Icons and allies

 

A brief and random selection of significant people with local connections, who are LGBTQ+ or who have influenced our lives.

• William Beckford (1760-1844)
  Wealthy novelist who fled England due to a gay scandal, but lived the last 22 years of his life in Bath.
• Thomas Lovell Beddoes (1803-1849)
  Bristol-born homosexual poet, dramatist and physician.
• Chris Brown (1951-2021)
  For 13 years ran a popular coffee evening for gay men in his Bristol home.
• Julie Burchill (1959- )
  Controversial journalist and writer
• Charlotte Charke (1712?-1760)
  18th century actress and writer who played male “breeches” roles, lived as a man and may have been lesbian.
• Frances Power Cobbe (1822-1904)
  Lesbian writer, philanthropist, anti-vivisection campaigner and women’s suffrage activist.
• Michael Dillon (born Laura) (1915-62)
  The world’s first person to complete gender reassignment surgery; lived in Bristol at the time surgery began.
• Amelia Edwards (1831-1892)
  Writer and traveller, lesbian and early advocate for women’s suffrage.
• UA Fanthorpe (1929-2009)
  Poet and academic
• “Michael Field”
  Pseudonym used for the poetry and verse drama of Katherine Harris (1846-1914) and Edith Cooper (1862-1913)
• Cary Grant (1904-1986)
  Hollywood film star who was born in Bristol and spent his boyhood here before moving to the USA.
• Mary Hamilton (1721 – ? )
  18th century lesbian who married several women while posing as a man
• Peggy Hancock (1923-2021)
  A barmaid in a number of Bristol gay pubs and loved by many of her clientele.
• LP Hartley (1895-1972)
  Gay novelist who lived in Bathford.
• Rob Hayward (1949 – )
  Gay activist and former Bristol MP
• Robert Hitchens (1864-1950)
  Successful novelist who lived in Bristol for a few years around his late teens.
• Frankie Howerd (1917-1992)
  Comedian and actor who lived in Somerset for over 30 years.
• Waris Hussein (b.1938)
  Gay TV and film director known for early episodes of Dr Who.
• Annie Kenney (1879–1953)
  Leading Suffragette, Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) organiser in Bristol 1907-11.
• CHB Kitchin (1895-1967)
  Clifton-educated gay novelist
• Matt Lucas (1974- )
  TV comedian, co-writer and performer of Little Britain
• Angus McBean (1904-1990)
  Theatre and surrealist photographer who was arrested at his home in Bath for gross indecency, and imprisoned.
• Frank Miles (1852-1891)
  Friend of Oscar Wilde and possibly his first male lover
• Angela Needham (c. 1945- )
  Minister to the first gay Christian church in Bristol
• Beverley Nichols (1898-1983)
  Writer, journalist, playwright and broadcaster who hid a family secret.
• Vicky Pollard (1993- )
  Single mother and TV personality
• Mark Ravenhill (1966- )
  Playwright and journalist who studied at Bristol
• Michael Redgrave (1908–1985)
  Bisexual actor, father of the Redgrave acting dynasty
• Mary Renault (1905-1983)
  Novelist whose works had a large gay following
• Aled Richards (1956/7–1985)
  One of the first people in Bristol to die of AIDS-related illness; Bristol’s first support organisation for people with HIV was named in his memory.
• Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967)
  One of the greatest poets of the the First World War and lived the last half of his life in Wiltshire.
• Monica Sjöö (1938-2005)
  Swedish-born artist, writer and feminist who became one of the visionaries of the Goddess movement.
• Bram Stoker (1847-1912)
  Author of Gothic novel Dracula, Stoker was a frequent visitor to Bristol.
• John Addington Symonds (1840-93)
• Bristol writer, art historian and forerunner of the 20th century liberation movements. His pioneering work to free homosexuality from religious and moral distortions are of world significance.
• Michael Tippett (1905-1998)
  Leading 20th century composer who lived much of his life in Wiltshire.
• Henry Scott Tuke (1858-1929)
  Artist most known for his paintings of nude boys and young men. Attended school  in Weston-super-Mare.
• Dale Wakefield (1941-2020)
  The founder of Bristol Gay Switchboard in 1975.
• Anna Letitia Waring (1823-1910)
  Poet and hymn writer who lived in Bristol most of her life.
• Vera Wentworth (1890-1957)
  Lesbian suffragette whose militant campaigning centred on her 5 years in Bristol.
• James Whale (1889-1956)
  Gay Hollywood film director James Whale made numerous visits to Bristol in the 1920s and 1930s.
• Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)
  Oscar Wilde never lived in Bristol, however he had friends in the city and was a frequent visitor.
• Stephen Williams (1966- )
  Bristol’s first openly gay MP

Someone you would like to see included? – then tell us!
Please write a biography, giving the source of your information (website, reference books, etc).

Read our comments policy