The histories of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people in Birmingham and the West Midlands remain largely hidden from view although recent research in the archives has begun to recover episodes from the past. It is often wrongly assumed that LGBT people didn’t exist, or were invisible, until the 20th century. In fact there is a long history waiting to be explored and evidence can be found in a range of different sources including personal and family papers, church and official records.

What follows is a small selection of different kinds of resources which can help throw light on these histories. They were gathered together by a group of people who started searching the archives and appealing to the local LGBT community for material. However, this is only the start of the process and much more still needs to be done.

An oral history research project to uncover more stories will be starting in Birmingham in February 2007.

If you are interested in finding out more then please contact Connecting Histories.

Image of Birmingham Pride, 2004, by Brigitte Winsor.