Queer History Talks

Queer Old Soho

30 mins / 1 hour

Soho has been at the centre of the queer community in London for centuries, and was the regular haunt of Oscar Wilde, Radclyffe Hall and Quentin Crisp. Covering nearly 500 years from the creation of ‘The Buggerie Act’ in turbulent Tudor times to 20th century music and drug culture, a very Victorian scandal (involving royalty no less!), what 17th century diarist Samuel Pepys had to say about sodomy, and just how a loud lesbian found herself being sat on by a BBC newsreader!

The Bloomsbury Set - An Introduction

30 mins

Leafy central London neighbourhood Bloomsbury was home to the famous “Bloomsbury Set” of writers, painters and thinkers in the early 20th century, including Virginia Woolf, Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant. Despite being all notable in their own right, they were far ahead of their time when it comes to their complicated sexual and romantic relationships. Get a brief half hour intro into some of the key players in this accessible introduction to this group of fascinating people.

The Bloomsbury Set and Queer Old Soho

1 hour / 1.5 hours

The adjacent neighbourghoods of Soho and Bloomsbury share a long queer history.

Discover some of the better and lesser-known queer locations including Soho Square, Gordon Square, Piccadilly Circus, and Old Compton Street while hearing scintillating stories of sexuality and gender identity in London through the ages. This talk gives a flavour of the highs, and the lows faced daily by LGBTQ people in London through time, and promises tales of love and lust, deceit and debauchery, masochism and… Mozart!

Live like a Queen: Britain’s queer stately homes

30 mins / 1 hour

From romance among the roses to bust-ups in the bedchamber, stately homes around the UK have been the setting for queer love and heartbreak for hundreds of years. We go upstairs and downstairs as well as outside into the bushes, to look for queer love in some of the most glamorous residential buildings in England. Including 18th-century love and betrayal in the royal Kensington Palace, and Madresfield Court - home to an Earl with a penchant for youthful, rosy-cheeked footmen, and his family - who were the inspiration for Evelyn Waugh’s queer romance - Bridesehead Revisited.

London’s LGBTQ+ Theatreland

30 mins / 1 hour

With a history dating back 350 years, the West End is the bustling theatreland of London, representing the highest level of British commercial theatre in the English-speaking world. It has played host to more than its fair share of queer stars such as Oscar Wilde, Sir Ian McKellen and the largely forgotten Canadian lesbian Maud Allan. We take a deep dive into early British drag, including a drag king who became England’s highest earning woman, and the trial of ‘The Funny He-She Ladies’ which astounded and exhilarated the Victorian public.

Queer Music from Schubert to Sylvester

30 mins / 1 hour

A fascinating look into queer musicians worldwide, from the classical world to the modern day. Covering Chopin’s admiration for the conveniences of London, some of the iconic 20th century queer black women who shaped the world of the Blues, a lesbian orgy, the gender-bending British icons who paved the way for future stars, San Francisco’s radical output in the 70s and 80s, plus some contemporary artists still gigging today.

Michelangelo and Leonardo – the first modern gays?

1 hour

Michelangelo Buonarotti and Leonardo Da Vinci are arguably the most famous artists of all time. We all know the Mona Lisa and the statue of David, but what is less known is that both men only ever had male lovers. While same sex love has existed since pre-history, homosexuality is a social construct of the last few hundred years. Were Michelangelo and Leonardo among the earliest ‘homosexuals’? We examine the influence of Classical Greece on the Italian Renaissance, the private lives of these two virtuosos, the artwork they left behind and the recent tampering of evidence and media portrayals that have influenced our perception.