No, she doesn’t wear make-up, but that’s her own choice – “I just can’t be bothered,” she says. But there’s no reason why she shouldn’t wear it if she wanted to. You can be as butch as you like and still wear make-up; it’s your own choice. Linda wants people to see the person not a label.
Linda is happy to have her make-up done on this occasion and sits down quietly as she lets our make-up artist paint her magic.
One of the many things she loved about Denise Welch was that on one of their first meetings they were asked to do a picture together and Denise asked whether she had any lipstick on her.
“I could have just snapped, ‘No, judge your audience Denise!” Linda says, with a laugh. “But actually, it was great that she asked, because it meant she had not judged me and not put me in a pigeonhole based on how I looked. It was one of the things that made us gel.”
Linda stands out as someone who made a huge difference to attitudes about diversity and the LGBTQ community, where she is spreading her message across the Atlantic and to Australia, where she is in partnership with the publisher Silke Bade.
In the UK, she publishes Diva magazine and is executive producer of the hit online show, Different for Girls. She is also a patron of Albert Kennedy Trust, a charity that helps homeless LGBTQ youth in the UK. Linda created the Diversity in Media Awards and is founder and director of the European Diversity Award.
In her personal life, Linda has twin girls, Sophie and Phoenix, with her former partner of eight years, Sarah Garrett. Sophie made her acting debut this year in Different for Girls.
“For me diversity is about equality in life and the workplace. We should not see others as different but instead recognise their individual talents,” Linda says. “I am not suggesting that we should have quotas, but we must not discriminate.”
Linda left home at 15 after she came out as gay to her mother and was given the stark choice of undergoing electric shock therapy to “cure” her or get out of the house. She chose the latter and built an empire against all odds.
“There are so many inspirations that I draw from,” she tells me. “Nelson Mandela had a huge impact on society. Then there are people like the beautiful actress Sophie Ward, who gave enormous hope to many gay women when she came out publicly. It wasn’t long ago that being gay would have meant the kiss of death to a career in the film and television world; Sophie helped so many.”
Linda credits Martina Navratilova as a front-runner in the drive for acceptance of diversity. One of the greatest tennis players of all time, she was, however, the only female player not to receive sponsorship. “Today Ellen Degeneres and Cara Delevingne have plenty of sponsorships, so things are moving, but let’s not forget women like Martina who led the way.”
Linda met Denise two years ago. Denise had been nominated as Ally of the Year at the Diva Awards and Linda wanted to see if she was the real deal. Linda has a reputation for taking instant likes or dislikes to people, but it’s not like that, she explains. “No, it’s just that I’ve been about a bit and I know those who are just cashing in, or who have nothing more to them than their celebrity.”
“For me diversity is about equality in life and the workplace. We should not see others as different but instead recognise their individual talents,”