Long time champion of the queer community, and the first woman to sign the London Partnership register, Linda Wilkinson, will take on the mammoth task of chairing Amnesty International UK this week.

"It's not a sexy role," Ms Wilkinson insisted, and then, thinking of events in America, said: "I am daunted for the world and for all of us really. Amnesty will most likely come under fire as we will not shift from our central thesis of applying the Universal Declaration of Human Rights for all and being against the death penalty. Luckily I don't think that we will be a lone voice in the wilderness, but there will be difficult times ahead."

Ms Wilkinson, 49, garnered global media attention on September 5 when she became the first woman to sign Ken Livingstone's Partnership Register along with Carol Budd, 48, her partner of 16 years.
"Married life is treating me just fine," Ms Wilkinson said. "Carol and I have a remarkable relationship based on trust, respect and love. I suppose that's why we've lasted so long."

Born in Columbia Road, the flower market, and a research scientist at University College London for 22 years, Ms Wilkinson became Chair of Amnesty's LGBT wing a year ago. Her marriage' ceremony was very much a political statement in itself. In the speech she made afterwards she referred to the plight of those in the queer community who could not
hope to dare do what she was doing.

Despite her awesome workload, Ms Wilkinson has found time to write Dust at Midnight, a play about love, loss and Tennessee Williams surfing the internet. It will enjoy a three week run at London's White Bear Theatre next February. Her book Watercress but no Sandwiches' comes out next month. It traces the 300 year history of the eight streets, including the flower market on Columbia Road, which comprise the Jesus Hospital Estate in East London.

During her stint at Amnesty's LGBT wing two cases have stayed with Ms Wilkinson. "The first is Mariana Cetiner," she said. "A lesbian imprisoned in Romania whom, along with other organisations, we managed to get freed. She was Amnesty International's first ever lesbian prisoner of conscience and the fact that we had a good resoloution was remarkable. Secondly, Demet Demir, a Turkish transsexual whom I ended up writing a play about. She had been tortured, raped and beaten many times by the police. We brought her over to London to see the play and I met her at Heathrow Airport. I don't know what I expected but it certainly wasn't a soft, gentle philosophical person with more love in them than I have seen in many of my compatriots. A truly remarkable human rights activist."

On November 11, Ms Wilkinson becomes Chair of Amnesty International UK.
"I will never lose sight of my LGBT work, we still have so far to go everywhere and homophobia is invidious in many cultures," she said. "I think I most admire those ordinary people in the LGBT community with the guts to stand up and be counted such as those in the military and teaching professions. Equality will only happen when we truly accept ourselves."