| Holiday Name: | LGBT History Month |
| Type: | National |
| Observedby: | Australia (since 2016) Cuba (since 2022) Germany (since 2014) Hungary (since 2013) UK (since 2005) US (since 1994) |
| Longtype: | National, civil rights, cultural, ethnic, sexual orientation, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender |
| Significance: | Celebration of LGBT history |
| Begins: | February (United Kingdom) March (Hungary) May (Germany, Cuba) October (Australia, Canada, United States) |
| Scheduling: | varies |
| Duration: | 1 month |
| Frequency: | Annual |
LGBT History Month is an annual month-long observance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history, and the history of the gay rights and related civil rights movements.[1] It was founded in 1994 by Missouri high-school history teacher Rodney Wilson.[2] LGBT History Month provides role models, builds community, and represents a civil rights statement about the contributions of the LGBTQ+ community.[3] As of 2022, LGBT 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 LGBT rights.[4] 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.[5] In Berlin, the capital of Germany, it is known as Queer History Month and is celebrated in May.[6]
In October 2016, Minus 18, Australian Queer Archives, and the Safe Schools Coalition Victoria organised the first Australian LGBTQ+ History Month.[7] [8]
LGBT History Month has been celebrated in February since 2013. The program series is coordinated by Háttér Society, Szimpozion Assiciation and Labrisz Lesbian Association, events are organized in partnership with other LGBT 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.[9]
In 2013 there were nearly 30 events in the cities of Budapest, Miskolc and Szeged.[10] In 2015 there were 37 events, with some held in Tahitótfalu and Csobánka. As of 2019 there were about 40 events for the celebration.[11]
From 2023, LGBT History Month is observed in March in Hungary.[12]
LGBT+ 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.[13] 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.
LGBT+ 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 LGBT 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.[14]
The DfES promised funding for LGBT 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.
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.
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.
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 LGBT figures whose lives have been forgotten or 'straight-washed' by history, to illustrate the group's tagline of "claiming our past", and to give LGBT+ 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, +):
OUTing The Past is an annual festival of LGBT history.[15] It runs throughout February and into March.
OUTing The Past was first celebrated in 2015. The festival started in three venues in Manchester: the LGBT 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 LGBT 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.[16]
In 2017, there were 18 venues round the country and over a hundred presentations on LGBT 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 LGBT 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.[17]
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.[18] The festival also premiered another play, A Queer Céilí at the Marty Forsythe, based on events in Ulster's LGBT+ history. The play earned actor Christopher Grant a nomination as best supporting actor at the Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards 2020
In 2005 and 2006, LGBT History Month was celebrated in Scotland as an LGBT community event, receiving support from LGBT community history projects such as Our Story Scotland and Remember When.[19]
For 2007 and 2008, the Scottish Government provided funding for a post at LGBT Youth Scotland to bring LGBT 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."[20]
See also: Lesbian American history, Gay men in American history, Bisexual American history and Transgender American history.
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.[21] 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.[22] [23] 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 LGBT History Month as well as other history months by resolution at its General Assembly.[24]
October was chosen by Wilson as the month for the celebration because the first and second LGBT 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.[25] LGBT History Month is intended to encourage honesty and openness about being LGBT.
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.[26] 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 LGBT History Month. The Broward County school district in Florida signed a resolution in September in support of LGBT Americans, and later that year the Los Angeles school district, America's second-largest, also signed on.[27]
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 LGBT rights in Cuba.[28] [29] 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”.[28]
In Berlin, it is known as Queer History Month instead of LGBT 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.[30]
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.