In the Barker-Mill project space, extracts from newspapers and pamphlets are exhibited alongside video clips of local news reports and more personal oral histories and photographs. This exhibition will not only celebrate the queer history of Southampton and the hard-won fight for LGBTQIA+ rights, but will also preserve the legacy of queer people in the area by forming a new collection to be deposited in the City Council’s Museum and Archive collection.

This exhibition was developed to accompany a new ‘a space’ arts commission by Ian Giles called Everyone Involved which you can read more about here.

With thanks to: Bishopsgate Institute, the Hall-Carpenter Archives at London School of Economics, Hampshire Record Office, Merseyside Maritime Museum, Mark Ovenden, People’s History Museum, Harrison Pitts, Southampton City Art Gallery, Alexandra Lyons, Maria Newbery and Joanne Smith at Southampton City Council’s Museum and Archive collection, Jo Stanley and Paul Baker whose book Hello Sailor! The Hidden History of Gay Life at Sea was a valuable resource, Wessex Film and Sound Archive, Dr Clifford Williams and Y Services (Voices for Heritage project).

Image credits: Mark Ovenden, Robert Workman Archive, Bishopsgate Institute and Southampton City Council’s Museum and Archive collection.