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Introduction

Julian Hows was born in Brixton in 1955. After being expelled from school for early gay rights activism in 1971, he ran away from home to join the UK Gay Liberation Front, taking part in London’s earliest Pride marches and other protests. He lived communally with a group of radical gay men and non-binary people at a squat in Notting Hill, which later moved to Railton Road, Brixton. The group became the Brixton Faeries, and the squat was christened the South London Gay Community Centre in 1974 – the first of its kind in the UK.

Joining London Transport

In 1974, Julian also decided he needed a job. He knew quite a few people who worked for London Transport (LT) and decided it wouldn’t be a bad place to start. He worked as a Guard on the Underground, travelling at the back of the train, opening and closing doors, ensuring passengers were safe getting on and off, and signalling the driver to leave.

During his six weeks of training, it was suggested to Julian that he would probably ‘fit in’ at Parsons Green depot – ‘where all the queers go’. It was only two stops on the District line from Earl’s Court, the gay hotspot of the 1970s, with numerous bars and clubs and a thriving gay community, like Vauxhall or Soho today.

Julian describes LT as being a ‘very macho environment’ at the time, but at Parsons Green there were a few people who were ‘out, or semi-out’, including him. There was some ‘joking and joshing’ about it, but people generally tolerated each other. Anti-gay comments were rare. He found the Underground ‘quite a nice place to work’, with good pay and benefits, and shift work that was a good fit with his continuing LGBT rights work.

Sex Discrimination Act 1975

Women had started to work as Guards on the Underground from 1976, and would soon start to drive trains, thanks to the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. Julian noted that they could choose between trousers or skirts, or between ‘big butch jackets’ and smaller bolero-like jackets.  

In the spirit of the 1975 Act, ‘as a bit of a giggle, but a serious giggle’, he put in a memo to management asking for the same uniform options as the women. He was supported by his union, the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF), and the issue was eventually escalated to an official meeting at the LT headquarters, 55 Broadway. Facing a panel of four uniformed men and a psychologist, Julian was surprised by a sensitive offer to take a year off to transition to life as a woman. However, his core request to wear a skirt as a man was refused outright.  

Photo call at Earl's Court

Julian had already decided to leave the Underground by this time, but to make a point about gender role stereotypes he announced that he was resigning on a point of principle after the uniform decision, in November 1978. A pithy press release, emphasising that he was in no way intending to undermine the struggle for women’s equality, was issued, complete with a photo call at Earl’s Court on his last day.

Julian Hows is standing next to a bench and Earl's Court station with an Earl's Court roundel above the seat. Julian is standing on the left and is wearing a women's London Transport uniform. A female co-worker is standing on the right, leaning backwards with a hand on her hip.
Julian Hows and a female colleague during his protest at Earl’s Court station, November 1978, courtesy of Robert Workman Archive, Bishopsgate Institute

The press turned out in force, as Julian posed in a borrowed women’s uniform and gave the raised fist salute. The story made the local television news and the Evening Standard that evening, and the national press the next day. It was reported internationally by Reuters. The iconic photos of the event, including the ones by Robert Workman of Gay News included here, have taken on a life of their own as a lasting symbol of gender resistance and playful defiance.

Julian Hows is standing next to a bench at Earl's Court station. Julian is seen wearing a women's uniform from London Transport. He has is left hand pointed straight up into the air.
Photo courtesy of Robert Workman Archive, Bishopsgate Institute

We’ll let Julian have the last word:

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.

Julian Hows during the photo call at Earl's Court station. He is seen hanging out of a Tube car and is wearing a women's uniform
Julian Hows during his gender protest, 1978, courtesy of Robert Workman Archive, Bishopsgate Institute

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