Archives in Action - History, herstory, theirstory
“It is so important to remember how far we have come; this talk inspired me and gave me the hope that we have weathered storms before.”
We kicked off LGBT+ History Month with a vibrant celebration of lives and legacies from the past as part of Storyhouse Queer, their community festival in partnership with Chester Pride.
The event was a heartfelt and moving journey through history, filled with powerful stories and emotional moments that left a lasting impact on everyone present.
A lively and joyous performance by Chester's LGBTQ+ choir Proud Marys helped settle my nerves until the Garrett Theatre slowly started to fill up with an audience of more than 50 people.
Hannah, our community engagement officer, welcomed the audience and began with an introduction to researching LGBTQ+ histories, focussing specifically on language and legislation.
I then offered an insight into over 400 years of records evidencing Cheshire’s LGBTQ+ past from the collections at Cheshire Archives.
Beginning with the earliest record found so far, a 17th century record of a man wearing ‘wearinge weomen’s apparel’. We then explored 18th century marriage registers of same-sex couples, uncovered evidence of 19th and 20th century prosecutions of gay men, and highlighted articles chronicling the fierce fight for liberation in the 1960s and 1970s. The journey through the records continued witnessing the passing of Section 28 of the Local Government Act and concluded with the establishment of the charity Body Positive Cheshire and North Wales.
Although I couldn’t see the audience (stage lighting!), I could hear the response to some of the surprising and sometimes tragic stories.
The event then really came to life thanks to the emotional and powerful personal stories of Mike, Sue, Kay and Lorraine from Silver Rainbows.
Their stories were not just tales of struggle but also of humour, resilience, and the enduring spirit of the LGBTQ+ community. The audience was deeply moved, finding both inspiration and a sense of solidarity and hope in their words.
Just a sample of the wonderful comments from the audience. ‘Loved the history and it’s so important to preserve and protect these stories.’ ‘Please keep our history alive and relevant – it was secret for so long’. We were so pleased to have been able to share a hidden part of Cheshire’s history.
If you’d like to find out more about Cheshire’s LGBTQ+ past, please see our online exhibition: Hidden Histories.
By Becky Farmer (Archivist)
