On this week’s podcast, Julian Greenbank interviewed the UK LGBT poet laureate, Trudy Howson. Trudy started her life as an actress, looking to make it big in London during the 1970s. She then found a new life with the local LGBTQ+ community.
Through it, she went to the first Pride march in 1972 and met so many people, including Sir Ian McKellen and human rights campaigner, Peter Tatchell. She has worked with many human rights organisations, such as Stonewall and Amnesty.
LGBT poet laureate
In 2016, she was named the LGBT poet laureate. She uses her role to bring awareness to many political movements and travesties, such as the rise of LGBTQ+ hate crime in the UK and the rounding up of LGBTQ+ people in Chechnya.
Her work has featured in films (such as the YouTube film We are Means Happy, directed by Craig Heathcote) and even had her work cited in a cross-party debate about LGBTQ+ rights in Chechnya, after she protested the treatment of LGBTQ+ people in the region outside the Russian Embassy.
