Exploring LGBTQ+ history
LGBTQ+ History Month takes place in February and celebrates LGBTQ+ lives and achievements, as well as exploring its history and related movements.
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London has an extensive LGBTQ+ history, with the community here being one of the largest in Europe. To celebrate and learn more, here are a number of ways you can delve into its history.
Go back in time
Take a free (donations encouraged) LGBTQ+ history tour of London, exploring the stories of iconic people and places that have shaped the city and community through the centuries. Alternatively, the Museum of London, is hosting a series of talks exploring the cultural heritage of London’s modern Queer community as seen in its collections. Additionally, the Bishopsgate Institute has taken over The Curve at the Barbican to present an archive installation of objects and media highlighting 40 moments and stories in London’s LGBTQ+ history.
Explore LGBTQ+ life beyond London
As well as learning about London’s LGBTQ+ past, there’s also the opportunity to find out about LGBTQ+ history outside of the city and the UK. Eradicating Homophobic Legislation in the Caribbean will detail the homophobic effects of colonisation in the Caribbean, while Gender Variance in History and Culture will connect colonialism, cultural identities, patriarchy, misogyny and legislation with transphobia and current issues. Finally, This Is Who I Am is a rehearsed reading of first-hand accounts from LGBT+ refugees who fled their home countries, and the challenges they face undergoing the UK asylum process.
Read up at Gay’s the Word
If you love to read, Gay’s the Word is the place for you. Open since 1979, it’s the only dedicated LGBTQ+ bookshop in England. The shop stocks fiction and non-fiction so you can read up on LGBTQ+ history, find your new favourite LGBTQ+ author, or try some classics written by Oscar Wilde and Virginia Woolf.
Explore LGBTQ+ London landmarks
From the scene of the first ever gay rights protest (Highbury Fields), to statues and plaques commemorating great LGBTQ+ individuals such as Alan Turing, London is a great place to learn about queer heritage. Time Out details some of these LGBTQ+ landmarks to visit in the city.
Grab a drink
The Admiral Duncan and the Royal Vauxhall Tavern are just two of many famous historical LGBTQ+ pubs in London. The Royal Vauxhall Tavern’s Queer History Club looks back on the past and celebrates the present through a range of drag, cabaret and karaoke nights.