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Memories by Mary Dunne

Mary threw herself into sport

Of Irish background, at grammar school, Mary Dunne, threw herself into sport as a way of legitimising her “difference” from other girls as she was fully aware of, though silent about, her sexuality then. Her first relationship was with ...

My colleagues were shocked

Working as a teacher in a school in South Birmingham in the 70s/80s, Mary felt friends in her department had guessed her sexuality but still asked silly questions about boyfriends. She became depressed following the breakdown of a relationship wit...

I was a real lesbian

Realising she needed to meet more women, Mary joined a mixed straight/lesbian women's writing group, which met in Tindal Street and subsequently led to the formation of Tindal Press. She also mixed on the fringes of the womens' liberation movement...

Dykes on the hockey field

Mary had continued to play for a netball team since her school days although rarely met any gay women through this. She met and got to know other sports women, many of them gay but mainly hockey players, through a flatmate. These lesbians were fai...

Different bars for different sorts of lesbians

During the eighties Mary visited various pubs and clubs in Birmingham including The Matador, where the old Bull Ring market was, which was quite a good gay venue, with a women's disco every Friday which attracted a broad spectrum of women. She, an...

Teachers didn't need Clause 28 to be silenced!

During this period in the late eighties Mary, a teacher, was still paranoid about being found out by pupils, and said “You didn’t need Clause 28 to be silenced!” However she was spotted coming out of the Jester by some kids and it all blew up. T...