Suffolk Archives is OUTing the Past
It's part of LGBT+ History Month
Suffolk Archives has announced that it will be taking part in the OUTing the Past Festival for the first time this year.
OUTing the Past: The International Festival of Lesbian Gay Bisexual & Trans History is an international celebration with events throughout the year and around the world, as well as a conference and gathering for academics and activists once a year in February.
As an OUTing the Past Hub for 2021, Suffolk Archives will be hosting a webinar featuring four prestigious speakers:
Sue Sanders, co-founder of LGBT+ History Month, presents: 'The History of LGBT history month.'
Trudy Howdon, LGBT+ Poet Laureate, presents: 'An LGBT Life. How it was. How it is.'
Author Dr Clifford Williams presents: 'Courage to be: Organised Gay Youth in England 1970-1990.'
Producer Veronica McKenzie presents: 'Uncovering the histories of Black and Asian LGBTQ+ communities through the Haringey Vanguard project.'
The event is sure to be enlightening and entertaining for all involved and promises to provide an insight into the lives of both our past and present LGBT community.
For more information and details of how to book, please visit the Suffolk Archives website: www.suffolkarchives.co.uk/outing-the-past-festival
Sue Sanders: Co-founder of LGBT+ History Month said:
"I am so thrilled to be part of this OUTing the Past event. Given we are all at home accessing this, it is a bit of a miracle that the festival is happening, and it does mean that geography does not get in the way. I am so grateful to Dr Jeff Evans who started the festival six years ag to ensure we don't lose our precious history. LGBT+History Month is 16 years old and I never thought it would become as big as it is. I am so grateful to all the people who give of their time freely to put on events and do presentations that make the month the success it is."
Suffolk Archives participation in the OUTing the Past Festival has come about thanks to the continued development of the 'Pride in Suffolk's Past' project, which set out to explore and share the hidden stories of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people in Suffolk, while also collecting contemporary stories of Suffolk's LGBTQ+ community.
Councillor Paul West, Portfolio Holder for Heritage, said:
"I am very pleased that Suffolk Archives are now connected in with this key nationwide festival and are able to share the important stories and discoveries uncovered through the Pride in Suffolk's Past project with the festival's followers. I hope that this could be something that we can continue to be part of in the future, complementing the work already done by the team behind Suffolk Pride."
This project forms part of Sharing Suffolk Stories, a countywide initiative designed to help communities to discover more about the history of where they live and to share it in new and engaging ways. This work has been made possible thanks to a National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) award of ÂŁ10,363,700 to support and enable the development of a Suffolk Archives service for the 21st Century.
Anne Jenkins, Director, England Midlands and East, NLHF said:
"We are proud to support Suffolk Archives in exploring Suffolk's hidden LGBTQ+ heritage. Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, this history will now be shared with the wider community and will highlight the local people who have paved the way for social change."
The next step in the project will see the opening of a brand new 'Pride in Suffolk's Past' exhibition at The Hold on Ipswich waterfront, as soon as COVID restrictions allow. The exhibition will showcase a whole range of stories discovered by a group of volunteer researchers, who have been enthusiastically delving into the archives. The exhibition will run through to the end of June 2021, complemented by a range of activities and events for a whole range of audiences.