Lavinia Co-op

Lavinia Co-op (born 1949) grew up in a working class neighborhood of East London. Always fascinated with costume and adornment Lavinia did not understand their sexual preference until discovering the Liverpool Street urinals. She worked as a dresser at Wyndham’s Theatre and in the early 1970s became aware of the Gay Liberation Front, where she met Bette Bourne and lived in a gay communal house. A founding member of Bloolips, she performed with them throughout their existence, from 1978 to 1998.  Lavinia subsequently did solo shows at La Mama and Theater for the New City.

In this Artifacts’ Bonus Film: Lavinia and Bette Bourne provide a quick primer on Polari, the secret language of the Brit queer subculture, sewing together prison slang, carnie talk, sex workers language and drug terms.