Badge for LGBT History Month
London, UK
2009
This badge was made to mark LGBT
(Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender) History Month, which takes place
in the UK every year in February. It was donated to the British
Museum in 2009.
Homosexual acts in private in
Britain were decriminalised in 1967, following the recommendations
of a 1957 government committee chaired by Lord Wolfenden, later a
director of the British Museum (1969-73). While this reform changed
the legal status of those engaged in same-sex relationships,
general attitudes to them did not necessarily change.
In many countries gay liberation
movements have fought – and continue to fight – against
discrimination and prejudice using both publications and protests.
In the academic world, studies on gay history and gender studies
have risen in importance.
The first LGBT History Month took
place in the United States of America in October 1994. The first
LGBT History Month in the United Kingdom took place in February
2005. Both events were based on the creation of a Black History
Month which first took place in the UK in October 1987.
By looking back into the past to
explore the history of same-sex relationships and fluid ideas of
gender, the month-long celebrations aim to show that these are not
modern inventions, but essential parts of human existence and
experience.