LGBT History Project

Thursday, 18 October 2012

LGBT History Project meeting - 18 October 2012

I feel a bit guilty as I rarely report on our meetings, which I intended to when I started this blog. Bad Chris!

Today we met at the National Archives in Kew (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/), our most frequent venue.

We weren't researching, most of that is inhand for the 2013 edition of Past2Present; we were planning out how the magazine will be filled. Fingers crossed, we think we have some interesting stuff for you. Hope you can wait till February.

In addition, we've been working on a set of panels for a mobile exhibition on LGBT History and our work. Just starting but it already feels quite exciting to be doing something like that.

More meetings planned for later this year to help us finalise all that.

The 2013 Past2Present will be available online towards the end of next January, ready for LGBT History Month in February.

In the meantime, the previous editions are still available for download:
2009: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/24371157/Past2Present-2009.pdf
2010: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/24371157/Past2Present-2010.pdf
2011: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/24371157/Past2Present-2011.pdf
2012: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/24371157/Past2Present-2012.pdf

Monday, 15 October 2012

Allan Horsfall - LGBT pioneer 1927-2012

Allan Horsfall was one of the earliest gay rights activists in the UK, involved in setting up the Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE).

Sadly, I missed news of his death on 27th August because of my travels, so I thought I'd better mark it now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Horsfall
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campaign_for_Homosexual_Equality
http://www.c-h-e.org.uk/

Alan ran this website with Ray Gosling:
http://www.gaymonitor.co.uk/
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Gosling]

A piece from The Times by Peter Tatchell:
http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=4379a080f75712b27b8aa2fbd&id=2e49f035c3&e=30f0f88e99

Obituaries:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/11/allan-horsfall-obituary
http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=29512
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/09/05/comment-allan-horsfall-was-the-grandfather-of-the-uks-gay-rights-movement/
http://www.lgf.org.uk/news-articles/allan-horsfall-tribute-to-a-true-homo-hero/
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/allan-horsfall-influential-gay-rights-campaigner-8125122.html
http://lgbthistoryuk.org/wiki/index.php?title=Allan_Horsfall

Monday, 8 October 2012

The 8 most important black LGBT heroes in history

Gay Star News has posted an article on black LGBT heroes, which it seems appropriate to use in October, which is Black History Month here in the UK, while in the US they are celebrating LGBT History Month.

http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/8-most-important-black-lgbt-heroes-history081012

The article includes Brits Linda Bellos and Justin Fashanu, both of whom were highlighted in the 2010 Edition of Past2Present (pages 37 and 44, respectively). You can download that edition of Past2Present here:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/24371157/Past2Present%202010%20v2.3.pdf

Other editions of Past2Present:
2009: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/24371157/p2p%202009%20-%20Final.pdf
2011: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/24371157/Past2Present-Feb2011.pdf
2012: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/24371157/P2P2012.pdf

Saturday, 6 October 2012

Sir Frederick Leighton, Bt

Sir Frederic Leighton, Bt, (1830-1896) was an English painter and sculptor. His works depicted historical, biblical and classical subject matter. Leighton was bearer of the shortest-lived peerage in history; after only one day his hereditary peerage ended with his death.

While there is no black and white evidence to show that Leighton was attracted to men, his paintings and scultures give us some clues.

More on the 1st (and last) Baron Leighton here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederic_Leighton,_1st_Baron_Leighton

The Advcoate's site has a slideshow of some of his work:
http://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/artist-spotlight/2012/10/06/artist-spotlight-frederic-leighton#slide-1

Sunday, 30 September 2012

A Lesbian Photo-History

These pictures document the changing times over 150 years, from what was in fashion in clothing to what society deemed as appropriate.

Curated by Marie Lyn Bernard, also known as Riese, the pictures show how the community has changed and evolved. These images were found by painstakingly looking through archives, websites, digital collections, and Tumblr sites alike.

http://www.autostraddle.com/150-years-of-lesbians-144337/

The article on Autostraddle was the basis for a piece in The Mail On Sunday, of all newspapers!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2210599/Evolution-community-One-womans-stunning-collection-lesbians-past-150-years.html

Wednesday, 26 September 2012

October is LGBT History Month in the US

After a prolonged break, due to unfortunately having to go on holiday for three weeks in France (holiday photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrispark1957/sets/72157631592155709/ - if you like to look at other people's holiday photos, that is), I thought I'd ease myself back into the blog gently.

Next month is when our cousins in the US celebrate LGBT History Month. In February, when we celebrate LGBT History Month here, they're celebrating Black History Month. Confused? Me too.

This link will take you to a thoughtful piece on the Sun-Sentinel site, which explains quite succinctly why it's important to celebrate the various History Months:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/chan-lowe/sfl-lgbt-history-month-20120925,0,484107.story

Other links:
http://lgbthistorymonth.org.uk/ - NB: The rather pretty badges for 2013 are already on sale.

http://lgbthistorymonth.com/ - The US site.
http://www.lgbthistory.org.uk/ - LGBT History Month Scotland.
http://www.lgbthistorymonthnorfolk.org.uk/ - LGBT History Month Norfolk.
http://www.glbthistory.org/ - A US site.
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/themes/same-sex_desire_and_gender/introduction.aspx - Part of the Birtish Museum's site.
http://www.lgbthistoryuk.org/ - the UK LGBT History Project.

By the way:
The LGBT History Month Pre-Launch event this year will be held at Bletchley Park, home of the codebreakers, on Thursday 15th November (all day). More info from the UK LGBT History Month site.

Monday, 13 August 2012

Sister Boom Boom has died, aged 57

Sister Boom Boom, 1984

Jack Fertig, one of the first Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, died on the evening of 5th August of liver cancer, aged 57. He died at home with his partner, Elias Trevino, and other members of his family at his side.