Maureen Colquhoun: Tributes paid to first openly lesbian MP
- Published
Maureen Colquhoun saw off two attempts to deselect her
Tributes have been paid to the UK's first openly lesbian MP, Labour's Maureen Colquhoun, after her death at the age of 92.
During her five years in Parliament, she campaigned for laws on abortion rights, gender balance and greater protection for prostitutes.
She fought off efforts to de-select her in 1979 after it emerged she was in a relationship with another woman.
The SNP's Joanna Cherry said she had suffered "appalling" prejudice.
Labour MP Angela Eagle said: "This is very sad news. Maureen Colquhoun was a feminist pioneer and paved the way for all those of us who came after her - RIP."
Her death was announced as Parliament marks LGBT+ History month with a series of events.
Maureen Colquhoun served as MP for Northampton North between 1974 and 1979, one of fewer than 30 female MPs in Parliament at the time.
She introduced a number of high-profile bills which, while they did not become law, highlighted major social issues and paved the way for future reforms.
These included the Balance of Sexes Bill - which sought equal representation for women on all public bodies, more than 170 of which the MP discovered were exclusively male during the mid-1970s.
'Ms, not Miss'
She campaigned for greater abortion rights for women, more support for working women and for the decriminalisation of prostitution.
An avowed feminist, she asked the Commons Speaker at the time, George Thomas, to refer to her as Ms rather than Miss in the Commons chamber.
The married mother-of-three left her husband, the Sunday Times journalist Keith Colquhoun, in 1975.
She fought off efforts by some party members in her constituency to stop her from running in 1979 after the Daily Mail revealed she was in a relationship with Barbara Todd, the publisher of Sappho magazine.
In an article for Gay News in 1977, she said her sexuality had "nothing whatever to do with my ability to my job as an MP".
She said she had always been open about her relationship, believing that "gay relationships were as valid and as entitled to respect as any other relationship".
After losing her seat, she worked for other MPs and served on Hackney Borough Council before moving to the Lake District, where she served as a member of the Lake District's National Park Authority for eight years.