This year’s LGBTHM celebrates Peace, Reconciliation and Activism
As well as themes of Peace, Reconciliation and Activism, this year's four LGBT faces from across history – something LGBTHM does each year – are Mariella Franco, Magnus Hirschfield, Robert Graves, and Marsha "Pay It No Mind" Johnson.
A grass-roots initiative made possible by hundreds of people across the country, LGBT History Month is about seizing the opportunity to claim our past as LGBT people, as well as celebrating our present and creating our future!
These days, LGBTHM is embedded in the calendars of most local authorities, schools, colleges, museums, unions and other institutions and is celebrated through a variety of events – from university conferences, exhibitions, presentations of films, theatre and concerts, to small scale events like dances and quizzes.
The interactive calendar on the LGBTHM website means members of the public are able to announce their event online, all the while inspiring and encouraging others to plan theirs.
Over 1500 events on https://t.co/gnpn4gXX6v. February and March are a riot of LGBT HISTORY events, across the country and abroad https://t.co/LTFqTp0IDu #LGBTHM19 pic.twitter.com/mxohf5DExk
— LGBT History Month (@LGBTHM) January 21, 2019
At the heart of LGBT History Month is OUTing the Past; the official LGBT history festival which is now in its fifth year.
For the first time the festival is international, with 18 hubs in England, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Norway, Sweden and New York.
These will host over 100 presentations by leading academics, passionate amateur historians and activists, highlights of which include…
✨ LGBT people in sport
✨ An oral history of rural lesbians
✨ Switchboard and Stonewall, Schools OUT UK & LGBT union and local LGBT groups
✨ Historical figures including Anne Lister, Mary McIntosh, Frances Power Cobbe and Mary Charlotte Lloyd
✨ The trans community's contribution to music
✨ A history of LGBT Vikings in Norway and Sweden
OUTing the Past will also include original theatre about 19th century poet Walt Whitman and his links to a group of devotees in Bolton, plus a play reading about the life of activist Peter Tatchell and appearances by Stuart Milk, nephew of Harvey Milk.
Culminating with a gathering of international activists and academics in Belfast during the last weekend of March, at which Professor Jeffery Weekes will give the inaugural lecture, co-chair Sue Sanders said:
"For too long, LGBT people have been hidden or lied to by omission; we wish to enable people to learn about the immense contributions we’ve made to this country and beyond, thus challenging negative stereotypes and homophobia.
"We also aim to make LGBT people in all our diversity visible proud and safe."
LGBT History Month was started in 2004 by Sue Sanders and Paul Patrick, co chairs of Schools OUT UK. For free resources on LGBTHM visit lgbthistorymonth.org.uk.
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