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Looking for anecdotal information
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By (user no longer on site) OP 25 weeks ago
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Hello everyone!
I have recently started writing a new book about 2 lesbians. It’s based in the 80s.
Considering my age (22), I obviously wasn’t alive in the 80s, so while I’ve been researching a lot, I would appreciate some anecdotal evidence.
I’m looking for some information about what it was like to be LGBT, especially a lesbian or bi woman in the 80s; even if you aren’t LGBT, I’d be nice to hear about your experiences too.
Thank you and God Bless You  |
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By *avinaTVTV/TS 25 weeks ago
Transsexual Transylvania |
"As a teen in high school it was the absolute worst insult and something you go into denial about for years 
J"
I remember the girls in my class in senior primary levelling it against other girls as a dire insult (12 year olds), then treating me like a bad smell when I innocently asked what that was. This was 1980. |
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By (user no longer on site) 25 weeks ago
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Homophobic slurs were commonly used as insults by teachers and pupils ..... and if there was a suggestion of two ladies being lesbian all the boys would loudly suggest they could turn them .....
And of course mid aids crisis ....
It was a dark time |
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"Homophobic slurs were commonly used as insults by teachers and pupils ..... and if there was a suggestion of two ladies being lesbian all the boys would loudly suggest they could turn them .....
And of course mid aids crisis ....
It was a dark time "
Lezza. It still sends chills now. 
J |
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By *lueLotusWoman 25 weeks ago
the wilderness |
One of my best friends in school was (still is, obviously) a lesbian. She didn't feel safe enough to come out until we left school. Used to have boyfriends and everything. Freddie Mercury was her idol we'd watch hours and hours of queen and Freddie videos, she was devastated when he died. |
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By (user no longer on site) 25 weeks ago
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"I was born in the 70’s
I am a lesbian
My cock fits nicely in holes 
A lesbian with a real cock?!
Yes, I’m a lesbian trapped in a man’s body "
I think I heard that one frequently in the 1980' and 1990's  |
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By (user no longer on site) 25 weeks ago
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I was born in the 60s. Finished secondary school in the early 80s. Lezbo was an insult, gays were discriminated against. However, at Uni things were different, but AIDS arrived in the UK in the early 80s and that exacerbated the discrimination against gay men (watch It's a Sin, that really got it right).
Can't help much with info about lezbians in the 80s but had gay male friends. |
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By *batMan 25 weeks ago
Alicante, Spain. (Sometimes in Wales) |
Would it be a better idea to write about something you know more about?
I don't mean to sound abrupt, it's a genuine question.
Why don't you set your story in a time that's more familiar or even so long ago that nobody else knows any better than you do?
Gbat |
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I suspect you already have, but 'Oranges are not the only fruit', I think covers this period, as do Jeanette Winterson's memiors. Apart from the history, she is a great writer, so it shouldn't be a chore.
Please approach 1980's 'fashion' with care.
Might there be a Martin Amis book that covers this? |
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By (user no longer on site) OP 25 weeks ago
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"Would it be a better idea to write about something you know more about?
I don't mean to sound abrupt, it's a genuine question.
Why don't you set your story in a time that's more familiar or even so long ago that nobody else knows any better than you do?
Gbat "
If we all only wrote about the time periods we knew the most about, the genre of historical fiction wouldn’t exist.
Did Philippa Gregory live in the Tudor times? Did George Orwell live in 1984? Did Maggie O’Farrell live in the years of Shakespeare? No! Did they still write beautiful books about those time periods? Yes!
If all books being released were only set in this year or 5 or so years before, how boring would that be?
I have written books set in different time periods before. One was set in the 60s and one in the early 2000s (when I was a just a baby)
Thanks |
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"I was born in the 60s. Finished secondary school in the early 80s. Lezbo was an insult, gays were discriminated against. However, at Uni things were different, but AIDS arrived in the UK in the early 80s and that exacerbated the discrimination against gay men (watch It's a Sin, that really got it right).
Can't help much with info about lezbians in the 80s but had gay male friends."
The way the press reported HIV as the gay plague was just awful.
The word LGBT didn't really exist there were Gays, Queers , Lesbians , Dykes, TV’s. Outside of big cities it was very homophobic & transphobic often dangerous, but it wasn’t all bad, there was a club in Notts called SLAG - Straights, Lesbians & Gays which was very inclusive |
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I was largely unaware of it as sex education back then was pretty poor. Slurs were common place, comedians were at the centre of this I'd say, and it legitimised the language of the day as 'anything goes' (Roy Chubby Brown, Bernard Manning, Jim Davidson) - that language remained largely unchanged through to the late 90's 2000's. There were advertising campaigns around AIDS with gravestones which shocked and stoked fear. Dallas Buyers Club gives a good insight I'd say into the uncertainty and hostility of the time.
I might be worth looking into NY club scene of the late 70's and Studio 21 (I think), this brought out a lot of gay culture but by no means to the mainstream possibly. |
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By *batMan 25 weeks ago
Alicante, Spain. (Sometimes in Wales) |
"If we all only wrote about the time periods we knew the most about, the genre of historical fiction wouldn’t exist. "
Did you miss the second part of my last sentence?
"..... or even so long ago that nobody else knows any better than you do?"
Gregory in Tudor times? No. But none of her readers either.
Orwell wrote his excellent book before 1984 existed, so no contradictions there.
O'Farrel in Shakies time? Again, no, but no one else from then was alive either.
Sounds like you don't need any advice. Go for it!
Gbat |
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By *rBobbMan 25 weeks ago
Birmingham |
I grew up in the 80's and they were actually very violent times. Football hooligans were at their height as were skinheads and punk rockers.
Being gay or bisexual back then was frowned upon by many and it wasn't uncommon for the the few bars or clubs to be attacked.
If you were bi it was known as AC/DC and anyone gay or lesbian were called some horrific names.
Op I am happy to go into more detail should you wish me too. But it was a horrible time for that community. I am so glad that we have the progress that we have. |
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The following are my opinions and blurred memories or a time long ago but they were real for me then.
Anecdotally Im fairly sure the T wasn’t added to LGB until later 80s
HIV and AIDS were death sentences in the 80s and people were outcast as if they had contracted just by acknowledging they were not “straight”. The pride movement was set in reverse. The first pride event was 1972 but it wasn’t held every year during the 70s and 80s and was really only in London.
It was only 1994 that the age of consent was reduced from 21 to 18 and that was then revised again to 16 (in line with straight sexual activities) in 2000 (for England, Scotland, wales). The parliamentary documentation around this is pretty shocking. Check out the lords library online for uk gay age of consent.
Sexually liberated lesbians in the 80s were people who had been born into a world 20+ years earlier where it was illegal to be gay.
The word queer was a slur and all lesbians were regarded as butch dykes by straight men and men didn’t find the thought of two women together attractive in the way compared to how it is actively encouraged by so many men now.
Being 16 in 1986 and trying to find what l wanted and where I fit into the ‘grown up’ world of sex was challenging! |
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By (user no longer on site) OP 25 weeks ago
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"The following are my opinions and blurred memories or a time long ago but they were real for me then.
Anecdotally Im fairly sure the T wasn’t added to LGB until later 80s
HIV and AIDS were death sentences in the 80s and people were outcast as if they had contracted just by acknowledging they were not “straight”. The pride movement was set in reverse. The first pride event was 1972 but it wasn’t held every year during the 70s and 80s and was really only in London.
It was only 1994 that the age of consent was reduced from 21 to 18 and that was then revised again to 16 (in line with straight sexual activities) in 2000 (for England, Scotland, wales). The parliamentary documentation around this is pretty shocking. Check out the lords library online for uk gay age of consent.
Sexually liberated lesbians in the 80s were people who had been born into a world 20+ years earlier where it was illegal to be gay.
The word queer was a slur and all lesbians were regarded as butch dykes by straight men and men didn’t find the thought of two women together attractive in the way compared to how it is actively encouraged by so many men now.
Being 16 in 1986 and trying to find what l wanted and where I fit into the ‘grown up’ world of sex was challenging! "
Thank you, I really appreciate this insight  |
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By (user no longer on site) OP 24 weeks ago
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Bumping this thread as I’m always looking for anecdotes !
(Ps: any information you give me isn’t used in a literal sense; it’s just to help my research for my new book ) |
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By *irthandgirthMan 24 weeks ago
Camberley occasionally doncaster |
My dads side of the family have always held that ingrained 70s/80s homophobia. I grew up hearing terms like 'bleedin poofters' or 'wooly woofters'. Also the immediate reversal of any previously held opinions on stars who were outed. My grandma used to spit if Rock Hudson came on TV, despite her adoring him before his sexuality became public. Obviously they were never brave enough to say this to anyone's face, but when they turned round the looks of disgust were awful.
As I grew up I preferred not to be in their company.. especially when TV became far more accepting and the insults would be hurled at the screen.
I am glad times are changing. |
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