| Activity | On December 18, 1998, the Lesbian and Gay Psychology Section-was officially founded within the British Psychological Society (BPS), three days after the nascent group had run a seminar 'Lesbian and Gay Perspectives on the Family' at the BPS London conference. Three previous proposals for a similar group had been turned down (in 1991, 1993, and 1994) by the BPS Scientific Affairs Board and/or Council on the grounds that the field was "too narrow" and "too political." A symposium was Anti-lesbian and anti-gay correspondence was published in the BPS journal, The Psychologist, under the heading, "Are you normal?" Members of the steering group were sent abusive hate mail by BPS members. The membership ballot which finally approved the formation of the new Section was notable for having more "anti" votes than ever before recorded in any parallel BPS ballot--1988 voted in favor, and 1623 voted against the formation of the Section.
The struggle for the Section began in 1990 when four lesbians-two academic psychologists (Celia Kitzinger and Sue Wilkinson), a clinical psychologist (Rachel Perkins), and an educational psychologist (Louise Comely)-formed the "Lesbians in Psychology Sisterhood" (LIPS) to act as a steering group. The first proposal for a "Psychology of Lesbianism" Section was rejected by the Scientific Affairs Board (SAB) and BPS Council in 1991. However, it sent serious ripples through the BPS, which changed its rules to make it harder to form new sections in the future. The founding membership now has to be more than double the previous figure. This first proposal also precipitated a major split within the Psychology of Women Section which did not originally support the proposal and it was only with a change of Chair that it subsequently decided to do so. LIPS tried once again to establish a Psychology of Lesbianism Section in 1993, but we were again turned down by both SAB and Council.
The following year saw a major change of strategy-an alliance between lesbians and gay men-none of whom had previously been forthcoming. Six members submitted a revised proposal-now for a "Lesbian and Gay Psychology" Section-which, this time, made it through SAB. The campaigners sensed that the tide of Society opinion was turning, but were disappointed in October, 1994, when the BPS Council rejected this proposal by just one vote. This apparently caused some internal embarrassment, and the proposers of the new Section were invited to meet with senior officers of the Society, including the then President, to discuss the way forward. The tenor of the advice was "not to make waves," "to be patient," and "to expect success in due course."
In late 1997, (Adrian Coyle, Martin Milton, Celia Kitzinger, and Sue Wilkinson) put a revised version of the "Lesbian and Gay Psychology" Section proposal forward once again, and this time it quickly obtained SAB support. It was evident that there had been a sea change. Although we still faced virulent opposition from a significant minority, there was also a groundswell of support. When the Council eventually approved the proposal on Valentine's Day, 1998, their vote in favor was overwhelming. The next step was a membership ballot (a new requirement which had been introduced since the first proposal). This involved a further tranche of hard work. The proposers carried out a personal mailing of the entire Register of Chartered Psychologists, lobbied known supporters to vote, and publicized the Section via a lead article in The Psychologist (Kitzinger et al., 1998). On December 5, 1998, the ballot result was announced at a Special General Meeting,
The name of the section was mooted to be changed to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Queer Psychologies Section in 2005 but this was rejected. It was actually changed to Psychology of Sexualities following a membership ballot at the Section's 2009 AGM.
The Section has a number of annual awards:
Community Engagement Award
• Awarded to someone who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of sexualities and/or to the LGBTQI community (e.g., increasing understanding, acceptance, breaking down barriers around stigma)
• Should be nominated by a member but the nominee does not have to be a psychologist. Must not be eligible for the Practitioner Award.
Undergraduate Prize
• Awarded for outstanding work completed as part of an undergraduate psychology degree (e.g. a dissertation, essay) in the field of sexualities
Postgraduate Prize
• Awarded for outstanding work completed as part of an postgraduate psychology degree (e.g. a Masters dissertation or PhD thesis) in the field of sexualities
Researcher Award
• Awarded to a researcher at any stage of their career for contributions to research (including empirical qualitative, quantitative or mixed-methods) in relation to the field of sexualities and/or LGBTQI psychology
• Must not be eligible for either of the student prizes.
Practitioner Award
• Awarded to a registered practitioner psychologist (e.g. Health, Clinical, Counselling, Educational, Forensic etc) for outstanding applied contribution to the field of sexualities (e.g. working with LGBTQI populations.
The winners of our awards are informed in advance of the Psychology of Sexualities Conference in July and the winners will be invited to attend and to give a presentation based on their work in the field at the conference. Conference registration fee will be waived and travel cost of up to £150 will be covered. By accepting the award they also have to write an article based on their winning contribution for the Section’s publication Psychology of Sexualities Review publication
1999 Chair Celia Klitzinger Hon Sec Adrian Coyle
2000 Chair Celia Klitzinger Hon Sec Adrian Coyle
2001 Chair Celia Klitzinger Hon Sec Adrian Coyle
2002 Chair Celia Klizinger
2003 Chair Adrian Coyle
2004 Chair Peter Hegarty
2005 Chair Peter Hegarty
2006 Chair Joanna Semlyen Hon Sec Meg Barker
2007 Chair Megan Barker
2008 Chair Megan Barker Hon Sec Chris Carmona
2009 Chair Joan Semlyen Hon Sec Chris Carmona
Psychology of Sexualities
2010 Chair Lyndsey Moon
2011 Chair Lyndsey Moon
2012 Chair Lyndsey Moon
2013 Chair Lyndsey Moon Hon Sec Claudio Pestana
2014 Chair Lyndsey Moon
2015 Chair Elizabeth Peel Hon Sec Joanna Semlyen
2016 Chair Elizabeth Peel
2018 Chair Adam Jowett Hon Sec Joanna Semlyen
2019 Chair Adam Jowett
2020 Chair Adam Jowett
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