A Family Matter

The movement toward securing LGBTQ+ rights began in earnest in the United Kingdom in 1967, when sexual activity between adult males (21 years of age) in private was legalized in England and Wales. It had been criminalized since the 16th century. The same did not apply to sexual activity between women, however, since being lesbian had never been criminalized. The closest it came to being so was in 1921, when the Criminal Law Amendment Act passed the House of Commons but failed in the House of Lords. The bill would have punished lesbian couples for “gross indecency,” as it was described. The bill was not passed; at the time, Parliament believed that the vast majority of women in the country did not even know that “lesbianism” existed.

The history of being lesbian is therefore distinct from being gay in the UK. Although not illegal, being lesbian was still subject to societal condemnation. The first organization in the United Kingdom to advocate for the rights of lesbians was the Minorities Research Group (MRG), formed in 1963. During the 1960s, a number of activist groups sprang up, and discreet social venues for lesbians were established. From 1964 to 1971, the MRG published a lesbian magazine, Arena Three. Sappho was a similar magazine during this period, published until 1982. In the novel, Dawn finds the lesbian mothers’ group through an advertisement in such a magazine, and the meeting she attends at the Arena Bookshop in London is likely the author’s nod to Arena Three (although the name of the bookshop is fictional).

Other landmarks in the campaign for LGBTQ+ rights in the UK included the formation in 1970 of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality and the Gay Liberation Front. The first British Gay Pride rally was held in London in 1974. This was also the year in which Maureen Colquhoun, a member of parliament (MP) from the Labour Party, became the first openly declared lesbian MP. Her party failed to support her, however, and she lost her parliamentary seat in the 1979 general election. She later said that being a lesbian had ruined her political career.

The 1980s was a difficult period for LGBTQ+ rights in England. In her Author’s Note, Lynch wrote that in that decade, about 90% of lesbian mothers involved in divorce cases lost custody of their children. In contrast, in divorce cases involving heterosexual parents, children under six were generally placed with their mothers. Lynch also points out that in the novel, the homophobic statements made by lawyers and judges are not fictional; they appear in legal documents relating to divorce cases involving lesbians during this period.

The hostility toward LGBTQ+ individuals was typical of a decade that was dominated by the Conservative Party of prime minister Margaret Thatcher. Thatcher complained in 1987 that “[c]hildren who need to be taught to respect traditional moral values are being taught that they have an inalienable right to be gay” (“Speech to Conservative Party Conference.” 1987 Keynote Address in the Winter Gardens. Blackpool, UK). The following year, Section 28 of the Local Government Act stated that no local authority was permitted to “intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality” or “promote the teaching in any maintained school [state-funded school] of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship” (UK, Parliament, Local Government Act. Part IV: Miscellaneous and General: Section 28. UK Public General Acts, 1988).

The early years of the 21st century proved to be more promising for LGBTQ+ rights. The notorious Section 28 was repealed in 2003, and the Civil Partnership Act was passed in 2004. It allowed partners in gay or lesbian relationships to form a civil union that was similar to marriage. In 2013, the Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Act legalized marriage between gay men and between lesbian women in England and Wales. The act went into effect on March 29, 2014. Scotland followed in 2014 and Northern Ireland in 2020. Thus, in the novel, Dawn and Hazel could have been legally married when shown in their final chapter in February 2023, although the novel does not state whether this is actually the case.