The City of Exeter is going to be an official hub for The National Festival of LGBT History for the first time in February 2017. Events across Exeter will be exploring the unique and diverse LGBT histories of the South West and beyond.

Our official festival launch will take place on Saturday 11th February at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum. The Lord Mayor of Exeter will formally open the Festival, and we will hear from a range of voices with distinctive insights into the lives of LGBTQ+ people in the South West, including Dr Michael Halls, director of Intercom Trust, Cheryl Morgan, co-chair of Outstories Bristol and director of The Diversity Trust, Dr Alan Butler, curator of Plymouth LGBT Archive, and Natalie McGrath of Dreadnought South West, who make theatre based on the experiences of women in history.

The main festival event will be a free, one-day programme of talks on Sunday 12th February 2017 at Exeter Phoenix. We will hear from a wide range of speakers including academics, historians, campaigners, authors, curators and many more. They will present on many aspects of local and national LGBT history, including:

• How Exeter grassroots movements transformed life for LGBT people in the city
• Whether Oscar Wilde would have used Grindr!
• Bristol’s very recent changing LGBT history
• Chinese underground queer cinema
• Trans women in the Ancient world
• Homosexuality and the Royal Navy during World War I

Our keynote speaker will be award-winning author and biographer Diana Souhami who will talk about her work on women’s and lesbian history, focusing specifically on the British painter, Gluck.

Alongside our main festival programme, we have many other exciting events:

·      ‘Twilight People’ exhibition on gender identity and faith at Exeter Central Library and University of Exeter

·      Film screening of GIRLS LOST and discussion at Exeter Phoenix

·      Performance about LGBTQ+ life in 1980s London at The Bike Shed Theatre

For more information and the full programme please see: exeterlgbthistory.org.uk

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LGBTHMExeter/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LGBTHMExeter

Email: lgbthistory@exeter.ac.uk