ARCHIVE: LGBT History Month 2021

LGBT History Month is an annual celebration of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans community, its history, struggle, and culture. LGBTHM runs throughout February, with events taking place across the University, City and Country. Below is the programme of events that took place here at the University of Liverpool and around the city. To have a look at further local or national events visit the LGBTHM Calendar website.

Message from the Vice Chancellor

Watch this short video of the Vice Chancellor, Dame Janet Beer for LGBT History Month.

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Exhibition: LGBT Histories of the University of Liverpool

Online resource showcasing the events, stories and developments of LGBT issues here at the University.
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Exhibition: A History of Drag Timeline

Highlighting the contributions of Drag and the Queens (& Kings) which have sashayed through history.
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Exhibition: Black LGBTQ+ voices

Highlighting the past and present contributions of Black LGBTQ+ people.

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Event: Staff LGBT+ Network Coffee mornings

Two coffee mornings hosted on Zoom. Contact lgbt@liv.ac.uk to be sent the link to join. 10:30-11:30am / Thursday 4th Feb, and Tuesday 16th February 2021.

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Event: Images of Queer Kinship: Family Photographs in the Argentine fin-de-siècle

Explore the emergence of photography as a space of kinmaking with the power to create and challenge the meanings of family, queerness, and memory. Drawing on intimate portraits, diary entries, and cartes-de-visite, it shows how queerness came to impinge on the normative family in Argentina in the late 19th century, a moment of intense debate over sexual mores and gender roles in both private and public life. 5:00pm - 6:00pm / Thursday 11th February 2021
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Event: UoL LGBT+ Secret Film Night and Panel Discussion

As part of the Dept of Psychology’s Belongingness programme, everyone is invited to a Secret Film Night, and discussion with a range of invited LGBT+ panellists from UG to lecturers. Participation in the discussion is strongly encouraged, and will be facilitated/moderated by a member of the Staff LGBT Network. 5:00pm onwards / Wednesday 17th February 2021.
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Event: Drag Herstory Quiz hosted by Violet Period Pain

Liverpool’s very own Queen of Victoria Street, Violet Period pain is taking to the (virtual) mic to host a very special LGBTQ+ History Month Quiz. Winner of the quiz will receive a Drag Merch Bundle from KlubKids. This event is open to students who identify as LGBTQ+ and members of the Guilds LGBTQ+ Student Network only. 6:30-7:30pm / Friday 19th February
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Event: The Story of William Dorsey Swann by Channing Joseph

Award-winning journalist, LGBTQ+ historian and author of the forthcoming “House of Swann: Where Slaves became Queens – and Changed the World” Channing Joseph will be sharing their discovery of William Dorsey Swann. - An African American man born into slavery who became the world’s first self-described “drag queen”. This event is open to students only. 6:00-7:00pm / Monday 22nd February 2021
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Event: LGBT+ History Month Research Café

Research cafes are an opportunity to PhD students and academic researchers to share their work in an informal environment.  For LGBT+ History Month, please join the LJMU Together and the University of Liverpool's LGBT+ Staff Network for a research cafe with topics focused on LGBT+ communities/issues or researchers at are LGBT+ themselves. For more information, contact Judith Carr carrjc@liverpool.ac.uk
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Event: Thinking Queerly About Music History

Join for an informative talk delivered by the music department’s own Dr. Freya Jarman, reader in critical musicology and expert in queer theory within music. We’ll be looking at the history of the LGBT+ community in music, in particular the benefits and issues associated with ‘searching’ for queer people in the musical world. 7:00-9:00pm / Wednesday 24th February 2021
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Exhibition: LGBT+ STEMM posters – highlighting LGBT+ researchers through history

The Staff LGBT Network, Risk Institute, Institute of Integrative Biology, and School of Environmental Sciences have put together brief poster profiles of eight LGBT+ historical figures who have made significant contributions to STEMM.
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LJMU LGBT+ Charity Fundraiser – chance to win an iPad

To raise funds for the north-west based LGBT Foundation, and the chance to win an 11” iPad Pro (kindly donated by UNISON@LJMU) please consider making a donation. For every £2 you donate, you will receive 1 entry into the raffle.
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Event: LJMU LGBT+ History Month Book Club

Register for the LGBT+ History Month Book Club (see week one events here) for registering your interest and the discussion at the end of the month. You only need to register for the discussion event to take part.
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Event: Sociological Cinema LGBT History Month Special

Come and watch a showing of the film PRIDE and take part in the after-show discussion, with a Q&A featuring Paul Fairweather, a longstanding activist based in Manchester, Wednesday 24th February, 5:00-8:00pm. Staff & Student Login required.

March Events

Queer Students of Architecture

Event: Your Name's not on the List: The Failure of Space as Social Mediator

In this Queer Students of Architecture event, Danni Kerr will talk about how the power attached to spaces effects minority groups participation, invisibility and exclusion. 11 March 6:30pm.
Nancy Kelley Stonewall

Event: Nancy Kelley Stonewall Event: Body, Mind & Spirit” In conversation with Nancy Kelley, Stonewall CEO

This virtual event aims to address curiosities around gender-identity, genderfluidity and sexual orientation, whilst sharing best practice for how to support others whom may be struggling with their own identity or those that may be living in isolation at the moment. Tuesday 2nd March, 2:00-3:30pm

Blogs & Zine's

Sex and 'Sexuality' in South Asian History

"While the British justified the conquest and colonisation of a quarter of the world’s population on the grounds that they were bringing the ‘rule of law’ to peoples who had none, in reality they superimposed an alien legal system upon often complex pre-existing legal norms..." by Emily Kearon-Warrilow.

Villains and Queer Cinema

"As a bisexual Film Studies student, it is brilliant to see representation for LGBTQ+ people slowly trickle into mainstream media. However, it can be argued that the representation of queer characters has existed before, and in a very odd place; Disney Villains..." by Harriet Bell.
April Ashley

Using our archives - hidden stories from LGBT history

"Masters student and archivist, Emma Cummings, reflects on how archives and collections can act as an important part of highlighting hidden stories from LGBT history ..." by Emma Cummings

Special Collections & Archives LGBTHM

"In 1957 the ‘Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution’ published the Wolfenden Report, which recommended that male homosexuality should be decriminalised. However, it took another 10 years of public debate ..." by Darren Mooney.

Where are all the Trans People in History?

"Many trans people, myself included, wonder why we never learn about all of the amazing transgender people in history. Of course, being trans is not all there is to know about me, but it's still something I’m very proud of and that I continue to engage with ..." by Holly Kelly

Pride in Sociology

"Historically, sociology has had something of a mixed record in relation to sexuality as a social division. Born out of a desire to analyse social change ... the founding fathers of the discipline ... would have considered sexuality as something purely biological and individual ..." by Dr Mike Homfray.
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Alan Turing - Father of Computer Science

"Alan Turing was born in 1912. He was an English mathematician, Computer Scientist and Cryptanalyst. Many considered him the 'founder of computing science'. Turing was charged with gross indecency in the early 1950's, when a break in at his house led to the police being called ..."
Queer Students of Architecture

Queer Students of Architecture LGBTHM Zine

Read the first issues of the QSofA Zine with a focus on "your favourite queer space" for LGBTHM.

Sexuality in the Past: Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep

"The 5th Dynasty tomb of Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep, located in Saqqara, has been subject to much debate amongst Egyptologists, namely concerning what the relationship was between these two figures who share a tomb ..." by Tamar Atkinson.

Out and proud - the legacy of the Gay Liberation Front

"The Gay Liberation Front (GLF) originated in America, with the famous Stonewall Riots on 27 June 1969 and leading figures such as Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. By 1970, the idea had been brought over to the London School of Economics..." by Timothy Thompson.
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Five works of fiction to read to explore LGBT+ history

Library Assistant, Mike Holloway, has chosen five LGBT+ works of fiction all available to borrow from the Library. Read to find out more.

Privy Council Hearings on Same-Sex Marriage in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands

"The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is hearing two historic cases relating to same-sex marriage from the British Overseas Territories of Bermuda and the Cayman Islands ..." by Prof Nicola Barker.

Events in the City