stages of my research, so I am not looking to speak to people about this for a couple of months yet. I am hoping to conduct all interviews in-person, in order to make it easier for participants to speak to me.

It would be great if you are willing to get involved, and any questions you may have if anyone should agree to participate are likely to be outlined in GDPR compliant forms that have been prepared for this project. We can have a call to chat through it if you would like, but I would love to speak to any interested Out in the City service users about this.

I am really looking forward to hearing from you.”

If you are interested in being interviewed, please contact us here and we will forward your contact details.