LGBT+ History Month

Every February the UK observes LGBT+ History Month in celebration of the rich history of the LGBT+ community and in remembrance of the related histories of the gay rights and civil rights movements. 

This year the UK celebrates the inclusion of LGBTQ+ people in the census for the first time in over 200 years. As Stonewall summarises: 'after years of invisibility, we are now officially part of our country's story'. 

2023 also marks two decades since the repeal of Section 28 - a law which banned the 'promotion of homosexuality' which led to censorship in schools and libraries all over the UK.

To mark LGBT+ History Month, the Library team have set up displays in both libraries. Here you can find a wide range of books including classic works of literature written by famous LGBTQ authors including Virginia Woolf and Alice Walker, biographies of historical figures such as Anne Lister and Alan Turing, historical fiction featuring queer protagonists and novels we have highlighted for their roles in introducing larger audiences to LGBTQ+ stories.

To find out more about literary queer icons Virginia Woolf, James Baldwin, E.M. Forster and Alice Walker check out last years blogpost 'LGBT+ History Month at the Library' here!

We have also highlighted some (of the many!) figures in LGBTQ+ History below with an accompanying book recommendation. 

Alan Turing (1912-1954)

Alan Turing: Enigma by Andrew Hodges [STM: 920 TUR]

• Alan Turing was responsible for breaking the Nazi's code during WWII. He played a major role in ending the war and his work is said to have shortened the war and undoubtedly saved many lives.
• He was convicted for his relationship with another man and prosecuted in 1952.
• In 2009, Prime Minister Gordon Brown issued a public apology to Turing on befalf of the government.
• Turing was eventually pardoned in 2013 by Elizabeth II and the 2017 law that retroactively pardoned all men convicted for homosexual acts is commonly known as the 'Alan Turing Law'.
• He has been voted 'The Greatest Person of the 20th Century'.

Marsha P. Johnson (1945-1992)

What's the T? The Guide to All Things Trans and/or Nonbinary by Juno Dawson  [STM: 301.415]

• Marsha was an American trans and gay liberation activist.
• When Marsha was 23, police raided the famous Stonewall Inn in New York and used excessive force against the patrons. Marsha stood up to the police during the raids and led protests demanding rights for the LGBT community. 
• Together with Silvia Rivera, Marsha founded an organisation called STAR in order to help gay and trans people who had become homeless. 
• Marsha is remembered as the 'Saint of Christopher Street' by many for their unfailing generosity to the LGBT community in New York. 

Frida Kahlo (1907-1954)

Frida Kahlo by Andrea Kettenmann [STA: 709.0431 KAH], Anthology of Amazing Women by Sandra Lawrence [STA: 920.72] and The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver [STA/STM]

• 
  Frida Kahlo was a famous Mexican artist and openly bisexual woman. 
• Kahlo taught herself to paint whilst recovering from a serious bus accident and her art was often influenced by her experiences with chronic pain. It is thought that prior to the accident, Kahlo intended to study medicine.
• Her works are also notable for their explorations of class, gender, race, identity and postcolonialism. 

Peter Dorey, Ernest Hole and Jonathan Cutbill 

Pride: the Unlikely Story of  the True Heroes of the Miner's Strike by Tim Tate (Coming Soon to GCH Library!)

• Dorey, Hole and Cutbill were activists who founded the UK's first LGBTQ bookshop Gay's the Word in 1979.
• They provided a much needed space for the LGBTQ community in London to meet and share their love of books.
• In the 1980s, the store served as the headquarters of 'Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners' in support of the striking workers. 

Josephine Baker (1906-1975)

Girls Can Do Anything by Caitlin Doyle [STA: 920.72] and Who's Who in African-American History by Sande Smith (ed.) [STA: 920.092]

• 
  Josephine Baker was the first African American woman to star in a film.
• During the German occupation of France she worked for the Red Cross and spied for the French Resistance.
• Though she lived in France, she travelled back to the U.S. to partake in Civil Rights demonstrations.
• Baker had romantic relationships with both men and women including French author Colette and artist Frida Kahlo.

Jacqueline Wilson (1945-)

Jacky Daydream, The Runaway Girls and The Story of Tracey Beaker [STA]

• 
  Jacqueline Wilson is a much-loved children's author but before the breakthrough success of Tracey Beaker in the 1990s, she had already written over 40 books.
• Wilson took the A-Level English exam when she was 40 years old - for which she was awarded an 'A'.
• In 2020 she publicly announced that she was in a relationship with her partner Trish. They have now been together for over 20 years. 

All books mentioned can be found at GCH Library.

LGBT+ History Month at the Library

This week, the GCH Library is celebrating LGBT+ History Month with a post highlighting some of the many important authors and novels in LGBT+ history!

Many literary classics were written by authors who identified as LGBT+ themselves or engaged in same-sex relationships - often during a time in which such behaviour was socially unacceptable and even illegal. 

Famous for her 'stream of consciousness' style writing, Virginia Woolf was also known to have had a romantic relationship with fellow author Vita Sackville-West. It was this relationship that actually inspired her 1928 novel Orlando which explores themes such a biography, sexual identity and gender difference. In the book, our protagonist Orlando experiences centuries of English history taking both male and female forms throughout their life. It has been regarded as a 'maserpiece of modernist queer fiction'. 

James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room is another hallmark novel in LGBT+ literary history. Published in 1956, the novel is credited with encouraging wider discussion about same-sex attraction. It is also regarded for the ways in which Baldwin introduced new readers to more complex depictions of bisexual and homosexual characters instead of poor stereotypes. Baldwin was an active participant in the Civil Rights Movement and an openly gay man. Throughout                                                        his life he became progressively more                                                                     outspoken in condemning discrimination against                                                       the gay and lesbian community.

Likely best known in school for his 1908 work A Room with a view, E.M Forster is also famous for his novel Maurice. Written in 1913 Maurice, was not published until 1971 as Forster feared the backlash his depiction of homosexual love in twentieth-century England would provoke.

 Another major reason behind the delayed publishing of the novel was due to the legal reality of Forster's time. This prevented him from publishing a book which featured a happy ending for it's gay protagonist. When Maurice was finally published in the 1970s, homosexuality had only recently been decriminalised. It is rumoured that the manuscript for Maurice was found                                            with the following note: 'Punishable, but worth it?'.

Alice Walker is also an important figure in LGBT+ literary history. While the relationship between Celie and Shug is more of a sub-plot within The Colour Purple, it's presence provoked much discussed and caused significant backlash when the novel was published in 1982. Indeed, the novel was often censored for its explicit language, violence and depictions of homosexuality.

Regarded as a bisexual African-American literary icon, Walker has confirmed that she has had romantic relationships with men and women in her life. Walker is also famous for being the first African-American woman to win the Pulizer Prize for Fiction which she won for The Colour Purple in 1982.

Other famous historical  LGBT+ authors include Truman Capote, Walt Whitman, Sappho, Oscar Wilde, Emily Dickinson, W H Auden, Siegfried Sassoon, Lord Byron and many more.

You can find books written by many of these authors in the LGBT+ History Month displays in both St Andrew's and St Michael's libraries. 

For more reading recommendations please ask at the Library desk. 

Happy LGBT+ History Month!