Prominent British radical lesbian feminist, equality law specialist, and former politician who strongly advocates for women's sex-based rights. She argues that human rights protections should be anchored in biological sex rather than self-declared gender identity
Interview: Linda Bellos on Trans Activism, Coming Out, and Being a Black Lesbian Feminist on the Left — Feminist Current, 2018
In this in-depth interview, Bellos describes coming out as a lesbian in 1980 and the process of recognizing that she had probably been a lesbian all her life, but had been socialized not to know it. She reflects on how moving away from a heterosexist world enabled her to analyze gender as an ideology that ascribes roles to humans with men as superior to women — and how she rejected both that ideology and the subordinate role of women.
Biography
Linda Bellos was born in London in 1950. In 1981 she became the first woman of African descent to join the Spare Rib collective. As a lesbian feminist in the early 1980s, she argued that an inclusive approach to women's issues must take account of social class, minority and majority ethnic identity, disability, sexual identity, and religion — a position that was unpopular at the time. She furthered her education at the University of Sussex from 1978 to 1981, and her feminism has consistently been intersectional, recognizing the complex ways in which race, gender, sexuality, and class intersect to shape experiences of oppression. Policy OptionsSimon Fraser University
In 2017 her invitation to speak at Cambridge University's Peterhouse Beard Society was withdrawn after she stated she would be publicly questioning trans politics that "seem to assert the power of those who were previously designated male to tell lesbians, and especially lesbian feminists, what to say and think." In 2018, South Yorkshire Police investigated Bellos under caution after a trans activist alleged she had made threatening statements — a case the CPS declined to prosecute, finding she had a clear defence of freedom of speech. A subsequent private prosecution was also discontinued as politically motivated and vexatious. She holds an OBE for her services to diversity and continues to teach employers and staff on the application of the Equality Act 2010 and the Human Rights Act 1998. Spinifex PressFeminist Current
