LGBTQ+ History Month Event Round-Up

February is LGBTQ+ History Month in the UK, and provides an opportunity to both reflect on the movements and people whose experiences are our shared history, as well as to learn more about areas of history that typically haven’t been promoted front and centre. As a part of this, here at myGwork, we were delighted to be joined by some passionate speakers for a history lesson as part of our LGBTQ+ History Month panel.

Sponsored by Synechron, and hosted by Frank Ojeda, we were delighted to be joined by Emily Wilson from Synechron, Stephen Anthony Guerriero from History UnErased, Emily Hamilton from RS Components, Lee Perry from GSK, and Cassius Naylor from the Financial Times, to talk about their favourite topics from LGBTQ+ History.

After we had been introduced to our panellists, Frank Ojeda first came to Emily Hamilton from RS Components.

Emily Hamilton: The Buggery Act 1533 & British Colonial Legacy

Emily had chosen to speak about the Buggery Act, and then how this informed British Colonial Law, and finally how that is still affecting the LGBTQ+ community to this day. Starting in 1533 with the Buggery Act, which Emily pointed out was introduced to outlaw - on pain of death - any sex which was not procreative, and remained in UK law until 1828 when it was replaced with an ‘equally pernicious’ legislative move. “The Buggery Act covered not only same-sex relationships and non-procreational sex but any actions which were much broader, such as bestiality. Effectively, it lumped the LGBTQ+ community as we now know it, with people that were doing far more harmful things, and a lot of those awful tropes we’re seeing time and time again [about the LGBTQ+ community] have their seeds in [the Buggery Act].”

Emily pointed out the ulterior motive attached to the Act itself: it could be used as a “very blunt weapon to bludgeon the enemies of the King - one of the first people to be prosecuted and tried for it was a member of the King’s household, despite a lack of evidence that he was engaged in any behaviour that would be contrary to the law.”

This then ended up becoming part of the British Colonial Code, at section 377, which is still in the legal codes of 7 countries - the wording largely unedited since 1533 - and has influenced the law of a number of other former colonies in their treatment of the LGBTQ+ community. “We have to think about what that did to the indigenous cultures, many of which had cultures that recognised same-sex relationships as being completely usual - they were just a normal part of those cultures - and third genders.”

Stephen Anthony Guerriero: Ancient Rome

We next came to Stephen Anthony Guerriero, a middle school history teacher who works for History UnErased, creating material for an inclusive curriculum. Choosing to talk about the LGTBQ+ community in Ancient Rome, Stephen started by pointing out the breadth of time between the Roman Empire and now, and how this shapes our ability to identify identities and communities in the Emipre that we would recognise now. “Augustus … has this programme of promoting family values, promoting the traditional Roman family. They’re concerned with procreation, with sexuality as it relates to creating heirs, and promoting the Roman state. Even through art, Augustus is promoting fertility and prosperity, and a big part of that is how many children an opposite-sex couple can produce.”

Same-sex behaviour, Stephen says, is a matter of class, and your role in any encounters. Men of a certain class, an upper class, could engage in homosexuality with someone of a lower class, and you were the ‘active’ partner, rather than the passive. Masculinity was prized, and passive sexual partners were considered feminine; as such, upper class men who were “passive” were a social taboo and a source of mockery. The introduction of Christianity into the empire begins to bring a moral perspective, as sexuality becomes a matter of sin, more than class.

Lee Perry: Pearl Alcock

After Stephen, we heard from Lee Perry, who spoke about Pearl Alcock, ‘the Black, Bisexual, Shebeen Queen of Brixton”, who ran underground gay bars and offered spaces for Black and LGBTQ+ people in Brixton during the 1970s and 80s. She began running her unlicensed Shebeen for the Black, Queer community, in her basement as a space where people could be themselves. Never charging much more than it cost to buy, and inviting people to bring their own alcohol, Pearl’s focus instead was on the space existing as a sanctuary for community, rather than as a business venture. “The only other drinking establishment in the area was the George pub, which was notoriously racist and homophobic, and actually prohibited Black people and LGBTQ+ people from drinking there. As a result, Pearl started the Shebeen and invited people to drink there instead.”

Facing police raids, the space had to close and Pearl opened a cafe next door. In the context of homophobic policing, and a government increasingly showing disdain for the LGBTQ+ community, the decision wasn’t easy but unfortunately necessary. Soon after, the Brixton Riots started - one of the earliest buildings destroyed by the Riots being the George pub, probably due to reputation. Pearl took to artistic endeavours, drawing on her Caribbean upbringing, creating bookmarks and postcards she could sell. Some of her Art made it to the Fire Brigade’s Calendar and the Tate Gallery with her art.

Cassius Naylor: Classical Greece

Cassius had chosen to talk about Classical Greece. Agreeing with Stephen with the extent to which time has made it difficult to understand the Ancient world. “We’re engaged in equal parts history, sociology, and anthropology because of the lack of primary sources we have from the period - and those sources we have being fractured through the lens of Roman reinterpretation, Byzantine reinterpretation, Abbasid reinterpretation.”

As Cassius noted, “Greece” was more of a region during the period; split between different city-states and polities with their own policies and cultures. Much like the Romans, the homosexuality amongst the Greeks was a matter of class, but also of status: between ‘man’ and ‘boy’ it was acceptable - noting that someone had to pass a test to become a man, so you frequently had ‘boys’ well into their 20s - but other contexts were not. At the same time, source bias exists: whilst we know that Lesbians existed in Ancient Greece - such as Sappho - very little literature about them has survived, perhaps due to particular prejudice or neglect. Nonetheless, history can still be found: the Sacred Band of Thebes, a unit of 150 male lovers, was a fierce and renowned soldier company that moved even the stoic King Philip II of Macedon to emotion when they were finally defeated at the Battle of Chaeronea.

Emily Wilson: The Pride Flag

Finally, we heard from Emily Wilson, who spoke to us about the history of the Pride flag, and it’s meaning. The flag began in 1978, created by Gilbert Baker, to show the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community. Starting with eight main colours, which dropped to six due to cost issues, the flag now has grown to include a number of variations, including the trans flag, representation for People of Colour, and more. In it’s modern iteration, Emily said, “the Pride flag is evolving, and representing the progress we have made, and the need for more progress. We took the Pride flag, added added the trans flag, and also the Black and Brown stripes as well [to form the Progress flag].”

“[The flag] represents our community’s need for progress, and for society to be more inclusive. It’s on shirts, banners, corporate logos - it’s everywhere now, and when someone sees that in the LGBTQ+ community it shows them that it’s a safe place, and a welcome place. It’s really important to see that flag.”

Throughout our panel, listening to our panellists, we came to learn more about our community and its history, and how it still affects us today. That LGBTQ+ history has even survived historical revisionism, and biases that would have erased us entirely, is a testament to the importance of us preserving history and our stories so that they may be accurately understood for years to come.

We invite you to watch the full panel here: