Lesbian feminist views on Margaret Thatcher in the
1988
“What
did lesbians and feminists think of Margaret Thatcher? We loathed her,
most of us seeing her would physically shudder, yet she was put up as
woman prime minister but had such a male way of doing things with no
interest in progressing women’s causes, such a disappointment, as the
first and only woman prime minister, she might as well have been a man
but she had to adopt a male strategy. Early on she actually said
something about the young men in the city and suddenly there was a
series of young men turning into multi-millionaires overnight, this is
what Thatcherism can do, she thought it was wonderful, to have half a
dozen young men earning a fortune and she would think she’s succeeded.
Lesbians had a lot of sympathy for the miners strike, because we were
politicised. We went on a Clause 28 march in Manchester where we got
spat on. Clause 28 epitomised Thatcher’s view - she opposed
homosexuality and lesbianism by talking about family values.”
Contributed by: Barbara Carter, 53, Bridget Malin, 62