Securing Our History
Sue Sanders has been the driving force behind LGBT History Month since it
first appeared ten years ago. Sue describes her first attempts to research
notable LGBT figures from history and explains some of the exciting
things going on for this year’s event and why claiming and
securing our history is so vital.
London is lucky enough to be awash with amazing museums
and archives. In the past I had used them to try and find
out about the past of LGBT people with little or no success. I
remember the looks I got when I went to the British Library and
then the British Museum asking for information on past lesbians.
I eventually found Dale Spender’s book ‘Women of Ideas and
what Men have done to them’ and began to recognise very veiled
reference to women who might be lesbians, so I began to research
them. I still have the box file of cards on many women I attempted
to research within those hallowed walls.
I did write a paper for a women’s studies conference in the
eighties entitled ‘Where are the Lesbians in Women Studies?’
It was well received by lesbians and ignored by the straight
academics for quite a while. Volunteering for Schools OUT
for so many years; determined to make LGBT people in
all our diversity visible and safe, we have struggled to
make LGBT people visible in the curriculum and
raise the issue with teachers. We did have some
success, but the big step was our launch of LGBT
History Month in 2005. We, including Paul
Patrick who alas has since died, chose
February as it had a half term and
was a quiet time in schools.
We were sure that
libraries, museums,
galleries and theatres
would grab the
opportunity and
indeed they did.
Up and down the
country, we have seen them
make exhibitions for February.
Many then realised that they could
mainstream their work and ensure that
spring 2015
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