A brief bio of leading queer figures in contemporary history

First of all, if you haven’t heard it yet from us, we at Residence Life would like to share a warm welcome into a new semester, especially at such a cold time of year, and furthermore a Happy LGBTQ+ History Month! 

February is a month for many heartwarming national holidays, including Valentine’s Day, so what better month to celebrate and remember the often forgotten or erased histories of those who worked so hard to celebrate their love and identities? As part of a short series for LGBTQ+ History Month, I’d like to share with you a couple famous figures significant throughout contemporary history for their fight for the right to love one another equally, and without judgment or discrimination.

Alan Turing

You might not immediately think of Alan Turing as a gay icon, because, even at the time, he was a relatively unknown figure, recognised only in retrospect for the game-changing cracking of the Enigma code - an act that is often said to have shortened the length of World War 2 by years. However, despite the praise and fame he has received for his contribution to the Allies’ victory over Nazi Germany, he was not so celebrated in his lifetime. In 1952 he was arrested for admitting to an intimate relationship with another man, and found guilty for “gross indecency”, avoiding a prison sentence only by accepting chemical castration as punishment. Two years later, he was found dead by cyanide poisoning. 

A tragedy on all accounts, Turing’s contributions to the war efforts and his work before prosecution; inventing the ‘Bombe’ to crack war codes, and working on the design of what would eventually become the modern computer; were cast aside, and he was barred from his position in cryptographic consultancy within the Government Communication Headquarters. His pardon was not granted until 2014, 60 years after his death, and only 12 years ago.

A war hero, who knows where Turing’s career could have led him if not for the laws of the time, but with the UK government’s decision in 2016 to grant a posthumous pardon of all men convicted under the law that criminalised homosexuality - a law which had already been voted out 49 years earlier - we are well on the track to correcting the wrongs made against gay men, and bringing such heroes back into the light, without shame.

Marsha P. Johnson

One of the leading figures in the fight for queer rights, and a forerunner of the protests and riots we now call Pride, Marsha P. Johnson was an African-American transgender rights activist in the 1960s and 70s, and is often credited for “throwing the first brick at Stonewall”. Though this last point is often recalled as hearsay, Johnson was absolutely a critical figure for the rolling-back of anti-LGBTQ+ laws in North America, as well as across the world. However, often when discussing Marsha P. Johnson, key facts about her life and her activism are omitted, reducing her life to an image and a single event - that of which occurred in 1969, when the police raided the Stonewall Inn (a gay bar in New York), and threw over 200 people out onto the streets for arrest.

A quote from Johnson herself states that by the time she had arrived, “the place was already on fire, and there was a raid already. The riots had already started.” Her significance in this event is likely owed to the fact that Johnson resisted arrest at the time at only 23, and led protests in the days following; however, not many people are aware of the extent and importance of her queerness. Marsha P. Johnson described herself as a gay person, a transvestite, and a drag queen, using she/her pronouns throughout her daily life, and, as a black and trans woman from a working class background, she often had to resort to sex work to earn money.

Due to laws and stigma at the time, she and her close friend and fellow activist Sylvia Rivera, also a trans woman of colour, were judged and punished daily for the simple fact of being born the way they were; even today, unwarranted discrimination against transgender women, especially against those of the global majority, continues to affect and damage the queer community and their relationships with friends, family, and in workplaces. In 1990, Johnson was diagnosed with HIV, and two years later was found drowned in the Hudson River. Only in 2012 was the case re-opened for investigation, and in 2019 she, along with Rivera, were announced as the subject of a monument titled “She Built NYC”, the first monument in the US to commemorate a transgender woman. 

LGBT MPs in the UK Government

In this last section, I would like to commemorate a few of the politicians who steadily broke down the stigma around queerness in government, as although they themselves may not have individually been recognised on a scale comparable to Alan Turing or Marsha P. Johnson, their effort has led to the House of Commons being declared the ‘gayest parliament in the world’, due to the proportion of (out) LGBT members to cisgendered and heterosexual members, signalling the UK as a proud, progressive and modern country.

Maureen Colquhoun, among her socialist support of the Labour Party, displayed throughout her time in Parliament and beyond staunch support for equality for female MPs, decriminalisation of sex work, abolishment of womens’ prisons, elective abortion, and for that of the removal of British troops from Northern Ireland, and furthermore was the first openly lesbian MP in the House of Commons. Unfortunately, in 1977, due to a gossip article outing her and her new partner as gay after her separation from her previous husband, she was deselected by her party, who cited her "obsession with trivialities such as women's rights", and her seat was later won by her conservative opponent in 1979, under Thatcher’s government. Colquhoun said, following the Labour party’s decision, that “being a lesbian has ruined my political career”. 

However, in 1984, just 5 years after Colquhoun’s exit, Chris Smith became the first openly gay MP in the House of Commons, with his declaration winning him a standing ovation of 5 minutes. This was vital in the acceptance and erasure of the stigma around homosexuality in parliament, and he has since also been a patron of the London HIV charity The Food Chain, as well as of HIV support charity The National Long-Term Survivors Group (NLTSG), being the first MP to openly acknowledge his HIV diagnosis, and the first ever openly LGBTQ+ person to be elected Chancellor of the University of Cambridge in July 2025. In this role, and in every position he has held in his life, Smith continues to advocate for not just equality, but a celebration of diversity, to this day.

Finally, Katie Wallis became the first openly transgender member of parliament, following a statement made in 2022, where she said “I'm trans. Or to be more accurate, I want to be”. This followed harassment she received in 2020 following her separation from her ex-wife, for which the individual who “outed her to her father” received a sentencing of 2 years and 9 months. Despite her relatively uneventful presence in the House of Commons, and controversies since, being the first and currently the only member to have openly come out as a trans woman was and still is revolutionary. In an age of greatening restrictions and widening stigma against trans people, even existence is an act of revolt.

To finish, here's a quote from the lovely Chris Smith on diversity during his time as master of Pembroke College;

Remember that in trying times, community is what makes the strongest of us stronger, and that if you're ever struggling with feeling welcome at university, Residence Life is always here for a chat or a warm drink and to lend an ear.

Also, please keep an eye out for upcoming events, who knows what might be around the corner in Residence Life? ;)

Once again, a happy LGBTQ+ history month to all that celebrate and all that show allyship, and here's to a successful spring semester!