Personal Life
Eagle was joint winner of the British Girls' Under-18 chess championship in 1976.
She gained the distinction of becoming the British Parliament's first openly lesbian member by coming out in September 1997 in an interview with The Observer. Maureen Colquhoun, an earlier lesbian MP, did not declare her sexuality until after time in Parliament. The first out lesbian MP at the time of election is Margot James.
In September 2008, Eagle entered into a civil partnership with Maria Exall.
Eagle was joined in the House of Commons at the 1997 general election by her twin sister, Maria Eagle; they thus became the first set of twins to sit in the House. She and her sister are currently the only pair of sisters in the Commons. She was ranked in the top 50 on The Independent's 'Pink List' of the 101 most influential gay men and women in Britain 2009.
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