From the press release:
A
Bristol community group is hot on the trail of the city's secret gay and
lesbian history thanks to a grant of £20,300 from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
OutStories Bristol, a not-for-profit community group, is working to track down
the stories of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people in the city since
the 1930s. Now it wants more LGBT people
in the city to come forward to tell its volunteers about their lives.
Until
legal restrictions were eased in the late 1960s, the great majority of LGBT
Bristolians had to be very discreet and many led double-lives. OutStories
Bristol is training its volunteers to gather the tales, from the mundane to the
outrageous, of LGBT people across the city. The stories they collect will
feature in a major exhibition at the city's M Shed Museum in February 2013.
OutStories
Bristol has already collected many fascinating stories via its volunteers and
its website and Facebook group. These include:
- The story of the woman who founded Bristol Gay Switchboard in 1975 when she realised the need for an information and help service. For over three years she ran the service from her Totterdown home before an office and dedicated phone line were set up.
- The first person in Britain to complete female-to-male gender surgery.
- Tales of the Radnor Hotel, probably Bristol's earliest gay pub.
Appealing
for LGBT Bristolians of all ages to come forward with their stories, OutStories
Bristol Co-Chair Andy Foyle said:
"This
project is important because it's the hidden history of around ten percent of
Bristol’s population.
"It’s
vital people see that we didn't just pop out of the woodwork in the 'permissive
1960s'. We've been around a long time and our history says much about the
changing attitudes of society in general.
"It's
vital that we collect the stories of LGBT people, especially older ones whose
adult lives spanned the years before 1967.
"But
we also want the everyday stories and those that bring things up to
date: your friend's civil partnership last year, the chap you worked with
whom everyone accepted was gay; the lesbian couple who raised a family, and so
on."
Commenting
on the grant award, HLF’s acting Head of South West, Richard Bellamy said:
“Everyone
has a story to tell about their life that is unique to them; that’s why we are
so keen to support projects like the one that OutStories is running, which
enable people who might have been hidden from history to have their voices
heard. The story of the UK’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities
has only begun to emerge in recent years, but it is providing a vital insight
for present and future generations into the beliefs and attitudes of the
past."
Whatever
your sexual orientation or gender identity, if you have a story about Bristol's
LGBT communities, OutStories want to hear from you. You can email
contact@outstoriesbristol.org.uk or write to OutStories c/o LGBT Bristol, Create
Centre, B Bond, Smeaton Road, Bristol BS1 6XN. Information will be treated in
strict confidence.
For
further information see www.outstoriesbristol.org.uk and the OutStories Bristol
Facebook page: www.facebook.com/groups/173087066088784/.
