User:Pspwikiuser/sandbox: Difference between revisions – Wikipedia

Finished writing a draft article? Are you ready to request review of it by an experienced editor for possible inclusion in Wikipedia? Submit your draft for review!

Julian Hows (born 1955) is a British LGBTQ+ and HIV-rights activist known for his long-standing work in community organising, protest and policy change. He first came to public attention in the early 1970s as part of the Gay Liberation movement, was a pioneer in establishing housing co-operatives in Lambeth for young queer people, and later became a prominent voice in campaigning around HIV, stigma and criminalisation worldwide.

Early life and education

• Born in Brixton, London, on 5 August 1955.
• Expelled from Tulse Hill school in 1972 for his involvement in early gay-rights activism.^[1][2]

Activism and career

Early LGBTQ+ activism

• Joined the Gay Liberation Front in the early 1970s. In 1972 students of Tulse Hill School in Lambeth had multiple conflicts with a local gay commune on Athlone Road where Hows was living with other members of the Gay liberation Front ^[3]

• Involved in squats and co-operatives in Lambeth (e.g., Railton Road) and helped create one of the UK’s first gay community centres.
• Participated in early London Pride marches and other protest actions. In 1980, he along with others was arrested at the London Pride celebration. Frank Egan was arrested when police decided his headdress constituted an offensive weapon. Hows protested the arrest, and was also detained. ^[4]Hows described the arrest and the intervention of activist Terrance Higgins in the book “It’s Not Unusual”^[5]
• Founding member of South London Gay Liberation Theatre Group, later known as the Brixton Faeries. Formed in 1974, the theatre group aimed to expose the bigotry, prejudice and segregation that society imposed upon homosexuals. ^[6] He was also a member of the Bloolips performance group ^[7]

London Transport uniform protest

In 1974, Hows worked as a Guard on the London Underground. In 1978, he submitted a memo requesting the option to wear a women’s uniform and subsequently staged a photo-call protest in women’s uniform at Earl’s Court station. The protest received national press coverage and has become a noted moment in gender/sexuality activism. His protest is documented at the London Transport Museum ^[8]

HIV-rights and global advocacy

• Volunteer work in the early 1980s with the UK London  Lesbian and Gay Switchboard in the early response to HIV.
• After his HIV+ diagnosis, he became a leading activist around issues related to male sex workers, peer advocacy for people living with HIV, outreach in cruising areas.
• In this century, engaged in international initiatives (e.g., Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+)^[9]

, the HIV Justice Network) on issues of HIV criminalisation, testing access, stigma. In 2010 he wrote for the BBC about the challenges related to growing old with HIV^[10]

Later career and roles

• Hows has presented to many conventions and conferences world wide, and has authored many others, including a 2010 presentation on HIV in Europe ^[11]

• Member of community advisory groups (for example with National AIDS Trust) on HIV stigma and rights.

Legacy and recognition

• Recognised by local authority (e.g., Lambeth Council) as an LGBTQ+ ‘changemaker’.^[12]

• His uniform protest is cited in transport and LGBTQ+ history contexts.
• Impact on housing co-ops for LGBTQ+ youth and HIV-rights policies internationally.

Personal life

• Came out at age 14.
• Diagnosed with HIV infection in 1990.
• Hows once said “One of the peculiarly English things that we are actually quite good at, especially in gay politics, is that we make fun of things! And making fun of authority sometimes changes more than balaclavas and Molotov cocktails, and it’s another form of peaceful demonstration.”

Selected works / publications

• Stigma and The People Living with HIV Stigma Index, EuroTEST website, 2009
• The People Living with HIV Stigma Index 2.0: generating critical evidence for change worldwide, National Library of Science website, 2020
• The People Living with HIV (PLHIV) Resilience Scale: Development and Validation in Three Countries in the Context of the PLHIV Stigma Index, National Library of Science website, 2019
• Internalized stigma among people living with HIV: assessing the Internalized AIDS-Related Stigma Scale in four countries, National Library of Science website, 2020
• AIDS: Foundations For The Future, Taylor & Francis Group, 22 April 2014
• Selling Safer Sex: Male Masseurs and Escorts in the UK, Taylor & Francis Group, 1994

References

External links

• (Link to e.g. documentary participation page)
• (Link to organisation sites with profiles)