Read on Twitter
February marks the start of #LGBTQHM 
and I've put together a little thread of #LGBTQ women throughout history, whose stories deserve the celebration they have missed out on in the past:
and I've put together a little thread of #LGBTQ women throughout history, whose stories deserve the celebration they have missed out on in the past:
Anne Lister was born into a wealthy family in Yorkshire 1791. She was fierce, owned her own land, ran a colliery and was the 1st woman to climb several mountains in the Pyrenees. It wasn't until the 19th century her meticulously kept diaries secret code was cracked... 1/2
They revealed she was a lesbian, yet this wasn't a shock to those who knew her. Her affairs with local women were common knowledge, she apparently walked like a man, dressed entirely in black and went by the names of 'Fred' or 'Gentleman Jack' - the name of the BBC TV series 2/2
Vita Sackville-West is famed for her relationship with Virginia Woolf, but away from that who was she? A famous author & poet in her own right, she was known for having affairs with high-society women within her open marriage to Harold Wilson. Vita's book Portrait of Marriage 1/2
(posthumously published in 1973) explored the subject of her bisexuality. She wrote of her hope that in future people wouldn't have to hide their true sexualities: "it will be recognised that many more people of my type do exist than ... is currently admitted" 2/2
Toto Koopman of Indonesian and Dutch heritage, embraced this mixed race heritage. Toto is the earliest known Vogue cover model and in-house model for Chanel. In WW2 she fell in love with a man in the Italian Resistance and helped carrying out espionage missions. Post war ... 1/2
Toto met German art dealer Erica Brausen. They ended up spending the rest of their lives together, opening the Hanover Gallery in London. In later life she became an archaeologist and went on serval digs. What a career! 2/2
Winnaretta Singer was a life long patron of the arts. In her Paris salon she hosted the likes of Debussy and Ravel, from the late 1800s through to 1939. During the FWW she partnered up & funded Marie Curie to send radiology units (in limousines of course) to the front. 1/2
She was married twice, but her female lovers were all artists: painter Romaine Brooks, novelist Violet Trefusis and composuer-conducter Ethyl Smith. She also transformed a barge for the Salvation Army for the homeless in winter & a summer camp in the summer, moored on the Seine.
Edythe Eyde - the founder of Vice Versa, the first lesbian publication in the U.S- secretly made copies on RKO Studios carbon paper. Only 9 issues were produced but she went on to write further articles of lesbian works under the name "Lisa Ben" a pseudonym for "lesbian".
"From GI Joe to GI Jane": One of the first women to undergo gender-confirmation surgery was Christine Jorgensen. A keen photographer before her drafting into WW2. After the war she sought confirmation surgery in Demark 1950, but soon became the subject of newspaper headlines. 1/2
In Retaliation she launched a nightclub act on return to the U.S., saying 'I decided if they wanted to see me, they would have to pay for it'. Christine also went on to become a lecturer and an author, with her autobiography titled Christine Jorgensen: A Personal Biography 2/2
I could go on telling the stories of these great women, but will save that for another day. I have written out five more which you can find here : https://oliviasmithhistorian.com/2021/02/01/women-in-lgbtq-history-month/
: https://oliviasmithhistorian.com/2021/02/01/women-in-lgbtq-history-month/
