Minorities Research Group
Encyclopedia
The Minorities Research Group (MRG) (est. 1963) was the first organisation to openly advocate the interests of lesbian
s in the United Kingdom
. It was founded by four women who got together in response to an article that was published in the magazine "Twentieth Century". The group published the Minorities Research Group Newsletter, and went on to publish its own lesbian magazine called Arena Three
that provided a lifeline to remote lesbians around the country.
The aims of the MRG were quoted as to collaborate in research into the homosexual condition, especially as it concerns women; and to disseminate information to those genuinely in the quest of enlightenment. Esme Langley
, one of the groups key founders, was insistent that it should focus on research and be inclusive of heterosexuals and supportive of lesbian individuals. As well as lesbians, its members included social workers, psychiatrists and writers such as Iris Murdoch
.
in Chelsea, London, which featured in the film, The Killing of Sister George
. The Arena Three
publication and the benefits of MRG membership were regularly promoted inside amongst its clientele and group meetings were sometimes held there.
Other group members were located through small classified advertisements placed in British newspapers such as The Daily Telegraph
. At first, many newspapers thought that their content was too offensive and refused to publish their adverts. The first to accept their adverts was The Sunday Times
in May, 1964 after it ran an article on the MRG.
A further two articles were published in the Guardian
and the News of the World
later that year. This prompted a rush of enquiries and boosted membership from all over the country. Many of the members were married and had to get their husbands' written consent before they could join.
In 1964, Esme Langley
was interviewed by a psychiatrist for a late night Welsh television program. Shortly afterwards a documentary was made for This Week, the first national British television program on lesbians. This was broadcast on January 7, 1965, which featured several MRG members.
Initially, the group had quite an impact on the press and on television which elevated the status of lesbians into something that could be discussed in ordinary society. Many women, including Esme Langley
, volunteered to be interviewed and photographed for this purpose, risking loss of employment, abuse and loss of family connections.
In 1971 a third television program about lesbians was made by Brigid Segrave called The important thing is love. This program also featured eight women from the MRG and was considered important as it was the first time that the women faced the camera without their identities being hidden.
. Many of the women had been objecting to some women wearing the 'butch' attire of a suit and tie to meetings. This eventually led to long-term social divisions within the group where Butch
women became excluded.
The Shakespeare's Head also had another function as the home of the MRG lending library and reading group. Much of the lesbian literature of the time was not available through book stores and public libraries, so the MRG library was an invaluable resource of largely donated books and publications. This library was eventually passed to Kenric
in 1966.
The Minorities Research group had an active relationship with the American equivalent of the time period, Daughters of Bilitis
.
Some of the MRG members wanted to steer away from research to improve the social aspects of the group. They went on to found the still running lesbian social network Kenric
, in 1965.
and Bisexual women's publication. This publication was produced from 1963 to 1972 and at its peak, it was distributed by mail order to approximately 500-600 subscribers. Arena Three
was not available in the shops and was entirely funded by Esme Langley
, some advertising and its subscribers.
Arena Three
was largely written by the same group of women and was often accused of being too middle class. It graduated from a type-written newsletter to a full glossy magazine by 1971. Maureen Duffy
and Jackie Forster
became regular contributors. A recent review of the magazine by Brighton Ourstory describes its contents as including letters from women around the country discussing local dances, events and the gay and lesbian politics of the day.
(1919–1992) was the founder, secretary and driving force of the Minorities Research Group (MRG). She was responsible for editing and producing the Mainland and Arena Three
magazines. She also appeared in several early Lesbian documentaries
, including The important thing is love released in 1971.
Esme worked as a secretary and was working in the field of Magazine Publishing at the time when she started MRG. She raised her eldest son on her own without ever being married, which was an unusual thing to do at the time. In 1958 she wrote a semi-autobiographical book called Why Should I be Dismayed under the pseudonym of Ann Bruce, which describes her life from being in the A.T.S in occupied Germany to being a single parent and living in the conservative post second world war era.
other more political organisations had appeared, such as the Campaign for Homosexual Equality
which focuses on equal rights for all homosexuals. These superseded the objectives of Minorities Research Group and helped bring about its demise and evolution.
The MRG ended with the final issue of Arena Three
, which was published in March, 1972. Former group member Jackie Forster
, went on to start Sappho (magazine) in the same year. Jackie also went on to become an Executive member of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality
and the Gay Liberation Front
along with other former MRG members such as Maureen Duffy
.
Following on from this, a research article that was compiled with the help of the Minorities Research Group was 'On the Genesis of Female Homosexuality by E. Bene' for The British Journal of Psychiatry
, September 1965, pp. 815–21. This included further research into the parental relationship by sampling 37 lesbians from the group and 80 married women. The results also pointed towards lesbians having a poor relationship with their fathers.
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
s in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. It was founded by four women who got together in response to an article that was published in the magazine "Twentieth Century". The group published the Minorities Research Group Newsletter, and went on to publish its own lesbian magazine called Arena Three
Arena Three (magazine)
Arena Three was a British monthly publication founded by Esme Langley and Diana Chapman in 1963. It was written by and for homosexual women and published by the Minorities Research Group from 1963 to 1972.-See also:* in * Lesbian feminism...
that provided a lifeline to remote lesbians around the country.
The aims of the MRG were quoted as to collaborate in research into the homosexual condition, especially as it concerns women; and to disseminate information to those genuinely in the quest of enlightenment. Esme Langley
Esme Langley
Dr Esmé Ross-Langley born 26 August 1919 in Guisborough, Yorkshire, was a British writer made a major contribution to the social evolution of women in Britain. She is best known as the founder of the Minorities Research Group and Arena Three...
, one of the groups key founders, was insistent that it should focus on research and be inclusive of heterosexuals and supportive of lesbian individuals. As well as lesbians, its members included social workers, psychiatrists and writers such as Iris Murdoch
Iris Murdoch
Dame Iris Murdoch DBE was an Irish-born British author and philosopher, best known for her novels about political and social questions of good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious...
.
The beginning
The group was prompted by the article "A quick look at lesbians" by journalist Dilys Rowe in late 1962. Although it would appear condemning in the present day, it discussed serious issues with interviews and quotations, and it prompted an interest in research into lesbian (and bisexual) lives. This research concept continued throughout the existence of the Minorities Research Group, which also provided a central point for formerly disparate individuals and information. Ultimately, the MRG provided education, support and opportunities to socialise for lesbians nationwide.In the media
Many MRG members were also members of the Gateways clubGateways club
The Gateways club was a noted lesbian nightclub located at 239 Kings Road on the corner of Bramerton Street, Chelsea, London, England. It was the longest-surviving such club in the world, opening in 1930 and legally becoming a "members club" in 1936...
in Chelsea, London, which featured in the film, The Killing of Sister George
The Killing of Sister George
The Killing of Sister George is a 1964 play by Frank Marcus that was adapted as a 1968 film directed by Robert Aldrich.- Stage version :Sister George is a beloved character in the popular radio series Applehurst, a nurse who ministers to the medical needs and personal problems of the local villagers...
. The Arena Three
Arena Three (magazine)
Arena Three was a British monthly publication founded by Esme Langley and Diana Chapman in 1963. It was written by and for homosexual women and published by the Minorities Research Group from 1963 to 1972.-See also:* in * Lesbian feminism...
publication and the benefits of MRG membership were regularly promoted inside amongst its clientele and group meetings were sometimes held there.
Other group members were located through small classified advertisements placed in British newspapers such as The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
. At first, many newspapers thought that their content was too offensive and refused to publish their adverts. The first to accept their adverts was The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
in May, 1964 after it ran an article on the MRG.
A further two articles were published in the Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
and the News of the World
News of the World
The News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
later that year. This prompted a rush of enquiries and boosted membership from all over the country. Many of the members were married and had to get their husbands' written consent before they could join.
In 1964, Esme Langley
Esme Langley
Dr Esmé Ross-Langley born 26 August 1919 in Guisborough, Yorkshire, was a British writer made a major contribution to the social evolution of women in Britain. She is best known as the founder of the Minorities Research Group and Arena Three...
was interviewed by a psychiatrist for a late night Welsh television program. Shortly afterwards a documentary was made for This Week, the first national British television program on lesbians. This was broadcast on January 7, 1965, which featured several MRG members.
Initially, the group had quite an impact on the press and on television which elevated the status of lesbians into something that could be discussed in ordinary society. Many women, including Esme Langley
Esme Langley
Dr Esmé Ross-Langley born 26 August 1919 in Guisborough, Yorkshire, was a British writer made a major contribution to the social evolution of women in Britain. She is best known as the founder of the Minorities Research Group and Arena Three...
, volunteered to be interviewed and photographed for this purpose, risking loss of employment, abuse and loss of family connections.
In 1971 a third television program about lesbians was made by Brigid Segrave called The important thing is love. This program also featured eight women from the MRG and was considered important as it was the first time that the women faced the camera without their identities being hidden.
Group politics
At one of the group debates in August 1964, a record 70 women turned up to discuss 'the freedom of dress'. This took place in a room above the Shakespeare's Head in Carnaby StreetCarnaby Street
Carnaby Street is a pedestrianised shopping street in London, United Kingdom, located in the Soho district, near Oxford Street and Regent Street. It is home to numerous fashion and lifestyle retailers, including a large number of independent fashion boutiques...
. Many of the women had been objecting to some women wearing the 'butch' attire of a suit and tie to meetings. This eventually led to long-term social divisions within the group where Butch
Butch and femme
Butch and femme are LGBT terms describing respectively, masculine and feminine traits, behavior, style, expression, self-perception and so on. They are often used in the lesbian, bisexual and gay subcultures...
women became excluded.
The Shakespeare's Head also had another function as the home of the MRG lending library and reading group. Much of the lesbian literature of the time was not available through book stores and public libraries, so the MRG library was an invaluable resource of largely donated books and publications. This library was eventually passed to Kenric
Kenric
Kenric was established in 1965 and is made up of a network of social groups for lesbians throughout the United Kingdom. Members are of all ages, although mainly due to the long-running nature of the network it is most popular with women over 30 years old...
in 1966.
The Minorities Research group had an active relationship with the American equivalent of the time period, Daughters of Bilitis
Daughters of Bilitis
The Daughters of Bilitis , was the first lesbian rights organization in the United States. It was formed in San Francisco in 1955, conceived as a social alternative to lesbian bars, which were considered illegal and thus subject to raids and police harassment...
.
Some of the MRG members wanted to steer away from research to improve the social aspects of the group. They went on to found the still running lesbian social network Kenric
Kenric
Kenric was established in 1965 and is made up of a network of social groups for lesbians throughout the United Kingdom. Members are of all ages, although mainly due to the long-running nature of the network it is most popular with women over 30 years old...
, in 1965.
Arena Three
The Minorities Research Group was responsible for producing the monthly journal Arena Three, which was Britain's first LesbianLesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
and Bisexual women's publication. This publication was produced from 1963 to 1972 and at its peak, it was distributed by mail order to approximately 500-600 subscribers. Arena Three
Arena Three (magazine)
Arena Three was a British monthly publication founded by Esme Langley and Diana Chapman in 1963. It was written by and for homosexual women and published by the Minorities Research Group from 1963 to 1972.-See also:* in * Lesbian feminism...
was not available in the shops and was entirely funded by Esme Langley
Esme Langley
Dr Esmé Ross-Langley born 26 August 1919 in Guisborough, Yorkshire, was a British writer made a major contribution to the social evolution of women in Britain. She is best known as the founder of the Minorities Research Group and Arena Three...
, some advertising and its subscribers.
Arena Three
Arena Three (magazine)
Arena Three was a British monthly publication founded by Esme Langley and Diana Chapman in 1963. It was written by and for homosexual women and published by the Minorities Research Group from 1963 to 1972.-See also:* in * Lesbian feminism...
was largely written by the same group of women and was often accused of being too middle class. It graduated from a type-written newsletter to a full glossy magazine by 1971. Maureen Duffy
Maureen Duffy
Maureen Patricia Duffy is a contemporary British poet, playwright and novelist. She has also published a literary biography of Aphra Behn, and The Erotic World of Faery a book-length study of eroticism in faery fantasy literature.-Life and work:After a tough childhood, Duffy took her degree in...
and Jackie Forster
Jackie Forster
Jackie Forster was born 6 November 1926 and died in London on 10 October 1998. She married her novelist husband, Peter Forster in 1958 while she worked as a TV presenter and news reporter, but divorced him in 1962 when she realised her true sexual identity...
became regular contributors. A recent review of the magazine by Brighton Ourstory describes its contents as including letters from women around the country discussing local dances, events and the gay and lesbian politics of the day.
Esme Langley
Esme LangleyEsme Langley
Dr Esmé Ross-Langley born 26 August 1919 in Guisborough, Yorkshire, was a British writer made a major contribution to the social evolution of women in Britain. She is best known as the founder of the Minorities Research Group and Arena Three...
(1919–1992) was the founder, secretary and driving force of the Minorities Research Group (MRG). She was responsible for editing and producing the Mainland and Arena Three
Arena Three (magazine)
Arena Three was a British monthly publication founded by Esme Langley and Diana Chapman in 1963. It was written by and for homosexual women and published by the Minorities Research Group from 1963 to 1972.-See also:* in * Lesbian feminism...
magazines. She also appeared in several early Lesbian documentaries
, including The important thing is love released in 1971.
Esme worked as a secretary and was working in the field of Magazine Publishing at the time when she started MRG. She raised her eldest son on her own without ever being married, which was an unusual thing to do at the time. In 1958 she wrote a semi-autobiographical book called Why Should I be Dismayed under the pseudonym of Ann Bruce, which describes her life from being in the A.T.S in occupied Germany to being a single parent and living in the conservative post second world war era.
The end
After the legalisation of male homosexuality in the UK with the implementation of the Sexual Offences Act 1967Sexual Offences Act 1967
The Sexual Offences Act 1967 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom . It decriminalised homosexual acts in private between two men, both of whom had to have attained the age of 21. The Act applied only to England and Wales and did not cover the Merchant Navy or the Armed Forces...
other more political organisations had appeared, such as the Campaign for Homosexual Equality
Campaign for Homosexual Equality
The Campaign for Homosexual Equality is one of the oldest gay rights organisations in the United Kingdom. It is a membership organisation which aims to promote legal and social equality for lesbians, gay men and bisexuals in England and Wales...
which focuses on equal rights for all homosexuals. These superseded the objectives of Minorities Research Group and helped bring about its demise and evolution.
The MRG ended with the final issue of Arena Three
Arena Three (magazine)
Arena Three was a British monthly publication founded by Esme Langley and Diana Chapman in 1963. It was written by and for homosexual women and published by the Minorities Research Group from 1963 to 1972.-See also:* in * Lesbian feminism...
, which was published in March, 1972. Former group member Jackie Forster
Jackie Forster
Jackie Forster was born 6 November 1926 and died in London on 10 October 1998. She married her novelist husband, Peter Forster in 1958 while she worked as a TV presenter and news reporter, but divorced him in 1962 when she realised her true sexual identity...
, went on to start Sappho (magazine) in the same year. Jackie also went on to become an Executive member of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality
Campaign for Homosexual Equality
The Campaign for Homosexual Equality is one of the oldest gay rights organisations in the United Kingdom. It is a membership organisation which aims to promote legal and social equality for lesbians, gay men and bisexuals in England and Wales...
and the Gay Liberation Front
Gay Liberation Front
Gay Liberation Front was the name of a number of Gay Liberation groups, the first of which was formed in New York City in 1969, immediately after the Stonewall riots, in which police clashed with gay demonstrators.-The Gay Liberation Front:...
along with other former MRG members such as Maureen Duffy
Maureen Duffy
Maureen Patricia Duffy is a contemporary British poet, playwright and novelist. She has also published a literary biography of Aphra Behn, and The Erotic World of Faery a book-length study of eroticism in faery fantasy literature.-Life and work:After a tough childhood, Duffy took her degree in...
.
Notable members
- Jackie ForsterJackie ForsterJackie Forster was born 6 November 1926 and died in London on 10 October 1998. She married her novelist husband, Peter Forster in 1958 while she worked as a TV presenter and news reporter, but divorced him in 1962 when she realised her true sexual identity...
was a broadcaster, an active member and wrote for Arena ThreeArena Three (magazine)Arena Three was a British monthly publication founded by Esme Langley and Diana Chapman in 1963. It was written by and for homosexual women and published by the Minorities Research Group from 1963 to 1972.-See also:* in * Lesbian feminism...
. - Maureen DuffyMaureen DuffyMaureen Patricia Duffy is a contemporary British poet, playwright and novelist. She has also published a literary biography of Aphra Behn, and The Erotic World of Faery a book-length study of eroticism in faery fantasy literature.-Life and work:After a tough childhood, Duffy took her degree in...
wrote for Arena ThreeArena Three (magazine)Arena Three was a British monthly publication founded by Esme Langley and Diana Chapman in 1963. It was written by and for homosexual women and published by the Minorities Research Group from 1963 to 1972.-See also:* in * Lesbian feminism...
and wrote The Microcosm. - Barbara Bell was the South Coast representative for MRG, as described in her biography Just Take Your Frock Off.
Reference articles
In summary, the article 'A Quick Look at Lesbians by Dilys Rowe'(Winter 1962-1963) was based on an interview with three self confessed 'homosexual women' and a female doctor who specialised in marriage guidance. The article focused on the largely invisible lives of lesbians in society at the time and their relationships with their mother and father. It proposed that lesbians reported growing up in families where they had a weak father and a dominant mother and that they had failed to emotionally bond with their fathers during their formative years.Following on from this, a research article that was compiled with the help of the Minorities Research Group was 'On the Genesis of Female Homosexuality by E. Bene' for The British Journal of Psychiatry
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
, September 1965, pp. 815–21. This included further research into the parental relationship by sampling 37 lesbians from the group and 80 married women. The results also pointed towards lesbians having a poor relationship with their fathers.
See also
- LGBT rights in the United Kingdom
- List of LGBT rights organisations
Further reading
- The Lesbian History Sourcebook by Alison Oram and AnnMarie Tunbull (Routledge - 2001) ISBN 0415114853
- Just take your Frock Off by Barbara Bell (Ourstory Books - June 1999) ISBN 0953588009