The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Town urged to honour its ‘unknown’ heroine
Kirkcaldy MP Neale Hanvey has called for unsung political heroine Kath Duncan to be honoured in her home town.
Mr Hanvey wants to see a statue or street named in honour of the radical school teacher, described as one of the most important civil rights campaigners of the 20th Century.
Despite her involvement in high-level campaigns, including the 1920s hunger marches and the suffragette movement, Kath Duncan is largely unknown in Kirkcaldy.
Unlike Wealth Of Nations author Adam Smith, there is nothing to mark her achievements.
But Mr Hanvey wants to change that, saying it would be a travesty if her work was lost in the mists of time.
The MP has been interviewed for a new documentary on the working-class woman who fought for social equality.
Kath Duncan was born in Tarbert, Argyll, in 1889 and spent much of her childhood in Friockheim in Angus.
She later moved to Kirkcaldy, which she always considered her home.
Despite being only 5ft 2in, she was fierce and commanded attention wherever she went.
Documentary-maker Ray Barron-Woolford is now capturing her legacy on film in a bid to secure her place in history.
And he was keen to interview Mr Hanvey as the first openly gay MP for the Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath constituency.
Recent research has shown that Kath Duncan was a lesbian and used her London home to create a safe space for lesbian and gay men at a time when
homosexuality was illegal in the UK.
The MP drew on her story to discuss current divisions in the LGBT movement following moves to advance transgender rights.
He also spoke of his experiences as a gay man in the 1980s and the support the gay community received from women during the Aids pandemic.
Mr Barron-Woolford’s documentary follows his well-received book – The Last Queen Of Scotland – about Duncan.
Filming is due to finish this year, with the documentary set for release during LGBT History Month in February.
Mr Hanvey said: “It’s sad that Kath Duncan’s powerful story is largely unknown.
“It would have been a travesty if her outstanding achievements had been lost in the mists of time.
“Ray has rescued this amazing woman’s story and I am deeply honoured to play my part.
“She is exactly the sort of person that should be taught in schools – a name that should be connected to Kirkcaldy and celebrated no less than Adam Smith.”
He added: “I think we need to honour Kath in some other way, perhaps through a statue or street name.
“We’ve got one of the most important civil rights campaigners of the last century connected to our town, yet she’s not recognised in any way.
“The breadth of issues that Kath campaigned on reminds us that LGBT campaigning was going on long before Stonewall, and that, of course, all civil rights movements are intertwined.”
Mr Hanvey said Kath Duncan stood for solidarity, community and fairness.
“These are principals I see woven through our town today and it is fitting that Kath is finally getting recognition for a life of dedicated service to advance the rights of others,” he said.