# LGBTQ History Month

LGBTQ History Month is an annual month-long observance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer history, and the history of the gay rights and related civil rights movements. It was founded in 1994 by Missouri high-school history teacher Rodney Wilson. LGBTQ History Month provides role models, builds community, and represents a civil rights statement about the contributions of the LGBTQ community. As of 2022, LGBTQ History Month is a month-long celebration that is specific to Australia, Canada, Cuba, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States.
In the United States, Canada, Armenia, Romania, the Netherlands, Southeast Asia, and Australia, it is celebrated in October to coincide with National Coming Out Day on 11 October and to commemorate the first and second marches on Washington in 1979 and 1987 for LGBTQ rights. In the United Kingdom it is observed during February; in the UK this coincides with a major celebration of the 2003 abolition of Section 28. In Berlin, the capital of Germany, it is known as Queer History Month and is celebrated in May.

## National celebrations
### Australia

In October 2016, Minus 18, Australian Queer Archives, and the Safe Schools Coalition Victoria organised the first Australian LGBTQ History Month.

### Hungary

LGBTQ History Month had been celebrated in February since 2013. The program series is coordinated by Háttér Society, Szimpozion Association and Labrisz Lesbian Association, events are organized in partnership with other LGBTQ organizations, cultural and academic institutions, professional organizations etc. The majority of the events take place in Budapest, but a few events are also organized in larger cities all over the country, e.g. in Debrecen, Pécs, Miskolc and Szeged.
In 2013 there were nearly 30 events in the cities of Budapest, Miskolc and Szeged. In 2015 there were 37 events, with some held in Tahitótfalu and Csobánka. As of 2019 there were about 40 events for the celebration.
From 2023, LGBTQ History Month is observed in March in Hungary.

### United Kingdom

Part of a series on :
LGBTQ rights in the United Kingdom :
By location :
United Kingdom Scotland Northern Ireland :
Crown dependencies Guernsey Jersey Isle of Man :
Overseas Territories Anguilla Akrotiri and Dhekelia Bermuda British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Falkland Islands Gibraltar Montserrat Pitcairn Islands Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Turks and Caicos Islands :
Same-sex marriage by territory United Kingdom Scotland Northern Ireland Guernsey Jersey Isle of Man Akrotiri and Dhekelia Bermuda British Antarctic Territory British Indian Ocean Territory Cayman Islands Falkland Islands Gibraltar Pitcairn Islands Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands :
Policy aspects :
Sexual orientation
Adoption
Age of consent
Blood donation
Christian nation
Civil partnership
History of violence
HIV/AIDS
Military policy
Same-sex marriage :
Gender identity, sex and intersex
21st-century anti-trans movement
Transgender rights
Intersex rights
NHS Gender Identity Development Service
Gender Recognition Panel :
Legislation :
Criminality
Buggery Act 1533
Offences Against the Person Act 1828
Offences Against the Person Act 1861
Labouchere Amendment
Wolfenden report
Sexual Offences Act 1967
Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980
Homosexual Offences Order 1982
Section 28
Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994
Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000
Sexual Offences Act 2003
Policing and Crime Act 2017
Alan Turing law
Merchant Shipping (Homosexual Conduct) Act 2017
Historical Sexual Offences (Pardons and Disregards) (Scotland) Act 2018 :
Protection and recognition
Public Order Act 1986
Sex Discrimination (Gender Reassignment) Regulations 1999
Adoption and Children Act 2002
Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003
Civil Partnership Act 2004
Gender Recognition Act 2004
Equality Act 2006
Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007
Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008
Equality Act 2010
Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013
Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014
Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc) Act 2019
Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 :
Litigation
Corbett v Corbett (1969)
X v United Kingdom (1978)
Dudgeon v United Kingdom (1981)
R v Brown (1993)
Sutherland v United Kingdom (1994)
Smith and Grady v United Kingdom (1999)
Goodwin & I v United Kingdom (2002)
HJ and HT v Home Secretary (2010)
National AIDS Trust v NHS Service Commissioning Board (2016)
Bell v Tavistock (2021)
AB v CD and others (2021) :
Culture :
By city
Brighton
Cardiff
London
Liverpool
Leeds
Manchester :
Gay villages
Birmingham Gay Village
The Calls
Canal Street (Manchester)
Old Compton Street
Pride Quarter, Liverpool
Vauxhall :
Gay male
Polari
Saunas
Cruising :
Organisations :
LGBT advocacy and support
Stonewall
Hall–Carpenter Archives
Black Gay Men's Advisory Group
Akt
Naz and Matt Foundation
FFLAG
LGBT Foundation
LGBT Network
Outright Scotland
Switchboard (UK)
NUS LGBT
LGBT+ Liberal Democrats
LGBT+ Conservatives
LGBT+ Labour
Labour Campaign for Trans Rights
Mermaids
Press for Change
The Gender Trust :
Pride events
BiCon (UK)
Big Gay Out
Birmingham Pride
Bourne Free
Brighton Pride
Bristol Pride
Doncaster Pride
GFest – gayWise LGBT Arts Festival
Glasgay! Festival
Homotopia (Liverpool)
Leeds Pride
Leicester Pride
LGBT History Month
BFI Flare: London LGBT Film Festival
Manchester Pride
Mr Gay UK
Mr Gay Wales
Northern Pride
Nottinghamshire Pride
Pride Cymru
Pride Glasgow
Pride in Hull
Pride in Liverpool
Pride in London
Pride Scotia
Reading Pride
Swansea Pride
Worthing Pride :
Former groups
OutRage!
Campaign for Homosexual Equality
Homosexual Law Reform Society
Gay Liberation Front
Gay Rights Working Party
Order of Chaeronea :
History :
Topics
Timeline
List of politicians
First LGBT officeholders
Violence against LGBT people
HIV/AIDS crisis
Death penalty :
Timeline 342 MSM activity made illegal 1533 Death penalty introduced for MSM activity 1543 Buggery Act extended to Wales 1828 Offences Against the Person Act 1828 1835 James Pratt and John Smith executed 1861 Death penalty for buggery abolished 1885 Labouchere Amendment introduced 1889 Cleveland Street scandal 1895 Oscar Wilde found guilty of gross indecency 1912 The Cave of the Golden Calf opens 1921 Plans to make lesbian activity illegal defeated 1936 Mark Weston transitions 1952 John Nott-Bower begins crackdown 1954 Pitt-Rivers, Montagu, Wildeblood imprisoned 1954 Alan Turing commits suicide 1957 Wolfenden report released 1967 MSM activity made legal (England & Wales) 1972 First British Gay Pride Rally 1976 Jeremy Thorpe resigns as Liberal leader 1981 MSM activity made legal (Scotland) 1981 First case of AIDS reported in the UK 1982 MSM activity made legal (NI) 1983 Gay men barred from donating blood 1984 Chris Smith elected as first openly gay MP 1987 Operation Spanner begins 1988 Section 28 comes into force 1989 Stonewall UK forms 1994 Age of consent for MSM becomes 18 1997 Angela Eagle becomes first openly lesbian MP 1998 Bolton 7 found guilty 1998 Lord Alli becomes first openly gay Lord 1999 Admiral Duncan bombing 2000 Gay men allowed in HM Armed Forces 2001 Age of consent equalised to 16 2001 MSM activity involving multiple men legal 2002 Same sex couples granted equal rights to adopt 2003 Section 28 repealed 2004 Civil partnerships introduced 2004 Gender Recognition Act 2004 2006 Discrimination made illegal 2008 Equalised access to IVF for lesbian couples 2008 Incitement to homophobic hatred made a crime 2009 Public apology to Alan Turing 2010 Equality Act 2010 2011 Gay men allowed to donate blood (1 yr deferral) 2013 Nikki Sinclaire becomes first openly trans MEP 2013 Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 2014 First same-sex marriages take place 2016 MSM activity not grounds for military discharge 2017 Turing law implemented 2017 Blood donation deferral 3 months (excl. NI) 2019 MPs legislate for gay marriage in NI 2020 Gay marriage legal across UK, incl. NI 2020 Blood donation deferral 3 months (incl. NI) 2021 Blood donation deferral equalised :
LGBTQ portal UK portal :
vte :
LGBTQ History Month was initiated in the UK by Sue Sanders and Paul Patrick, then co-chairs of Schools OUT UK, and first took place in February 2005. After Patrick's death in 2008, Tony Fenwick became co-chair alongside Sanders, then later CEO. In 2016 he was awarded an MBE on behalf of the charity.
LGBTQ History Month is an annual event in the United Kingdom taking place every February. It coincided in the same month of the abolition of Section 28 in 2003, with the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003; and between 150 and 200 events took place across the UK to celebrate, as well as the government's proposals to bring in a single equality act and a public duty, although this, in fact, did not come to fruition until 2010. The Month is intended as a means to raise awareness of, and combat prejudice against the LGBTQ community while celebrating its achievement and diversity and making it more visible. History Month has three taglines: "Claiming our past. Celebrating our present. Creating our future", in addition to the "Educate OUT Prejudice" motto of parent charity Schools OUT UK.
The initiative received UK Government backing from the deputy DfES and Equalities Minister Jacqui Smith, although some sections of the press argued against its political correctness, and pointed out that the sexuality of some historical figures is more a matter of speculation than fact.
The DfES promised funding for LGBTQ History Month for the first two years to help get the event off the ground. Long standing sponsors include the Metropolitan Police Service, the Metropolitan Police Authority, Amnesty International and the Crown Prosecution Service.

#### Launches

Each year, a "launch event" takes place in November, to build awareness for the following February. These events took place in the following locations:
On 5 March 2009, Prime Minister Gordon Brown hosted a reception at Downing Street to mark the Month.

#### National Curriculum Themes

Since 2011, the month has been linked to a subject in the National Curriculum. The steering committee hope to cover all subjects eventually. There are free resources available on the History Month website. In addition, Schools OUT UK (the initiative's founding charity) also created a unique website of free-to-download lesson plans for teachers – The Classroom – in 2011.
* 2011: Sport
* 2012: Sport
* 2013: STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics)
* 2014: Music
* 2015: History
* 2016: Religion, Belief and Philosophy
* 2017: PSHE, Citizenship and Law
* 2018: Geography – 'Mapping Our World'
* 2019: History – 'Peace, Reconciliation and Activism'
* 2020: English – 'Poetry, Prose and Plays'
* 2021: PSHE – 'Body, Mind, Spirit'
* 2022: Politics in Art – 'The Arc Is Long'
* 2023: TV and Film – 'Behind The Lens'
* 2024: Medicine - 'Under the Scope'
* 2025: Activism and Social Change

#### The Faces for the Year

After Schools OUT UK paid tribute to Alan Turing in November 2012 (the centenary of his birth) at the launch of STEM 2013, Promotions Officer Andrew Dobbin suggested the month regularly feature LGBTQ figures whose lives have been forgotten or 'straight-washed' by history, to illustrate the group's tagline of "claiming our past", and to give LGBTQ students some of the role-models and heroes their straight classmates had an abundance of. The idea was adopted from 2014, with every February since highlighting the life of a lesbian, gay man, bisexual and trans person. In 2021, the committee were able to add a fifth individual as part of the intention to represent the "+" in LGBT+.
(In order of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, +):
* 2014: Ethel Smyth, Benjamin Britten, Bessie Smith and Angela Morley
* 2015: Anne Lister, Hugh Paddick and Kenneth Williams, Frida Kahlo and the Chevalier d'Eon de Beaumont
* 2016: no faces were assigned to this year to avoid religious upset
* 2017: Jacqui Forster, Allan Horsfall, Emmeline Pankhurst and Sylvia Rivera
* 2018: Kate Marsden, Gilbert Baker, Claude McKay and Jan Morris
* 2019: Mariella Franco, Magnus Hirschfeld, Robert Graves and Marsha P. Johnson
* 2020: Lorraine Hansberry, E.M. Forster, William Shakespeare and Dawn Langley Simmons (the year was also dedicated to murdered journalist Lyra McKee)
* 2021: Lily Parr, Mark Ashton, Maya Angelou, Michael Dillon and Mark Weston
* 2022: Doris Brabham Hatt, Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Mark Aguhar and Fiore de Hanriquez
* 2023: Lindsay Cooper, Ismail Merchant, Tony Richardson, Sophie Xeon
* 2024: Sophia Jex Blake, Cecil Belfield Clarke, Margaret Stacey, Ewan Forbes and George Ward/Cherry Valentine
* 2025: Octavia Hill, Ivor Cummings, Annie Kenney, Charlie Kiss and Olaudah Equiano

#### OUTing The Past

OUTing The Past is an annual festival of LGBTQ history. It runs throughout February and into March.
OUTing The Past was first celebrated in 2015. The festival started in three venues in Manchester: the LGBTQ Foundation, The Central Library and the People's History Museum. An academic conference with the inaugural Allan Horsfall Lecture was given by Charles Upchurch of Florida University. This is now a yearly event funded by the Campaign for Homosexual Equality. Stephen M Hornby was appointed as the first National Playwright in Residence to LGBTQ History Month. The first production was a three part heritage premiere called "A Very Victorian Scandal", which dramatised new research about a drag ball in 1880 in Hulme.
In 2016 the festival expanded to six hubs around England and the conference had its own slot. The Alan Horsfall lecture was given by Susan Stryker of the University of Arizona. The national heritage premieres were "Mister Stokes: The Man-Woman of Manchester", which told the story of Harry Stokes, a Victorian trans pioneer and "Devils in Human Shape", which dramatized Georgian sodomy trials in Bristol.
In 2017, there were 18 venues round the country and over a hundred presentations on LGBTQ history had been given. The Alan Horsfall lecture was given by Diana Souhami. The national heritage premieres were "The Burnley Buggers' Ball", which told the story of the first public meeting to establish an LGBTQ Center in the UK in 1971 at Burnley Library, and "Burnley's Lesbian Liberator", which told the story of one of the first demonstrations in support of a woman sacked for wearing a Lesbian Liberation badge by the Burnley & Pendle Bus Company in 1978.
In 2018, there were 11 venues which included Wales and Northern Ireland. The lecture was given by Tom Robinson.
In 2019, there were 18 venues, including the first international events in the Republic of Ireland, Sweden, Norway and New York. The national heritage premiere was "The Adhesion of Love", which toured to a number of venues in the North West of England. It told the story of a visit by a member of the Eagle Street College to Walt Whitman in 1891. The festival also premiered another play, A Queer Céilí at the Marty Forsythe, based on events in Ulster's LGBTQ history. The play earned actor Christopher Grant a nomination as best supporting actor at the Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards 2020.

#### Scotland

In 2005 and 2006, LGBTQ History Month was celebrated in Scotland as an LGBTQ community event, receiving support from LGBTQ community history projects such as Our Story Scotland and Remember When.
For 2007 and 2008, the Scottish Government provided funding for a post at LGBT Youth Scotland to bring LGBTQ History Month into the wider community, including schools and youth groups.
In 2020 Scotland's theme was "What have we learned? 20 years since the repeal of Section 28."

### United States

LGBTQ History Month originated in the United States as Lesbian and Gay History Month, and was first celebrated in October 1994. It was founded by Missouri high-school history teacher Rodney Wilson. Wilson, the first openly gay public school teacher in Missouri, originated the idea, served as founder on the first coordinating committee, and chose October as the month of celebration. Among early supporters and members of the first coordinating committee were Kevin Jennings of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN); Kevin Boyer of the Gerber/Hart Gay and Lesbian Library and Archives in Chicago; Paul Varnell, writer for the Windy City Times; Torey Wilson, Chicago area teacher; Johnda Boyce, women's studies graduate student at The Ohio State University and Jessea Greenman of University of California, Berkeley. Many gay and lesbian organizations supported the concept early on as did Governors William Weld of Massachusetts and Lowell Weicker of Connecticut, Mayors such as Thomas Menino of Boston and Wellington Webb of Denver, who recognized the inaugural month with official proclamations. In 1995, the National Education Association indicated support of LGBTQ History Month as well as other history months by resolution at its General Assembly.
October was chosen by Wilson as the month for the celebration because the first and second LGBTQ Marches on Washington, in 1979 and 1987, were in October; National Coming Out Day is on 11 October, chosen to mark the date of the Second March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in 1987, and October is within the academic calendar year. LGBTQ History Month is intended to encourage honesty and openness about being LGBTQ.
While it was first known as Lesbian and Gay History Month, the coordinating committee soon added "bisexual" to the title. It has subsequently become known as LGBTQ History Month. The event has received criticism from conservative groups, such as the Concerned Women for America and others who believe it to be a form of "indoctrination".
In 2006, Equality Forum began picking 31 LGBTQ icons from all over the world through all eras of history and highlighting one each day in October. In 2011, Equality Forum introduced an internal search engine for all Icons from inception in 2006 to present. such as African-American, athlete, California, Germany, HIV/AIDS, Military, Religion, Transgender, Youth; visitors to the site will be provided with links to all Icons in that category.
In 2012, for the first time, two American school districts celebrated LGBTQ History Month. The Broward County school district in Florida signed a resolution in September in support of LGBTQ Americans, and later that year the Los Angeles school district, America's second-largest, also signed on.

### Cuba

The LGBTQ Cuba History Month had its first celebration in May 2022, to celebrate the history of the LGBTQ Cuban community throughout the month of May. The event showcases the work of the National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX) and seeks to strengthen education and debate on the Family Code and promote the visibility of LGBTQ rights in Cuba. Historian Raúl Pérez Monzón told Inter Press Service "we want to rescue the history of people with non-heteronormative sexualities and create spaces to promote research". Juan Carlos Gutierrez Perez of the University Marta Abreu of Las Villas, a festival co-organizer, said a "great wave of conservative religious fundamentalism has been developing in Cuba".

## Citywide celebrations
### Berlin

In Berlin, it is known as Queer History Month instead of LGBTQ History Month. Every year it takes place in May. It is to educate and help people deal with sexuality, sexual diversity, and anti-discrimination in small projects.
During Queer History Month (QHM), people are able to find detailed lessons on queer history suitable for both school and non-school education. Also, educational institutions provide education to schools and youth institutions directly.