Bolton Library and Museums events helping promote LGBTQ History
Bolton Central Library and Museum is helping promote LGBTQ History Month as it hosts events for the OUTing the Past Festival on Friday, 12 February.
Bolton is one a hub location for the Outing the Past Festival which takes place in numerous cultural venues across the UK starting at Leeds Museums and Galleries on the 6 February and ending at the National Gallery of Ireland on 27 March.
The events form part of the International Festivals of Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Trans History celebrations which holds worldwide events to mark the community’s past and looks forward to a brighter future.
The festival features speakers from all over the world showcasing the depth and breadth of the LGBTQ community, shining a light on LGBTQ history and raising the awareness of the past attitudes and behaviours related to sexuality and gender.
Their aim is to challenge ignorance in society to LGBTQ culture and encourage the mainstream acceptance and teaching of its history in schools and colleges.
Cllr Hilary Fairclough, executive cabinet member with responsibility for libraries and museums, said: “Bolton is known as a warm and welcoming place, somewhere which celebrates cultural diversity and the talent, fun and colour it brings to the town. We’re delighted to be chosen as a venue to help celebrate LGBTQ history as understanding the past helps bring us together so we can all live in harmony and have a brighter and happier future.”
Bolton’s helping celebrate LGBTQ history with three pre-recorded talks, which are free to access online, via YouTube and places must be booked in advance at Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/outing-the-past-festival-tickets-138926542027
Talk 1: Bev Ayre, ‘Before The Act’: The Night The Stars Came Out Against Section 28
Before The Act was a seminal moment in LGBT history bringing together stars from the worlds of theatre and music with a group of Lesbian and Gay activists. The core group went on to produce a second benefit, a performance of the play Bent, at the Adelphi Theatre in 1989.
Talk 2: Megan Rossman, ‘Lesbian Herstory Archives’
In the 1970s in a New York City apartment, The Lesbian Herstory Archives is now the world’s largest collection of materials by and about lesbians. Today, with its founders in their seventies, the archives are facing new challenges, including a change in leadership and the rise of digital technology. Exploring the fascinating origins of the organization, THE ARCHIVETTES is a tribute to second-wave feminism and intergenerational connection, as well as an urgent rallying call.
Talk 3: Darren Clarke, ‘Very Private’: Duncan Grant’s Erotic Drawings
The presentation is based on 422 erotic drawings by the Bloomsbury artist Duncan Grant, recently deposited with The Charleston Trust, the charity that looks after his former home in East Sussex. The works are an extraordinary collection that demonstrate both Grant's sexual imagination but also his skill as an artist. Many of the works depict interracial couples or groups, demonstrating Grant's social as well as sexual circle. Explicit yet tender, these works offer a different and enlightening new narrative around Grant and the word he lived in.
For more details on OUTing the Past Festival visit https://www.outingthepast.com/