LGBT+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans) History Month in the UK celebrates the lives and achievements of the LGBTQ+ community and has been held every February since 2005. The campaign provides an opportunity to discover LGBTQ+ past and celebrate its present and future - this hidden history can reveal some surprising and inspiring stories.
Through participating in LGBT+ History Month, Surrey Heritage is able to bring Surrey's LGBTQ+ history to a wider audience. This helps stimulate interest in a little known area of the county's past, promotes further research, and can even engage new volunteers. Co-ordinating our efforts with community organisations and other Surrey County Council services helps to raise the profile of our collections and encourages more material to be placed with us.
Each year we have a different themed display which showcases famous and not-so-famous figures from Surrey's LGBTQ+ history. Those featured so far include Alan Turing, Edward Carpenter, Noel Coward, Dirk Bogarde, Dame Ethel Smyth, Quentin Crisp, J R Ackerley, E M Forster, Harry Daley, Edward Onslow, Beverley Nicholls and Peter Pears, to name but a few.
The national theme for LGBT+ History Month 2017 focused on the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales, through the 1967 'Sexual Offences Act'. This is a controversial area of LGBTQ+ history and as such 2017 was more commemoration than celebration. Find about more about the campaign at the LGBT+ History Month website.
LGBTQ+ collections at Surrey History Centre
Surrey Heritage has been preserving the archives and stories of Surrey's LGBTQ+ community since 2010 and, through research and outreach projects, we encourage access to local LGBTQ+ heritage. We are committed to developing this under-represented area of our library and archive collections, held at Surrey History Centre. We hold archive collections for a number of Surrey LGBTQ+ individuals and support organisations, including Outline Surrey and Gender Identity Research & Education Society (GIRES). Among the archives are historical records which reflect attitudes to and the treatment of homosexuality. Many do not use modern-day LGBTQ+ terminology, so we create case studies to highlight their relevance. For example, crime and punishment records of the Surrey Quarter Sessions court, dating from the seventeenth century onwards, show how homosexual activity, then illegal, was dealt with at that time.
Our local studies library collection provides a wonderful insight into the achievements of the LGBTQ+ community and is particularly strong on Surrey biographies. We regularly update our online LGBTQ+ bibliography. Find out more about researching LGBTQ+ history in Surrey.
LGBTQ+ projects and outreach
Joining local LGBTQ+ support groups for community events, such as The International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT) on 17 May, and LGBT+ History Month, has helped a wider audience discover hidden stories of Surrey's LGBTQ+ past. This work also allows us to deliver the broader message of our work and demonstrates the relevance and importance of archives in recording the county's LGBTQ+ past, present and future.
Our work with local LGBTQ+ youth group Out, Loud & Proud and their 'On Tour' project helped with their quest to uncover LGBTQ+ persecution under Hitler's regime during World War II. Their visits to Krakow and Auschwitz-Birkenau inspired them to present their work at Holocaust Memorial Day and IDAHOBIT events, and create LGBT+ History Month displays.
Working with Historic England on the 'Pride of Place' project, which aims to map LGBTQ+ places and architecture, has revealed a whole area of the county's culture and history. This is now preserved online via their interactive map.
From Punishment to Pride: LGBTQ+ history resources on Exploring Surrey's Past
Making all our sources and stories more accessible by putting them online is a vital part of our community outreach. Our LGBTQ+ collections can be searched online through the Collections Catalogue and our Exploring Surrey's Past website, which promote all aspects of Surrey's history and archaeology, includes a growing Surrey LGBTQ+ resource. This resource includes a gallery of stories and themes connected with the county which reveals love and loss, tragedy and heroism, art and literature, crime and punishment, and inspiration and success. We update the resource annually, often incorporating LGBT+ History Month themes or national anniversaries.
One example is the inclusion of stories reflecting the LGBTQ+ community's contribution to the First World War, which feature as part of our 'Surrey in the Great War: A County Remembers' centenary commemoration project funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. The case studies here feature Woking composer Dame Ethel Smyth, who served as a radiographer in France; author E M Forster, who worked as a Red Cross searcher; and authors J R Ackerley and Noel Coward, who both served with the East Surrey Regiment.
Records and research - can you help?
If you have information relating to the LGBTQ+ community in Surrey, or relevant material to add to the collections, we would be delighted to hear from you. Similarly, if you would like to volunteer and help research Surrey's LGBTQ+ history, please contact us.
Images:
LGBT+ History Month 2017 logo- Mapping Surrey's LGBTQ+ past with Historic England's Pride of Place project, February
- Dame Ethel Smyth, undated [1920s] (reference 9180/9/27)
- Captain J R Ackerley, East Surrey Regiment, circa 1916 (reference ESR/18/2/2 page.6)
