Pride of Place: Queering Heritage in Contemporary England

DOMUS Seminar Series 2023 - 2024

With speaker Professor Alison Oram, Institute of Historical Research, School of Advanced Study, University of London and Professor Emerita of Social and Cultural History at Leeds Beckett University

Queer heritage is everywhere. What we today call Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Queer (LGBTQ) histories are embedded in the buildings and landscapes all around us. This paper discusses “Pride of Place: England’s LGBTQ Heritage” (2015-16), a project commissioned by Historic England, the government agency for the historic environment. Using the model of “authorised heritage discourse” it examines the tensions inherent in constructing queer heritage when this is attempted both ‘from above’ through official heritage processes and ‘from below’, via LGBTQ communities. It analyses three facets of the project: new and amended listings; a crowd-sourced online map; and an online exhibition. In doing so it also assesses the continuing utility of the AHD model, in a political context that is becoming more open to challenge from minority stakeholders. 

Biography

Alison Oram is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Historical Research, School of Advanced Study, University of London and Professor Emerita of Social and Cultural History at Leeds Beckett University. She has published widely on lesbian and queer history and on queering the historic house. She led ‘Pride of Place: England’s LGBTQ Heritage’ 2015-16 for Historic England. Her most recent book is Queer Beyond London (2022), co-authored with Matt Cook.

This event is free, registration is essential to receive the link to ZOOM. All are welcome.