Kate Charlesworth
Kate Charlesworth (born 1950) is a British cartoonist and artist known for her work about LGBT life and history. She was born in Barnsley, Yorkshire, England, to Joan and Harold Charlesworth, who ran a corner shop. She studied graphics and stage design at Manchester College of Art and Design from 1968 to 1973 and is an only child.
Her career began in 1973 with a daily strip called Twice Nightly for the Manchester Evening News, featuring two gay characters and suffragette themes. The strip ran for six months. In 1976 she moved to London and started publishing in gay and lesbian papers like The Pink Paper and Gay News, as well as in LGBT comic books such as Strip AIDS, Dyke’s Delight, and AARGH. She also appeared in mainstream outlets like The Guardian and The Independent. Her work often deals with lesbian and broader LGBT issues, using humor to address topics like oppression, politics, and stereotypes. She aims for emotionally realistic characters, using photographic reference to capture genuine expressions.
Charlesworth has worked on science comics for New Scientist and provided illustrations for books by the National Museums of Scotland. She moved into graphic novels and illustrated Sally Heathcote: Suffragette, written with Mary Talbot and Bryan Talbot, published in 2014; The Guardian later named it among the top 10 books about revolutionaries. She also contributed to Nelson (2011), a collaborative graphic novel, and spent four years on Sensible Footwear: A Girl’s Guide, an autobiographical history of gay and lesbian life in England and Scotland from World War II to today, published in 2019.
Her work includes storyboard projects for Bob the Builder, Pingu, and Timmy Time, as well as card designs for Cath Tate Cards. She creates 3-D art and other crafts, and has spoken about LGBT history and rights. In 1988 she helped campaign against Clause 28, which would have restricted the promotion of homosexuality by local authorities. She has spoken out against Brexit and Donald Trump as threats to LGBT progress and has promoted LGBT history through walking tours and exhibitions in Scotland.
As of 2019, she lives in the Scottish Borders with her partner, Dianne, a dog, and a cat.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 17:28 (CET).