Our Stories
LGBT+ Photography & Heritage Project
Understanding our past illuminates the present and our evolving identities. Our history is important and deserves to be remembered and recorded for future generations.
We are inviting individuals and groups to join us in sharing stories, recalling memories, identifying photographs and ephemera, that illustrate their LGBTQ+ lives and identities, set against the backdrop of the city and region. Please Contact Us if you are interested in taking part. To find out more about the project see below…
The LGBT+ community in Stoke-on-Trent and the county of Staffordshire has historically been less visible than the LGBT+ communities in larger cities. For the largest part of the 100 years since Stoke-on-Trent became a city, people have been unable to live openly with publicly acknowledged LGBT+ identities.
Older LGBT+ people may remember a time when there was no gay scene and only a small number of discreet gay friendly venues. In the second half of the twentieth century LGBT+ people were oppressed and heavily policed and have only been accepted into mainstream community events in the last few decades.
In consequence of this we have very few historical records of local LGBT+ people and how they lived their lives. Newspaper reports prior to the modern acceptance of LGBT+ people focus on crime, punishment and disapproval. The stories of older LGBT+ people’s diverse lived experiences are not recorded in local archives and survive only in uncollated materials and fragile memories.
A history that is carried largely in memory and oral transmission is easily lost. This year we are partnering with arts organisation GRAIN Projects to collaboratively work on new Photography and Heritage Projects inviting LGBT+ people to share images and memories that illuminate our shared history and identity.
With Support From the Arts Council
Working in collaboration with arts organisation GRAIN Projects, OLGBT+ will invite participants from the community to make collaborative portraits and pictures with artists that will be accompanied by their individual stories. Professional artists Ming de Nasty and Daniel Lyttleton will create new imagery that speaks of identity, lived experience and connection to the city. The outcomes of the project will include exhibitions and a publication. OLGBT+ have secured a Project Grant from Arts Council England to support these activities which will take place throughout 2025/2026.
With Support From the National Lottery Heritage Fund
We are co-creating a heritage project that explores and celebrates the identity and histories of older LGBT+ residents of Stoke-on-Trent and the North Staffordshire area. This is about saving, protecting and sharing our heritage. The project will see individuals and groups sharing stories, recalling memories, identifying photographs and ephemera, that illustrate their LGBTQ+ lives and identities, set against the backdrop of the city and region.
As well as personal and family photographs and histories, the project will include key milestones in LGBT+ history, including; Lesbians & Gays Support The Miners (during the 1984-5 strikes), the first PRIDE in Stoke-on-Trent, the first LGBTQ+ Night Club, Stoke’s first listing in Gay News, the first years of the North Staffordshire LGBT Switchboard, and the first civil partnerships.
Outcomes will include an exhibition, publication and new community archive that celebrates and commemorates participants, their lives, achievements and identity. The new archive, publication and exhibitions will save and transform access to this heritage and acknowledge its significance, ensuring that the histories are not lost in time and the stories are heard.
Be Part of Our Project
Please Contact Us if you are interested in taking part.
Posts
The following posts may be of further interest:
Memory Fair Zine
At the end of March 2025 OLGBT+, in partnership with GRAIN, ran memory fairs at two local libraries. The events were really popular and GRAIN have created a Zine with some of the material that was gathered
LGBT+ Life Stories Booklist
A selection of books featuring the life histories of LGBT+ People to help inspire us to record our own stories
Timeline of Local LGBT+ History
We are creating a timeline of local LGBT+ history for Stoke and Staffordshire including press reports, photos and in depth articles. Please take a look and get in touch if you have any information or photos that we could add.
Thank you to the Arts Council, The National Lottery Heritage Fund and GRAIN for their support
