Alan Turing was a brilliant mathematician, computer scientist, and codebreaker whose work played a crucial role in ending the Second World War. His efforts at Bletchley Park helped crack the Enigma code, saving countless lives and shaping the future of modern computing. Despite his extraordinary contributions, Turing was persecuted for being gay under UK law and subjected to chemical castration.
His story is a powerful reminder of both the harm caused by discrimination and the resilience of LGBTQ+ people whose contributions were long overlooked. Today, Alan Turing is remembered as a symbol of injustice, recognition, and lasting legacy.
Marsha P. Johnson was a Black transgender activist and a central figure in the Stonewall uprising, a defining moment in LGBTQ+ history. She dedicated her life to advocating for the rights and wellbeing of LGBTQ+ people, particularly trans people, sex workers, and those experiencing homelessness.
Marsha co-founded STAR (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries), which provided housing and support for young trans people who had been rejected by their families. Her activism was rooted in care, community, and survival, and her legacy continues to inspire movements for trans liberation and social justice around the world.
Audre Lorde was a writer, poet, and activist whose work explored the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and power. As a Black lesbian woman, she used her voice to challenge oppression and encourage people to embrace difference as a source of strength rather than division.
Her writing addressed themes of identity, injustice, love, and resistance, and continues to influence feminist, anti-racist, and LGBTQ+ movements today. Audre Lorde believed deeply in the power of speaking truth and creating change through self-expression, leaving behind a legacy of courage, wisdom, and radical honesty.
Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, also known as Lady Phyll, is a UK-based LGBTQ+ activist and co-founder of UK Black Pride. Her work focuses on creating inclusive spaces for LGBTQ+ people of colour and challenging racism within LGBTQ+ communities and beyond.
She has been a powerful voice for equality, representation, and social justice, advocating for the needs of marginalised groups who are often overlooked. Through her leadership and activism, Lady Phyll has helped reshape conversations around identity, belonging, and visibility in the UK.
April Ashley was a British model, actress, and transgender rights activist who lived much of her life in the public eye at a time when being trans carried significant stigma and risk. One of the first British people to undergo gender-affirming surgery, she later became an outspoken advocate for trans equality and understanding.
Despite facing discrimination and invasive media scrutiny, April remained committed to visibility and honesty about her life. Her courage helped pave the way for greater awareness of transgender experiences in the UK, and she is remembered as a trailblazer whose life changed public understanding of gender identity.
Barbara Burford was a distinguished writer, medical researcher, and committed advocate for diversity and social justice. Born in Jamaica, she moved to London with her family in 1955. She went on to study medicine at the University of London and began her career with the NHS in 1964, where she worked primarily in medical research. Over the years, she also led a team at the Institute of Child Health and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, contributing significantly to her field.
Alongside her professional achievements, Burford was deeply engaged in feminist and lesbian politics. She was a member of the “Explorations in Feminism” collective, which centred on women’s writing and publishing. Her creative work was shaped by both her lesbian identity and her rich cultural heritage, as she proudly embraced her African, Jewish, and Scottish roots. In 1987, she met her partner, Joy Howard; the couple entered into a civil partnership in 2007 and remained together until Burford’s death in 2010.
Charles Beyer (1813–1876) was a renowned engineer, industrialist, and generous philanthropist whose work left a lasting mark on Britain’s industrial development. Born in Germany as Carl Friedrich Beyer to a working-class family of hand-loom weavers, he showed an early aptitude for technical drawing. This talent enabled him to pursue studies in architecture and engineering in both Germany and later Manchester, where his career flourished.
Beyer became a leading designer of cotton mill machinery and locomotives during the height of the Industrial Revolution. Beyond his engineering achievements, he was deeply committed to education and social progress, contributing to the construction and support of schools, churches, and colleges. In his will, he left funds to assist working-class students at Manchester University, reflecting his belief in widening access to opportunity.
Despite facing discrimination due to his German heritage, he employed fellow German immigrants and played a key role in founding the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. Although he was rumoured to have loved the daughter of his first British employer, surviving letters between Beyer and fellow engineer Gustav Stieler reveal a close relationship and hint at the personal struggles they endured in a period when homosexuality was criminalised.
Elke Mackenzie (1911–1990) was a British polar explorer and botanist, internationally recognised for her expertise in lichenology—the scientific study of lichens. She began her education in Edinburgh before studying botany at the University of Edinburgh, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in 1933 and later a Doctor of Science in 1942. During her involvement in Operation Tabarin, a secret British wartime expedition to Antarctica during the Second World War, she identified and recorded numerous lichen species, including several previously unknown to science.
Throughout her distinguished academic career, Mackenzie held posts at major institutions including the British Museum, the National University of Tucumán in Argentina, the National Museum of Canada, and the Farlow Herbarium of Cryptogamic Botany at Harvard University. In 1971, she transitioned and took the name Elke Mackenzie, facing institutional prejudice as a result. Despite the discrimination she experienced and declining health in later life, her scientific legacy endured: two genera and multiple species were named in her honour. Her significant contributions to polar research were recognised with polar medals from both Britain and the United States.
Jemma Redmond (1978–2016) was an intersex innovator and pioneer in 3D bioprinting whose work aimed to transform modern medicine. Born in Tallaght, Ireland, she was intersex and infertile—an experience that strongly shaped her determination to explore organ bioprinting and regenerative technologies. Despite early dismissal of her ideas, often compounded by gender bias within male-dominated STEM industries, she remained committed to making advanced bioprinting technology more affordable, practical, and widely accessible.
Redmond went on to found Ourobotics, positioning herself firmly as a leader in the field. Her ambition was to develop bioprinters capable of producing full, functional organs while reducing costs, limiting animal testing, and encouraging open innovation so others could build on her work. Although she died at just 38 years old, she made significant strides in advancing 3D printing capabilities and left behind a powerful legacy of resilience, vision, and scientific progress.
Robert Boyle (1627–1691) was a central figure of the Scientific Revolution and is often described as the first modern chemist. His experimental work established Boyle’s Law, demonstrating the inverse relationship between gas pressure and volume, and helped move chemistry away from mystical alchemy toward a disciplined, measurement-based science. Through influential works such as The Sceptical Chymist, Boyle laid the intellectual foundations for modern chemical theory and championed systematic experimentation, careful observation, and transparent reporting principles that became core to the scientific method.
Although Boyle never married and expressed a preference for celibacy prompting later speculation about his sexuality his historical prominence stands in stark contrast to the many LGBT+ scientists whose lives and contributions were erased or suppressed. While Boyle’s achievements were preserved and celebrated, countless queer scientists faced exclusion, criminalisation, or institutional prejudice. Teaching Boyle’s legacy alongside this historical absence offers a fuller understanding of how structural barriers shaped who was remembered as “notable,” and why highlighting overlooked queer scientists remains essential today.