Through a queer lens: Sybil Morrison and Myrtle Solomon, stalwarts of the British and international peace movement

Abstract

Sybil Morrison and Myrtle Solomon were leading pacifists in the twentieth-century British and international peace movements. Their combined activism straddled the Second World War, nuclear arms, colonial independence, opposition to the Vietnam War and the 1980s women’s peace movement. Women in a male-dominated movement, their lesbian identities remained hidden until pressure from the post-Stonewall generation persuaded them to come out, described by eyewitnesses as a pivotal moment for the movement. Interviews in three oral history collections predate the queer turn in history after their deaths. Examining these oral history sources enhances understanding of these influential women and faces the ethical challenge of posthumously loading private lives with political significance. This article bridges a gap between pacifist/Left and lgbtq+ narratives, answering a twenty-first century call for nuanced and multi-faceted history.