Cheryl

Presenting Stuart Feather

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Dec 092015

Continuing our series of posts introducing the many speakers who will be giving talks during the LGBT History Festival at M Shed next February.

Stuart Feather will be presenting Gay Liberation, Sexual Revolution & Radical Queens, as part of the National History Day on Saturday, February 20th.

Hegel is a Drag: Thesis: scores of Wests, Garlands and boas (and I don’t mean Franz). Antithesis: gay, feminist – leftist boos at anything that hobbles in heals. Synthesis? With a vengeance; in a viciously modern attack on sex roles, liberation prudery, and boredom in the orchestra. Consequence: giant cucumbers, fake nuns, dead light-bulbs; weapons of the first lesbian and gay sexual revolution whose demonstrations were colourful, Camp, bitingly sarcastic: wrong-footing authority at every turn. Maoists, Marxists, Radical Feminists and Radical Queens struggled to define the idea of gay liberation. Agitators with positive anarchy they transformed British society for homosexual and heterosexual alike. It’s proof that not only can rhinestones and politics live together, but they must.

Presenting Jana Funke

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Dec 072015

This is the first in a series of posts introducing the many speakers who will be giving talks during the LGBT History Festival at M Shed next February.

Jana Funke will be presenting Beyond The Well of Loneliness: Radclyffe Hall in the Archive, as part of the National History Day on Saturday, February 20th.

Radclyffe Hall’s The Well of Loneliness (1928) is the most famous and widely read lesbian novel. It is also a deeply controversial book that has been celebrated for its defence of homosexual relationships and criticised for its bleak depiction of lesbian love. This talk will draw on new archival materials to take us beyond The Well of Loneliness and open up a new understanding of Radclyffe Hall’s views on gender and sexuality.

Dr Jana Funke is an Advanced Research Fellow at the University of English, working on the history of sexuality, sexual science, and early twentieth-century literature. This talk will draw on her research for a forthcoming volume entitled The World and other Unpublished Works by Radclyffe Hall (Manchester University Press, 2016).

History Month Preview

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Dec 042015

We are still firming up on a few dates and venues for next year’s National Festival of LGBT History events, but to give you a flavour of what will be happening here are some details about our headline speakers, and some of the topics being covered.

Stuart Milk is the nephew of Harvey Milk, the gay Californian politician. Stuart now heads up the Harvey Milk Foundation, and travels the world talking about LGBT rights. He’ll be spending a week in Bristol visiting local schools and universities as well as doing public events.

Lady Phyll Opoku-Gyimah is a co-founder of UK Black Pride. She was also one of the judges for this year’s Independent Rainbow List. Phyll has a long and successful career in the Civil Service and Trade Unions.

Update: Sadly Fox Fisher is no longer able to attend our event. We are actively looking for a similarly high profile trans speaker.

Other topics that will be covered by talks include:

Gay buildings
Being trans and Muslim
LGBT rights in the workplace
Radclyffe Hall
LGBT Radio
Michael Dillon
Mary Renault

Starting next week we’ll be introducing you to some of our other speakers.

LGBT History Showcase

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Nov 302015

Each year Schools Out, the charity that runs LGBT History Month at a national level, puts on a Showcase event to introduce the theme for the coming year. The theme for 2016 is religion, belief and philosophy. The Showcase took place at Queens’ College Cambridge last week. OutStories was represented because we are running the South-West Hub for the 2016 National Festival of LGBT History.

During the day a range of organizations including Stonewall, the NUT and GIRES were available to talk to the public about their work. Worskhops were run for local educators, and the city of Cambridge adopted an Equality Pledge.

We believe in the dignity of all people and their right to respect and equality of opportunity. We value the strength that comes with difference and the positive contribution that diversity brings to our community. Our aspiration is for Cambridge and the wider region to be safe, welcoming and inclusive.

The evening included a variety of speakers including a gay Sikh, a female philosophy lecturer and a Jewish trans man. It was hosted by lesbian musician, Claire Mooney, and the bisexual actor, Cyril Nri (The Bill, Cucumber). Music was provided by jazz singer, Mark Jennett, and the one-and-only Labi Siffre (pictured above).

Preparations for next February are well advanced and over the next couple of months we will be introducing you to the many fascinating speakers who will be visiting Bristol as part of our contribution to the National Festival.

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