Humanist Heritage: Picturing Nonconformity: LGBT Humanist Heritage (original) (raw)

In July 2024, Humanist Heritage staged a first-of-its-kind exhibition marking 45 years of LGBT Humanists, and an even longer history of existence and resistance. In this article, Heritage Project Officer Cas Bradbeer gives a glimpse into the exhibition’s making, opening, and impact. Photography by Alavari Jeevathol.

In July 2024, we opened our landmark exhibition celebrating LGBT Humanists, revealing their rich archival holdings from Bishopsgate and Conway Hall. This printed ephemera was complemented by LGBT artists’ illustrations of figures from further back in history whose religious, gender, and sexual nonconformity might speak to LGBT humanists today.

Click on the image above to explore the virtual tour of our exhibition!
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This specially curated collection, ranging from textiles to illustrations to photographs, featured works of art by EM Parry, SL Grange, River Manning, Alice Gabb, and Claire Mead. Through the oral histories that volunteers gathered for the exhibition, we also had the pleasure of hearing directly from veteran LGBT artists and activists such as Adèle Anderson and Peter Tatchell.

Through photographs, news media, and ephemera of all kinds, the LGBT Humanists archive tells a story of political struggles and community building since 1979. Amid campaigns on topics such as equal marriage, the Mary Whitehouse blasphemy trial, and conversion therapy, inclusive spaces emerged for social activities and creative expression.

This exhibition was organised as part of the National Lottery Heritage Fund supported project Humanist Heritage: Doers, Dreamers, Place Makers, coordinated by Humanists UK in partnership with Conway Hall.

Loved finding out about this rich history and how it’s contributed to my life as a queer person today.

Anonymous visitor

From someone who first came to a gay humanist meeting here in the 1990s – keep on going!

Anonymous visitor

I learned just how rich LGBT humanist heritage is, beyond the Mary Whitehouse headlines. Truly inspiring to keep fighting the good fight!

Anonymous visitor

Our exhibition opened with speeches by LGBT Humanists coordinator Nick Baldwin, who gleefully showed attendees the zine he co-created with other volunteers working on this exhibition. We then welcomed a surprise appearance from Peter Tatchell, who expressed his gratitude for decades of collaboration between Outrage! and LGBT Humanists.

Tony Challis, a member of LGBT Humanists since its early days, powerfully read his poetry in his Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners t-shirt. Themes ranged from lying with another man under moonlight to memories of his friend who underwent conversion therapy (the banning of which has been an LGBT Humanists campaign since its founding, and is LGBT Humanists’ campaign focus of 2024).

Closing the show was the marvellous Claire Mead, who performed as their drag persona Eugène Delacroissant. They spoke to the long history of homophobia and hypocrisy within religious establishments, focusing on the tale of John Atherton. Claire then performed to It’s a Sin by the Pet Shop Boys as they embodied this 17th century bishop who was prosecuted under the same homophobic legislation in Ireland that he instituted.

Thinking about how far our community has come, how hard we’ve had to fight and how different/similar things are today. The performances warmed my heart.

Anonymous attendee

It was an honour to be included in the anniversary celebrations, contributing to the oral history archive, through which I was able to meet one of my LGBT Humanists heroes, Peter Tatchell!

Oral history interviewee, Alexander Williams

Exploring queer icons and villains as they express their nonconformity, love and resistance has filled me with immense pride.

Opening night performer, Claire Mead

Show Me Your Pride: Banner Making with Alice Gabb

At the entrance to our exhibition, we featured our new LGBT Humanists banner, co-created by participants in our workshop with activist and artist Alice Gabb. In the workshop, Alice shared a short history of activist banners, before working with the participants to design a banner, based on symbols and slogans from the LGBT Humanists archive. The banner was marched by LGBT Humanists at Pride 2024, before taking its place in Conway Hall’s window display.

I loved learning the history of banners with Alice & contributing to the creation of something that is part of our community today – & one day in the future, our history.

Anonymous participant

I learnt how collaborative events make such a difference. I really enjoyed it.

Anonymous participant

I loved the sense of community & meeting new people. And the lack of ‘rules’ – fostering creativity.

Anonymous participant

Contact cas@humanists.uk if you are interested in staging this exhibition at your organisation.