Title: Gay rights movement
Description: This collection of materials is taken from the Hall-Carpenter Archives, which documents lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender activism in the United Kingdom. Spanning the period from 1958 to 1990, this collection chronicles the activities of the Albany Trust, an organization that was initially focused on decriminalizing homosexuality and increasing social acceptance of gay people. The Albany Trust centered its work on counseling services, research, and public education, helping to steer society and the law away from older, traditional ideas regarding homosexuality. This collection includes a wide variety of materials related to the organization and its activities. There are internal documents such as reports, financial papers, meeting minutes, and correspondence. The collection contains publications and public relations work from the Albany Trust, including its newsletters, journals, and pamphlets. Publicity, annual reports, and correspondence from other organizations illustrate the alliances that Albany Trust formed, and in some cases document the work of organizations that opposed the Trust. Seminar and conference proceedings are covered, as well as research into sexuality. The files of social workers handling caseloads for the group provide insight into the counseling services that were offered to gays at the time. The collection also includes papers regarding the training of youth workers and the development of sex education in the mid-1970s. All records from the field officer, who was assigned to develop links between the trust and social workers in the UK, are included in this collection as well. Although the Albany Trust as it exists today fills a different role than it did mid-century, its presence from the beginnings of the gay rights movement in the UK offers a targeted view into the time period. This collection provides essential documentation of the decriminalization of homosexuality and the progression of gay rights in the United Kingdom.
Subjects: Homosexuality, Gay rights, Sexual minorities, Gay liberation movement
Places: Great Britain