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Brighton Resists: snapshots of LGBTQ+ activism in our city

Into the Outside: The Next Chapter may be over now, but our friends at Queer in Brighton currently have an exhibition in The Marlborough Pub & Theatre until April 20th 2017. 

For the past six months Brighton LGBTQ+ History Club has been exploring the rich and diverse LGBTQ+ history of our city - from early Pride marches to the experience of Deaf queer people, via the stories of Dandies, fashion, and the lives of older lesbians - we have barely scratched the surface.

How do we begin to exhibit this expansive and varied history?

Unsurprisingly, political activism and resistance is a thread that runs through the life of our communities, with shifting battles and political agendas over the decades - Section 28, HIV & AIDS, Pride, Equal Marriage, Trans rights to name but a few.

Brighton Resists is a starting point, an exhibition but also a chance to reflect on the journey of our activism, how we have resisted, fought for our rights, and stood up for each other. What are the achievements of our community and how can we prepare for the struggles of the future?

Brighton Resists uses the Section 28 campaign as a starting point to look at the history of LGBTQ+ activism in our city. Using collections at The Keep (University of Sussex) and from the Queer in Brighton project this exhibition gives snapshots of when our communities have come together to resist oppressive legislation, harassment and invisibility.

Come along and see the exhibtion The Marlborough Pub & Theatre during opening hours: Mon 1pm - midnight Tues - Sun midday - late

Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund

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Installing our second exhibition

Here are some photos from the installation of Into the Outside: The Next Chapter which was on display at Jubilee Library 3 February – 19 March 2017.

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Our celebration event

To celebrate all the hard work that we’d put into our first exhibition, we held an event and invited all of our friends and family to come along.

During the day, we held another photo studio and oral history interviewing session for our archive. Since the exhibition was being held at the University of Brighton, there were young people of all orientations and identities willing to share their opinions.

As well as this, Bryony and I gave guided tours of the exhibition throughout the afternoon. This gave the public the chance to find out more about the project and the work that we’d produced. There was also time for them to ask us questions. At first, it was quite nerve-wracking talking in front of a group of people, but it was worth it in the end.

In the evening, some members of the group read their creative writing pieces and our guest star, author Jordan Savage, performed some spoken word poetry. Juliette (Photoworks Learning and Participation Curator), Helen (the project facilitator), and one of the participants Colin all gave speeches.

It gave me the chance to show off everything that I’d been working on to my friends. It was an opportunity for us to reflect on the how far the project had come and to start thinking about the future.

It’s strange to think that some of the conversations had that day inspired work that is in our current exhibition.

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Planning our celebration event

During our first exhibition back in October, we held an event to celebrate all the hard work that we’d done up until that point. To organise this event, we split into teams with each group focusing on a particular task.

Each team discussed the kinds of materials that would need and any issues they might face. Bryony and I were in charge of giving tours of the exhibition. This meant that we needed to talk to people about their work and then organise who was going to talk about each piece.

The other groups included people who would run the photography studio, conduct oral history interviews, be responsible for organising refreshments and people who wanted to speak during the evening event.

We had about two weeks to organise ourselves before the event and I’m pleased to say we pulled it off! The celebration event was a success, and you can read all about it soon on the Into the Outside blog.

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Looking back our first exhibition

Did you know that ‘Into the Outside: The Next Chapter’ is not our first exhibition?

Back in October, we had an exhibition as part of the Brighton Photo Biannual. ‘Into the Outside: The Story So Far’ was a chance for people to see the personal projects that we’d been working on as well as some of the work from our sessions. For most of us, it was our first time exhibiting work to the public, so there was a mixture of nerves and excitement.

We were also able to display some of the material that we’d been using in our research at The Keep. This really helped to contextualise the project as a whole as well as some of the individual pieces. For example, my piece in the exhibition was a direct response to some of the beautiful photo albums kept at The Keep, so it was great to be able to display them together.

Overall, the exhibition was a success and it was an amazing first experience. We got feedback about our work and people were really interested in what our plans for the project were.

Towards the end of the month, we held a special celebration event including tours, speeches and more chances for young people to get involved with the Queer Youth Archive. You can read all about that soon on the Into the Outside blog!

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(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upVxKQFCydc)

Check out the Into the Outside project on Latest LGBT News!

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Pride 2016

In August, we went along to the seafront to photograph the Pride parade. 

If you’re unfamiliar, Pride is an annual event that celebrates everything LGBTQ+. There are various events around the country, with the biggest celebrations being in Brighton and Hove. It takes place over a weekend in August, with a parade through the town on Saturday. There’s also a festival in Preston Park which some of us were lucky enough to be given tickets to attend.

Since it is a celebratory atmosphere, we got dressed up and some people even painted their faces. Everyone was in the party mood and people danced along to the music.

There were people from all kinds of organisations and groups in the parade and the emergency services got involved too. It was a great way of showcasing all of the different groups in Brighton and Hove.

It was my first time at a Pride celebration and I hadn’t been sure what to expect. I was blown away by all the colours, the sights and sounds, but most of all the amount of love there was. It was so great to see people being so supportive of the LGBTQ+ community especially given the tragic events that had happened around the world in the months prior.

I can't quite put into words how happy I felt. I had a moment of reflection while I was sat in the Pride festival - a few years ago I could never have imagined being here. It made me incredibly proud to be part of it all and it certainly helped me to feel more confident and comfortable in identifying within the LGBTQ+ community.

It’s definitely something that I will never forget.

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Pride portraits and interviews

On the Friday and Saturday of the Pride weekend, Into the Outside held an event in the Jubilee Library. We invited young people to have their portrait taken and to be part of the oral history interviews for our Queer Youth Archive.

We set up our photo studio in the young people’s section of the library, and had our interview station upstairs since that would be quieter. There were even some snacks, although admittedly we did eat most of the skittles ourselves.

It was slight nerve-wracking as it was our first time having the photo studio open to the public, but it was a lot of fun and everyone enjoyed themselves. Even though some of us are a little camera shy, we also made sure to get in front of the lens to have our portraits taken too.

The oral history interviews were really interesting because there were a wide range of opinions on the topics we asked about. Everyone in the group had written their own questions to ask, and mine focused on having people explaining how their identified and their experiences at Pride.

Most people were in a party mood given all the celebrations happening around town, especially on the Saturday as people were coming from the parade. We got some great photos and interesting interviews for our archive. It was brilliant to get to know some other young people and to be able to share what we were doing with them.

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Trans Pride 2016

In July, we took part in the Trans Pride march in Brighton, an event that challenges discrimination and celebrates gender diversity. Starting outside The Marlborough pub and theatre, we marched down past the pier and along to Brunswick Square Gardens.

It was the first time that I’d taken part in an event like this, and I couldn’t believe all of the support from people that just happened to be along the seafront at the time. Passersby cheered and applauded us, people in their cars waved to us, and no one seemed to mind that we’d closed the road.

When we got to Brunswick Square Gardens, there were all kinds of stalls set up and a stage with live music. The Mayor of Brighton and Hove was there, and we got some badges to prove that we’d met him.

There was a real atmosphere of support that day, and I’m honoured that I got to be a part of that. It is clear that there’s still change that needs to be made until everyone is equal, but all of the love that was shown that day gave me hope for the future. I can’t wait to do it all over again at Trans Pride 2017!

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Come to our preview event!

© Saskia Grundmann From the series ‘Hold Your Own’ 2016

Did you know that we’re holding a preview event for our Into the Outside: The Next Chapter exhibition? 

Come along to the Jubilee Library in Brighton at 5pm til 6.30 pm on Thursday 2 February to take a look at all of our hard work. Everybody’s welcome so feel free to invite your friends and family too.  We’ll even have cupcakes.

We held our first exhibition ‘Into the Outside: The Story So Far’ back in October as part of the Brighton Photo Biannual which was a first look into the work we were doing. ‘Into the Outside: The Next Chapter’ features photography, film and illustrations created by a group of LGBTQ+ young people, as well as elements from our new Queer Youth Archive.

That’s Thursday 2 February, 5 - 6.30pm, at Jubilee Library, Jubilee Street, Brighton BN1 1GE

Into the Outside: The Next Chapter exhibition runs from 3 February – 19 March 2017

Hope to see you there!

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The National Lesbian and Gay Survey 1989 - 2004

In July, we went back to The Keep to look at their archive for the National Lesbian and Gay Survey. The survey, which ran from 1986 to 2004, collected information from 725 people in the UK by asking them to fill out a biographical sheet anonymously. There were sections for occupation, qualifications and relationship status. Being able to look through the archive gave us an insight into the Lesbian and Gay community during that time.

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We’re on Juice 107.2 tonight!

On Friday, Photoworks Learning and Participation Curator Juliette and I went along to Juice FM in Brighton to talk about the Into the Outside. I’d never been in a recording studio before, so I was just as nervous as I was excited, but Stu soon put me at ease.

We discussed how the project came about, why I decided to get involved, and of course the Into the Outside: The Next Chapter exhibition. It was a great chance to reflect on everything that we’ve done, and it made me even more excited for the opening of the exhibition which I didn’t think was possible!

Tune in to Brighton Nights on Juice 107.2 FM tonight from 9pm to listen to us on the radio!

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Fun in the Studio

Over the Pride weekend, we held an event at the Jubilee Library in which we invited young people to come along and have their portrait taken. Before we could do that though, we needed to learn about portrait photography and how to use a studio. We got to have a play around with the camera and the lighting in order to practice. Take a look at some shots of us in action! 

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Thanks to GScene for talking about our ‘Into the Outside: The Next Chapter’ exhibition on their website!  

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Our trip to London

Back in June, we took a trip up to London to visit some exhibitions.

The first exhibition that we saw was Sharon Hayes’ ‘In My Little Corner of the World, Anyone Would Love You’ at Studio Voltaire. The main piece was a video installation which involved people reading extracts from feminist and lesbian small publications and newsletters from between 1955 and 1977.

Some of the extracts focused on the isolation the author felt because of how they identified which still felt relevant. They also talked about how these publications were their way of feeling connected to the lesbian community. Until that point, I hadn’t thought about how important having the internet had been in my own experience of finding the LGBTQ+ community.

After stopping to have some lunch, we headed to Tate Modern to see the ‘Performing for the Camera’ exhibition. This time the focus was on photography ranging from the Victorians to Instagram. This exhibition was a lot bigger, and because of the variety, everyone could find something that they liked.

We looked at the themes and ideas behind some of the work in the two exhibitions and the photographic techniques used in others. The trip was a great way of finding inspiration for our own projects.

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‘Into the Outside: The Next Chapter’ exhibition

© Saskia Grundmann From the series 'Hold Your Own' 2016

I’m very excited to announce that Into the Outside has a brand new exhibition opening next Friday in Brighton.

Running from 3 February – 19 March 2017, the exhibition coincides with LGBT History Month.

‘Into the Outside: The Next Chapter’ features photography, film and illustrations created by the group, as well as elements from our new Queer Youth Archive.  

We’re also holding a preview event on Thursday 2 February 5 - 6:30 pm.  

Come along to the Jubilee Library and see what everyone’s been working so hard on.

Jubilee Library, Jubilee Street, Brighton BN1 1GE 3 February – 19 March 2017 Preview -  5-6:30 pm, 2 February

Opening Times- Monday:10am-7pm Tuesday: 10am-7pm Wednesday:10am-5pm Thursday:10am-7pm Friday: 10am-5pm Saturday: 10am-5pm Sunday:11am-5pm

Hope to see you there!

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Our research trip to The Keep

As part of our research, we visited The Keep to look through their archives. The staff had very kindly selected collections that they thought would be relevant for our project for us to look through. There were all kinds of official surveys, records and documents from the past 100 years as well as personal items that had been donated.

One of my favourite parts of the trip was being able to look through the photo albums that people had donated from the 1950s. They were beautiful. The owner had made little notes around some of the photographs about the people in the photo, or something about that day which helped to give an insight into her life. It really made me think about the way in which we store our photos on our computers or online rather than in physical albums.

It was a very interesting trip and gave us a lot to think about when it came to what would go into our own archive.