| LGBTQ History Month | |
|---|---|
| Observed by | Cuba (since 2022) Australia (since 2016) Germany (since 2005) Hungary (since 2013) UK (since 2005) US (since 1994) |
| Type | National, civil rights, cultural, ethnic, sexual orientation, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender |
| Significance | Celebration ofLGBTQ history |
| Begins | February(Germany, United Kingdom) March(Hungary) May(Cuba) October(Australia, Canada, United States) |
| Date | 1st |
| Duration | 1 month |
| Frequency | Annual |
LGBTQ History Month is an annual month-long observance oflesbian,gay,bisexual,transgender andqueer history, and the history of thegay rights and relatedcivil rights movements.[1] It was founded in 1994 by Missouri high-school history teacher Rodney Wilson.[2] LGBTQ History Month provides role models, builds community, and represents a civil rights statement about the contributions of theLGBTQ community.[3] As of 2022, LGBTQ History Month is a month-long celebration that is specific to Australia, Canada, Cuba, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Philippines, the United Kingdom and the United States.
In the United States, Canada, Armenia, Romania, the Netherlands, Southeast Asia, and Australia, it is celebrated in October to coincide withNational Coming Out Day on 11 October and to commemorate thefirst andsecond Marches on Washington in 1979 and 1987 for LGBTQ rights.[4] In the United Kingdom it is observed during February; in the UK this coincides with a major celebration of the 2003 abolition ofSection 28.[5] In Berlin, the capital of Germany, it is known asQueer History Month and is celebrated in May.[6]
In October 2016, the LGBTQ youth organizationMinus 18, theAustralian Queer Archives, and the Safe Schools Coalition Victoria organised the first Australian LGBTQ History Month.[7][8]
LGBTQ History Month had been celebrated in February since 2013.[9] The program series is coordinated byHáttér Society, Szimpozion Association andLabrisz Lesbian Association, events are organized in partnership with other LGBTQ organizations, cultural and academic institutions, professional organizations etc. The majority of the events take place inBudapest, but a few events are also organized in larger cities all over the country, e.g. inDebrecen,Pécs,Miskolc andSzeged.[9]
In 2013 there were nearly 30 events in the cities ofBudapest,Miskolc andSzeged.[10] In 2015 there were 37 events, with some held inTahitótfalu andCsobánka.[10] As of 2019 there were about 40 events for the celebration.[11]
From 2023, LGBTQ History Month is observed in March in Hungary.[12]
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LGBT+ History Month was initiated in the UK bySue Sanders andPaul Patrick, then co-chairs of Schools OUT UK, and first took place in February 2005.[13] After Patrick's death in 2008, Tony Fenwick became co-chair alongside Sanders, then later CEO. In 2016 he was awarded an MBE on behalf of the charity.[14][15]
LGBT+ History Month is an annual event in the United Kingdom taking place every February.[13] The first annual event coincided with the monthSection 28 was abolished in 2003 with theEmployment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003. Between 150 and 200 events took place across the UK to celebrate, as well as the government's proposals to bring in a single equality act and a public duty, although this, in fact, did not come to fruition until 2010.[13] The Month is intended as a means to raise awareness of, and combat prejudice against theLGBTQ community while celebrating its achievement and diversity and making it more visible. History Month has three taglines: "Claiming our past. Celebrating our present. Creating our future", in addition to the "Educate OUT Prejudice" motto of parent charity Schools OUT UK.[16]
The initiative received UK Government backing from the deputyDfES and Equalities MinisterJacqui Smith, although some sections of the press argued against itspolitical correctness, and pointed out that the sexuality of some historical figures is more a matter of speculation than fact.[17]
The DfES promised funding for LGBT+ History Month for the first two years to help get the event off the ground. Long standing sponsors include theMetropolitan Police Service, theMetropolitan Police Authority,Amnesty International and theCrown Prosecution Service.
Each year, a "launch event" takes place in November, to build awareness for the following February. On 5 March 2009, Prime Minister Gordon Brown hosted a reception at Downing Street to mark the Month.[18]
Since 2011, the month has been linked to a subject in the National Curriculum. The steering committee hope to cover all subjects eventually. There are free resources available on the History Month website. In addition, Schools OUT UK (the initiative's founding charity) also created a unique website of free-to-download lesson plans for teachers, The Classroom, in 2011.
After Schools OUT UK paid tribute toAlan Turing in November 2012 (the centenary of his birth) at the launch of STEM 2013, Promotions Officer Andrew Dobbin suggested the month regularly feature LGBTQ figures whose lives have been forgotten or 'straight-washed' by history, to illustrate the group's tagline of "claiming our past", and to give LGBTQ students some of the role-models and heroes their straight classmates had an abundance of. The idea was adopted from 2014, with every February since highlighting the life of a lesbian, gay man, bisexual and trans person. In 2021, the committee were able to add a fifth individual as part of the intention to represent the "+" in LGBT+.
(In order of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, +):
OUTing The Past is an annual festival of LGBTQ history.[19] It runs throughout February and into March.
OUTing The Past was first celebrated in 2015. The festival started in three venues inManchester: theLGBTQ Foundation, The Central Library and thePeople's History Museum. An academic conference with the inauguralAllan Horsfall Lecture was given by Charles Upchurch of Florida University. This is now a yearly event funded by theCampaign for Homosexual Equality. Stephen M Hornby was appointed as the first National Playwright in Residence to LGBTQ History Month. The first production was a three-part heritage premiere calledA Very Victorian Scandal, which dramatised new research about adrag ball in 1880 in Hulme.[20][21][22] The productions were supported by patronRussell T Davies.[23]
In 2016 the festival expanded to six hubs around England and the conference had its own slot. The Alan Horsfall lecture was given bySusan Stryker of the University of Arizona. The national heritage premieres were "Mister Stokes: The Man-Woman of Manchester", which told the story of Harry Stokes, a Victorian trans pioneer and "Devils in Human Shape", which dramatized Georgian sodomy trials in Bristol.[24]
In 2017, there were 18 venues round the country and over a hundred presentations onLGBTQ history had been given. The Alan Horsfall lecture was given byDiana Souhami. The national heritage premieres were "The Burnley Buggers' Ball", which told the story of the first public meeting to establish an LGBTQ Center in the UK in 1971 at Burnley Library, and "Burnley's Lesbian Liberator", which told the story of one of the first demonstrations in support of a woman sacked for wearing a Lesbian Liberation badge by the Burnley & Pendle Bus Company in 1978.[25]
In 2018, there were 11 venues which includedWales andNorthern Ireland. The lecture was given byTom Robinson.
In 2019, there were 18 venues, including the first international events in theRepublic of Ireland, Sweden,Norway and New York. The national heritage premiere was "The Adhesion of Love", which toured to a number of venues in the North West of England. It told the story of a visit by a member of theEagle Street College toWalt Whitman in 1891.[26] The festival also premiered another play,A Queer Céilí at the Marty Forsythe, based on events in Ulster's LGBTQ history. The play earned actor Christopher Grant a nomination as best supporting actor at the Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards 2020.[27]
In 2005 and 2006, LGBTQ History Month was celebrated inScotland as an LGBTQ community event, receiving support from LGBTQ community history projects such asOur Story Scotland and Remember When.[28]
For 2007 and 2008, theScottish Government provided funding for a post atLGBT Youth Scotland to bring LGBTQ History Month into the wider community, including schools and youth groups.[29]
In 2020 Scotland's theme was "What have we learned? 20 years since the repeal of Section 28."[29]
LGBTQ History Month originated in the United States as Lesbian and Gay History Month, and was first celebrated in October 1994. It was founded by Missouri high-school history teacher Rodney Wilson.[30] Wilson, the first openly gay public school teacher in Missouri, originated the idea, served as founder on the first coordinating committee, and chose October as the month of celebration.[31][32] Among early supporters and members of the first coordinating committee wereKevin Jennings of theGay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN); Kevin Boyer of theGerber/Hart Gay and Lesbian Library and Archives in Chicago; Paul Varnell, writer for theWindy City Times; Torey Wilson, Chicago area teacher; Johnda Boyce, women's studies graduate student at The Ohio State University and Jessea Greenman of University of California, Berkeley.[32] Many gay and lesbian organizations supported the concept early on as did Governors William Weld of Massachusetts and Lowell Weicker of Connecticut, Mayors such as Thomas Menino of Boston and Wellington Webb of Denver, who recognized the inaugural month with official proclamations. In 1995, theNational Education Association indicated support of LGBTQ History Month as well as other history months by resolution at its General Assembly.[33]
October was chosen by Wilson as the month for the celebration because the first and second LGBTQ Marches on Washington, in 1979 and 1987, were in October;National Coming Out Day is on 11 October, chosen to mark the date of theSecond March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in 1987, and October is within the academic calendar year.[34] LGBTQ History Month is intended to encourage honesty and openness about being LGBTQ.[34]
While it was first known as Lesbian and Gay History Month, the coordinating committee soon added "bisexual" to the title. It has subsequently become known as LGBTQ History Month. The event has received criticism from conservative groups, such as theConcerned Women for America and others who believe it to be a form of "indoctrination".[3]
In 2006, Equality Forum began picking 31 LGBTQ icons from all over the world through all eras of history and highlighting one each day in October. In 2011, Equality Forum introduced an internal search engine for all Icons from inception in 2006 to present.[35] such as African-American, athlete, California, Germany, HIV/AIDS, Military, Religion, Transgender, Youth; visitors to the site will be provided with links to all Icons in that category.[citation needed]
In 2012, for the first time, two American school districts celebrated LGBTQ History Month. TheBroward County school district in Florida signed a resolution in September in support of LGBTQ Americans, and later that year the Los Angeles school district, America's second-largest, also signed on.[36]
The LGBTQ Cuba History Month had its first celebration in May 2022, to celebrate the history of the LGBTQ Cuban community throughout the month of May. The event showcases the work of theNational Center for Sex Education (CENESEX) and seeks to strengthen education and debate on theFamily Code and promote the visibility ofLGBTQ rights in Cuba.[37][38] HistorianRaúl Pérez Monzón toldInter Press Service "we want to rescue the history of people with non-heteronormative sexualities and create spaces to promote research".[38]Juan Carlos Gutierrez Perez of theUniversity Marta Abreu of Las Villas, a festival co-organizer, said a "great wave of conservative religious fundamentalism has been developing in Cuba".[37]
InBerlin, it is known as Queer History Month instead of LGBTQ History Month. Every year it takes place in May. It is to educate and help people deal with sexuality,sexual diversity, and anti-discrimination in small projects.[39]
During Queer History Month (QHM), people are able to find detailed lessons on queer history suitable for both school and non-school education. Also, educational institutions provide education to schools and youth institutions directly.[39]
In 2024,Hamburg also started a recurring Queer History Month taking place in May.[40][41]
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