‘‘ A
CROSS June and July, the CILIP LGBTQ+ Network ran its 2nd online Festival of Pride and Knowledge.
Even though we often refer to LGBTQIA people in terms of being a community, the programme this year emphasised it in a specific way. In particular, how LGBTQ+ people and their representation can be brought together as a community through library, knowledge and information sector organisations. It highlighted this through archives representing strands of LGBTQ+ culture and lives; outreach and event work with LGBTQ+ people; the building of supportive peer networks; and the impact of censoring LGBTQ+ representation in books Di Stiff, from the Surrey History Centre focused on engaging and working with LGBTQ+ Communities. She talked about previous projects that have helped build up a picture of LGBTQ+ lives throughout Surrey over the centuries; developing partnerships with local LGBTQ+ organisations for outreach work; and Surrey Heritage’s ongoing project, What’s your Surrey LGBTQ+ Story? This project aims to redress the balance of LGBTQ+ histories being neglected because of past attitudes, prejudice and judicial persecution. As part of the project, they are continuing to ask for local “anecdotes, personal memoirs, records of community groups, and local LGBTQ+ facts and stories” for inclusion in their archive. More details can be found via:
https://tinyurl.com/mu5wds9p. Stef Dickers, Special Collections and Archives Manager at the Bishopsgate Institute shared highlights from their LGBTQ+ archives, including collections formed around LGBTQ+ communities. This included The Museum of Transology; the UK Leather and Fetish Archive; and Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners. Through different collections,
July-August 2022
The archives allow us to see how others overcame discrimination and made steps towards changing legislation.
Stef was also able to highlight that individual personal stories are just as important as the collective voice within LGBTQ+ communities. By using archive material from the collections, Stef also reminded us of the way that the media in particular had portrayed LGBTQ+ people through the 20th century, and in return how LGBTQ+ communities responded to negative and discriminatory attitudes towards themselves.
The LGBTQ+ Staff Networks panel and open discussion highlighted community building in the workplace. It emphasised how employee networks can have a significant positive impact on LGBTQ+ people in their organisations, by providing a safe and supportive community for LGBTQ+ workers, as well as raising awareness of LGBTQ+ issues and helping employers create a more inclusive workplace.
Our panel of authors and librarians for the LGBTQ+ Censorship event focused on the impact of censoring materials containing LGBTQ+ characters and storylines on the LGBTQ+ community, and how censorship can be addressed. An article in an upcoming edition of Information Professional will also be discussing aspects of the censorship debate. So please keep an eye out for that.
What I’ve enjoyed in particular about the community focus in this year’s programme, is that it also highlights that you don’t have to be well-known to include your story in an LGBTQ+ collection or archive. Stories of everyday LGBTQ+ lives are just as important. Archives containing these histories also serve to highlight to ourselves and future generations just what life was like for individuals – showing us how discriminatory legislation and attitudes impacted on those people. But some of these archives also serve to give hope to
Ash Green (@ciliplgbtq,
cilip.lgbtqnetwork@cilip.
org.uk) is a CILIP LGBTQ+ Network Steering Group Member.
people as well. The archives allow us to see how others overcame discrimination and made steps towards changing legislation. These archives and collections also allow us to form a link to others who may have walked a similar path before us. Even just seeing aspects of ourselves reflected back from those collections is important. And we can also see how happy individuals were with their partners, friends and the community they were a part of. Thank you to everyone who was involved in the Festival of Pride and Knowledge this year, particularly our speakers and panellists. Also, thanks to everyone who attended the events. We look forward to seeing you again next year. And if you have any ideas for events for next year’s festival please get in touch via:
cilip.lgbtqnetwork@
cilip.org.uk IP
INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL DIGITAL 25
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48
