LGBT+ History Month
LGBT+ History Month
Although we believe LGBTQIA+ history should be remembered, marked and celebrated all year round, LGBT+ History Month provides an opportunity to learn, educate, raise awareness and give visibility to Hackney’s LGBTQIA+ communities past and present.
LGBT+ History Month was first celebrated in 2005, and founded by Schools Out UK who have spent the last 45 years campaigning for LGBT+ Inclusion in Schools. The aim of LGBT+ History Month is to increase the visibility of the histories, lives and experiences of LGBT+ people as well as promoting their wellbeing and inclusion and raising awareness of matters that affect LGBT+ communities.
2024 Hackney Pride365 LGBT+ History Month
Hackney Pride365 was established in 2017 to celebrate the borough’s historic, diverse and boundary-breaking LGBTQIA+ communities. For LGBT+ History Month 2024, a grant scheme to support a local programme of 14 events has been awarded.
The 2024 programme ranges from walking tours, panel discussions, Zine making, exhibitions, dance classes, film screenings and much more! It involves artists and venues from across Hackney and represents our inclusive and intersection borough.
Things to see, read and listen to from the vaults….
LGBTQIA+ eBook and Audiobook Collections in Libraries
Discover the perfect way to add some pride🏳️🌈 to your reading list this February (and all year round).
To help celebrate LGBTQI+ History Month, Hackney libraries are highlighting their free ebook/audiobook, newspaper, and magazine collections - to take your reading/listening to the next level. Access bestselling titles from all genres in their huge E-Library collections.
Using the OverDrive platform or the Libby app you can download, read or listen to ebooks, audiobooks, newspapers, and magazines on your computer, smartphone, or tablet. Visit here or download the Libby app to start borrowing now. All you need is your library card number and PIN. If you’re not a library member, you can register online.
Proud Hackney’s Proud Podcast, in association with Hackney Archives and Don One
Join Proud Hackney’s Jim Kemp as he guides you and Don One on a tour of Queer histories with archivist Hannah Milton.
Episode 1: The Forgotten Drag Kings of Hackney (12 minutes)
Episode transcript here.
Episode 2: The Widow in Masquerade (12 minutes)
Episode transcript here.
Episode 3: Where Did All The Spaces Go? (13 minutes)
Episode transcript here.
Accessing and researching Hackney’s LGBT+ history
Digging for diamonds by Archivist, Hannah Milton (2022)
The wonderful thing about archives is falling across a diamond while nosing through a box; the National Archives calls this digging for diamonds. A good example of this was finding this image of the original cast of Jackie Kay’s Chiaroscuro in the Hackney Archives collections.
‘Chiaroscuro cast. Left to Right: Jacqueline de Peza, Ella Wilder, Bernadine-Evaristo & Vinny Dhillon. Photo taken by Suzanne Roden/ Format (1986)’ (1996/01)
The play, performed at The Drill Hall Arts Centre by the Theatre of Black Women, explored issues of homophobia, identity and feminism. The story depicts a couple coming out as both gay and in a relationship to their two friends.
The play came to light while I was reading about alternative theatre on Unfinished Histories: Recording the History of Alternative Theatre.
The Theatre of Black Women was Britain’s first black women’s theatre company and based in Kingsland High Street, Dalston. It was established by Bernardine Evaristo, then Hackney resident Patricia St. Hilaire and Paulette Randall. (Hackney Museum 1986/48)
Discovering that London Borough of Hackney had part funded the play gave a strong indication that information might be in the Borough’s collections at Hackney Archives. The year also gave a clue on how to best search our online catalogue.
Although nothing appeared for Chiaroscuro, the year highlighted an accession of LBH press images from the 1980s (accession reference 1996/01) and this is where the digging began! After retrieving the box from the stores I found nestled amongst the hundreds of pictures of sporting events, openings and Mayors, was a press shot of the Chiaroscuro cast!
Such a diamond can only be found through digging!
You too can search the catalogue, request a box to explore in the archives, and go digging for LGBT+ stories.
Hackney Archives is open Wednesday to Friday, 10am-6pm and the first Saturday of every month, 10am-5pm.
LGBTQIA+ Histories at Hackney Museum
In 2017-18, Hackney Museum relaunched a programme to collect LGBTQI+ stories. This culminated in two exhibitions and the recording of five Oral History interviews, brief transcripts are available to read on the by searching Hackney Museum’s collections online.
Find out more about the exhibition '‘From Bedroom to Battleground’ here
Watch the film We Are Project Indigo created for the exhibition.
Launch of LGBT+ History Month, 2018 at the opening of From Bedroom to Battleground. This exhibition shared the voices of the members of Project Indigo, a local LGBTQI+ youth group run by Off Centre, a young people’s mental health and wellbeing charity. The members of Project Indigo hoped that by sharing their personal stories, they can help to teach people what it’s like to be young and LGBTQI+ in Hackney.