Icons and allies

A brief and random selection of significant people with local connections, who are LGBT 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.
• 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.
• 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 Katharine Harris (1846-1914) and Edith Cooper (1862-1913)
• Mary Hamilton (1721 – ? )
  18th century lesbian who married several women while posing as a man
• 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.
• Annie Kenney (1879–1953)
  Leading Suffragette, Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) organiser in Bristol 1907-11.
• Matt Lucas (1974- )
  TV comedian, co-writer and performer of Little Britain
• 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
• 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.
• 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.
• Dale Wakefield (1941-2020)
  The founder of Bristol Gay Switchboard in 1975
• 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

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