LGBT History – In Our Own Words A presentational talk by Dr Clare Summerskill

In this presentation Clare Summerskill (lesbian writer, oral historian, activist and performer) leads the audience through several decades of critically significant LGBT historical events in the UK, from the 1950s to early 2000s.

Clare interviewed older LGBT people for several oral history and verbatim theatre projects. Their testimonies reveal first-hand accounts of sensitive and disturbing experiences, alongside reflections on living through exciting and turbulent times in LGBT history.

Offering her own analysis of why oral testimony is such an important form of historical documentation for members of marginalised communities and in particular, the LGBT population, Clare enacts monologues from her recorded interviews. Their voices tell the lived stories of the 1967 Sexual Offences Act, lesbian custody cases, the formation of the Gay Liberation Front in England, the work of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality, bisexual groups in the 1980s, the impact of HIV/AIDS on the gay population and that of Clause 28 on the education sector. The audience hear a first-hand account of the “twilight world” which transgender people were frequently forced to inhabit. There are moving concluding words from LGBT people who have spent their whole lives facing prejudice and oppression, but collectively agree that, by the beginning of the 21st century, the tide finally seemed to be turning.

This is an online event, booking is required.