OTP 2020 Hub Programmes - Royal Museums Greenwich, National Maritime Museum
As part of LGBT History Month the National Maritime Museum will be hosting the national festival, OUTing the Past, an evening of free talks, conversations and performances by presenters from across the UK and Ireland.
This year's festival will reveal the unheard and underecognised histories of LGBTQ+ people focussing on the perspectives of women and people of colour.
Our speakers will highlight the intersectionalities between race, gender and sexuality in a variety of presentations covering topics including queer black identity, mental health and female/gay liberation.
Please join us on Thursday 13th February for an evening of rich and diverse conversations at the National Maritime Museum.'
Archiving our Futures
Josh Rivers, creator of Busy Being Black podcast
Too often, and throughout history, the stories of queer Black people are not deemed worthy of telling. LGBTQ media has been (and continues to be) dominated by cis white men who have proven unable and unwilling to tell stories that could shed light, save lives and enlighten. Busy Being Black takes an ice pick to the dominant narrative and monolithic portrayals of queer Black people. It is a deep-dive into the numinous, into the vast interior of human beings who continue to be marginalised, silenced and underestimated. But in these first-person tellings, we begin to understand that in spite of the myriad barriers in front of us, we still thrive. We still succeed. We still love. We still give and receive joy. We still create and make a difference in the lives of others. And by telling these stories, we uncover more of our past because everyone is here because of someone else.
The ‘Special Problem’: Construction and treatment of female homosexuality in England 1947-1977
Dr Sarah Carr, Senior Fellow in Mental Health Policy; Prof. Helen Spandler, Professor of Mental Health Studies
It is well documented that homosexuality was classified as a mental illness in the DSM until 1973, when it was replaced with the diagnosis of "sexual orientation disturbance”, and it is widely known that homosexual men in England were criminalized and risked imprisonment or aversion therapy in a psychiatric hospital. Far less is known about same-sex attracted women in England who were not subjected to court referral routes into psychiatric treatment. Although female homosexuality was not criminalized in England, it was still officially classified as a mental disorder (“sexual deviation”).
As part of a cohort of studies on the theme of Sexualities and Health funded by the Wellcome Trust, we conducted an archival study of women’s and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LBG&T) archives in England to investigate what happened to same-sex attracted women in the mental health system from 1950’s until 1970’s. The title of the project itself is called 'Hidden from History?'
A decade of change: the LGBT 1980s through the words of Switchboard's log books
Lisa Power, ex-Switchboard Volunteer
The Switchboard Log Books are a rich and relatively undiscovered/unused source of historical witness, giving first hand real time reactions to key issues that have gone on to shape our community over the past four decades. Switchboard was "the finishing school for activists" throughout this period and spawned many other organisations like Terrence Higgins Trust. The logs are also gloriously snarky at times and provide a unique insight into to human nature.
Check out the event on the RMG website for more information: https://www.rmg.co.uk/see-do/exhibitions-events/outing-the-past