Radical Roots Dudley Cave

Radical Roots for #LGBTHistoryMonth ❤️✊🐭🏳️‍🌈

Dudley Cave – soldier, prisoner of war, peace and reconciliation advocate, gay rights pioneer.

Born in London in 1921, Dudley worked for Odeon cinemas as a young man. He put his pacifist ideals to one side in the face of the Nazi persecution of the Jews, and served in the British Army during the Second World War. Captured by the Japanese in 1942, Dudley endured horrific treatment as a Prisoner of War and on liberation in 1945 was close to death.

As a gay man in postwar Britain, where homosexuality was illegal, Dudley suffered discrimination and was sacked from his job in 1954 because of his sexuality. That year he met his life partner, Bernard – the beginning of a 40 year relationship.

In 1971, Dudley became a Unitarian and played a leading role in the denomination’s opening up to gay and lesbian people and advocacy for gay rights. He played a leading role in Integroup (which brought together gay and straight people in dialogue), Switchboard LGBT+ Helpline and the Lesbian and Gay Bereavement Project.

Later, Dudley campaigned for LGBT soldiers to be recognised in official acts of remembrance. One of his last public acts was to lay a pink triangle wreath at the Cenotaph. His partner Bernard died in 1994 and Dudley himself died in 1999.

Find out more about Dudley in his obituary, by Peter Tatchell: https://www.independent.co.uk/…/obituary-dudley-cave…

Find out more about Unitarian LGBT+ History: https://www.unitarian.org.uk/whats…/lgbt-unitarian-voices/