OutStories Bristol

Revealing Stories: lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans Lives in the Bristol region from c.1940

OutStories Bristol’s highly successful ‘Revealing Stories’ exhibition is on display in the foyer of UWE Frenchay campus library from Friday 11 April to mid May. The exhibition was originally displayed at Bristol’s M Shed during LGBT history month (February) in 2013 and extended for another two weeks due to popular demand.

‘Revealing Stories’ at Frenchay campus library

The exhibition is based on archival records and oral history interviews with lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people associated with Bristol and the surrounding area. Focusing on living memory (c. 1940s to the present) it tells how people fought to shape and control their own lives. It is the story of those who witnessed these changes and helped to make history.

Another chance if you missed it at M Shed!  The exhibition is open to visitors.

Note: this display comprises the vertical text panels only; it doesn’t include any of the objects that were in display cases at M Shed.

 Friday 11 April to Monday 19 May 2014               Click here for library opening hours
Closing date may change due to library refurbishment – click here for latest information

Frenchay campus library,   University of the West of England,   Coldharbour Lane,   Bristol   BS16 1QY

    Frenchay campus library contact details                      Directions, map and parking                        UWE events diary

 Keep checking this page as more events will be added as they are confirmed.

LGBT History Walk around Bath

A walk around the centre of Bath, pointing out the buildings and monuments which have LGBT associations, either as places where people socialised or as meeting places for the LGBT movement over the last forty years. The walk should last about an hour and a half and finish back by the War Memorial, with the option of warming up in a local tea-shop. Led by Robert Howes of Gay West. This is a free event but a donation to OutStories Bristol would be welcome. This is a short walk on the streets of central Bath on a wheel-chair accessible route.

Sunday, 9 February 2014 from 14:00 to 15:30pm.  Meet at the War Memorial in Queen’s Parade, Bath. Contact: Tel. 0800 321 3083; email: info@gaywest.org.uk

Author Jill Gardiner on the Gateways, legendary London Lesbian club

The Killing of Sister George premiered at the Bristol Old Vic 50 years ago this year. The play was made into a legendary film, part of which was filmed at the equally legendary Gateways club in London. Jill Gardiner, author of From the Closet to the Silver Screen, will be giving a talk about the club and the movie, and showing some clips from the film, too.

Saturday, 15 February 2.30pm-4pm, M-Shed, Prince’s Wharf, Wapping Road, Bristol BS1 4RN.

Free event: but donations to OutStories Bristol project gratefully received. Book on eventbrite.co.uk.

Mystery History Tour led by Andy Foyle

Bristol historian and author Andy Foyle leads an easy stroll (lasting around 1.5 hrs) through the city, lifting the curtain on our own peculiar and sometimes outrageous histories.

Saturday, 22 February, 1.30-3pm. Meet outside the Register Office (Old Council House), Corn Street; nearly opposite the Exchange and the Nails.

Free event: suggested donation of £3 to support OutStories Bristol. Book on eventbrite.co.uk.

Cheryl Morgan on gay superheroes

Anyone old enough to remember the Adam West Batman TV series will know that it would be hard to imagine anything more camp. And yet at the same time superhero comics were strictly controlled with regard to content for fear of corrupting the youth of America (and doubtless the rest of the world as well). A lot has changed since the 1960s, and occasionally the mass media gets all excited about a superhero coming out as gay. But do those men in tights still expect us to believe that their dress sense is purely utilitarian? And how about the rest of the LGBT spectrum? Do they get a look in?  Cheryl Morgan takes on a tour of a world in which we have been asked to believe that a man can fly, but not that he might fall in love with his teen sidekick.

Sunday, 23 February, 2.30-3.30pm
Free event: but donations to OutStories Bristol project gratefully received. Book on eventbrite.co.uk.

M-Shed, Prince’s Wharf, Wapping Road, Bristol BS1 4RN.

Knock on the door. Get the once-over from the bouncers.

Name three other gay clubs you know.

Step inside.

Take a trip back to the twilight world of the homosexual discotheque of the 1960s.

Music direct from London courtesy of yer actual Unskinny Bop deejays. And more treats in store, too.

For pansies and BD women, butches and femmes, fairies and flamers, nancy boys and kiki girls, omipalones and palone-omis, Mattachine Men and Daughters of Bilitis. Dress in your best 60s threads. Come as you were or how you’d like to have been. Mods and rockers, beatniks and hippies. All welcome. But keep it nice eh? We don’t want Lily Law dropping by.

Friday, 28 February, 9pm-late

Toto’s, Redcliffe St, Bristol, 125 Redcliffe Way, Bristol BS1 6HU

Limited spaces. Book via eventbrite.co.uk.

Find out more about all LGBT History Month events in the area on LGBT Bristol’s website.

Want to get involved in gathering LGBT oral history?

Come to the briefing session for current and prospective interviewers to plan and kick off the next round of interviews.

Monday, 2nd December 2013 for two hours starting at 7pm.

Call or text Charlie on 07802 422091 for venue.

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Photo: Brand Davidson. Graphic design: Marcus FitzGibbon.

Twilight Men and Cake Shop Ladies:
The Press Treatment of Homosexuality in the 1950s and 1960s

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A talk by Robert Thompson, chair of the Lesbian and Gay Newsmedia Archive (LAGNA)

In an age when sources of information were limited, the press was the main medium in which the debate on decriminalising male homosexual behaviour reached the British public. But the press didn’t merely report the issue, it shaped the debate and its variant portrayals of homosexual men and women are not always dissimilar from those we see today. Fully illustrated. Contains nudity.

Part of the Hall-Carpenter Archives and based at The Bishopsgate Institute in the City of London, LAGNA houses over 200,000 cuttings taken from the non-gay press on all LGBT matters since the late Nineteenth Century.

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Saturday 16 November 2013, 2pm to 3:30pm
M Shed Museum,   Princes Wharf,   Wapping Road,   Bristol,   BS1 4RN

Free entry
Fully accessible building
Location map

Book your place with Eventbrite
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OutStories Bristol’s Annual General Meeting

Robert’s talk will followed at 3:30pm by our AGM that will include:

• A review of the last year’s activities and achievements.
• A look forward to our plans for the coming year.
• A question and answer session providing an opportunity for you to give your ideas and suggestions.
• A financial report.
• A proposal to become a Charitable Incorporated Organisation. This will permit OutStories Bristol to enter into contracts in its own right and remove from our trustees personal liability for any debts.

Everyone is welcome to attend.

Only registered members of OutStories Bristol will  be permitted to vote on AGM motions.

Feb 2013: ‘Revealing Stories’ exhibition project team with the Lord Mayor
(Photo: Matt Seow)

May 2013: Catherine Littlejohns of M-Shed receives our audio recordings

Feb 2013: Writer & director Neil Bartlett at MShed

July 2012: Andy Foyle with donations
(Photo: Mathew White, Scequet)

OutStories Bristol’s highly successful ‘Revealing Stories’ exhibition is to be displayed in Bristol’s City Hall (formerly known as the Council House) from Monday 8th to Thursday 11th July 2013 – during Bristol Pride week.

The exhibition is based on archival records and oral history interviews with lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people associated with Bristol and the surrounding area. Focusing on living memory (c. 1940s to the present) it tells how people fought to shape and control their own lives. It is the story of those who witnessed these changes and helped to make history.

Another chance if you missed it at M Shed!

Note: this display comprises the vertical text panels only; it doesn’t include any of the objects that were in display cases at M Shed.

OPENING DATE CHANGED:
Now Monday 8 July to Thursday 11 July 2013
In the entrance foyer of Bristol City Hall (formerly the Council House),  College Green,  Bristol,  BS1 5TR
8:30 am to 7 pm

Note:  we will have to dismantle the exhibition from about 5pm on Thursday 11 July.

Our sincere apologies to those inconvenienced by the incorrect opening date previously given.

Do you have ideas for our next project? Tell us on Facebook and come to the open forum on 23 July

OutStories Bristol’s highly successful ‘Revealing Stories’ exhibition is to be displayed in Yate library from 9th to 27th September 2013. The exhibition will be part of South Gloucestershire’s Discover Festival 2013.

The exhibition is based on archival records and oral history interviews with lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people associated with Bristol and the surrounding area. Focusing on living memory (c. 1940s to the present) it tells how people fought to shape and control their own lives. It is the story of those who witnessed these changes and helped to make history.

Monday 9th to Friday 27th September 2013
Yate Library

in shopping centre, opposite Argos
44 West Walk          Yate          BS37 4AX

For opening times, see Yate Library website

Please note:  this display comprises vertical text panels only; it doesn’t include any of the objects that were in the original exhibition at Bristol’s M Shed during February/March.

We are creating a touring version of our Revealing Stories exhibition and already have displays planned for Bristol City Hall and the main libraries in Bath, Yate and Weston-super-Mare. You can read details of our plans in this update report.

Contact us if you would like to get involved in making the touring version of the exhibition. The first planning session is in Bristol on the evening of Wednesday 1st May. You are welcome to come along.

Revealing Stories exhibition, M Shed

OutStories Bristol are staging ‘Revealing Stories’, Bristol’s first ever exhibition of LGBT history, at M Shed throughout February 2013 and coinciding with LGBT History Month.

Focusing on living memory (c. 1950s to the present) the exhibition will tell the story of how people in Bristol started to build LGBT communities and define our role in wider society. It will be followed by a traveling exhibition that will tour public libraries in Bath, Yate and Weston-super-Mare.

Find out more – and get involved!

Friday 1 February 2013, 5pm – 8.30pm

Conference Hall, City Hall (formerly The Council House), College Green,  Bristol

Telephone: 0117 353 4621

Hosted by LGBT Bristol and supported by The Diversity Trust

The event is to celebrate the start of LGBT History Month and to launch the Diversity in Primary Schools Project. LGBT Bristol will be providing refreshments. There will be entertainment from Sing Out Bristol towards the end of the evening.

If you are involved with an LGBT organisation LGBT Bristol would like to invite you to talk for a few minutes about your group or organisation at the open mic session. Space for publicity materials will also be available.

Please let LGBT Bristol know if you plan to attend by email

This event is one in a series for LGBT History Month in Bristol, February 2013. View our upcoming events and Eventbrite page, or visit LGBT Bristol for details of other LGBT History Month activities.