Second National Festival of LGBT History – February 2016

Following the success of the First National Festival of LGBT History in Manchester earlier this year, plans are already underway for the next festival in February 2016 – and this time it will be truly nationwide.

York has been chosen as one of five ‘festival hubs’ and will host an exciting programme of presentations, theatre events, films and education workshops in parallel with the London hub over the weekend 5-7 February 2016. The York LGBT History Month team, who coordinated a programme of over 30 events in February 2015, will work alongside Schools OUT UK to produce the National Festival weekend as well as their own month-long festival. The theme for LGBT History Month 2016 will be religion, belief and philosophy.

Proposals for twenty-minute presentations are now being invited from individuals and groups. We are looking for both historical presentations and case studies of archival sources, and would love to hear from activists, students, amateur researchers or anybody with a story to tell. A historical presentation might explore an event or experience in the history of LGBT activism or a personal experience of being LGBT, the history of a group or campaign, or a personal journey. An archival source case study might present an oral history, the story of a set of campaign leaflets, images, letters or other documents that reveal untold stories.

Full details can be found in the call for presentations. The closing date for presentation submissions is 30 June 2015. If you miss this deadline, there will still be chance to contribute to the York LGBT History Month programme (deadline: Friday 4 December), so do get in contact.

This year’s festival included talks and exhibitions relating to queer histories in the north of England and Manchester, including: “We were born in the 80s: History of the Joyce Layland Centre (Manchester)”; “Anne Lister: A Life”; “Press for Change & Trans History”; and “21 years and more: BiPhoria and Bisexuality in Manchester”. The festival attracted high-profile speakers including Stuart Milk (LGBT activist and nephew of assassinated pioneer Harvey Milk) and Linda Bellos (activist and ex-politician who was influential in the establishment of Black History Month in the UK).

The 2016 festival will also feature workshops aimed at families and educators. Kit Heyam, York LGBT History Month Outreach Coordinator, is keen to bring the workshops into local schools as well as inviting educators to attend events in the city centre. Any interested schools can contact Kit on kit@yorklgbthistory.co.uk.

In addition to the popular National Festival, an academic conference will be held in Manchester over the weekend of 26-28 February 2016. The theme of the conference will be ‘What is & How to Do LGBT History: Methods, Subjects and Approaches’. More information and the call for papers can be found in the national announcement.

The full programme for the Second National Festival of LGBT History will be announced in the autumn.

For more information contact Jeff Evans on academics@schools-out.org.uk.

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Greg Stephenson

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