Minorities Research Group

The Minorities Research Group (MRG) (est. 1963)[1] was the first organisation to openly advocate the interests of lesbians 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,[2] and went on to publish its own lesbian magazine called Arena Three that provided a lifeline to remote lesbians around the country.[3]

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".[4] Esme Langley, one of the group's 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.[4]

  1. ^ p.96 From the Closet to the Screen – Jill Gardiner ISBN 0-86358-427-6
  2. ^ Beckett, Elsa. Inventing Ourselves:Lesbian Life Stories, Eds: Hall–Carpenter Archives Lesbian Oral History Group, Routledge 1988, ISBN 0-415-02959-7, p68
  3. ^ p.95 From the Closet to the Screen – Jill Gardiner ISBN 0-86358-427-6
  4. ^ a b Jill Gardiner (2003). From the closet to the screen: women at the Gateways Club, 1945–85. Pandora. p. 97. ISBN 978-0-86358-428-2.