As February marks LGBT+ History Month, the Museum of Oxford has a number of items on display which showcase the colourful history of the city’s LGBT+ population.
LGBT+ History Month is a month-long event which aims to tell the histories, stories and experiences of people who are LGBT+.
In Oxford, the Museum of Oxford currently has an exhibition focused on the lived experiences of LGBT+ people in the city.
The exhibition, entitled Queering Spires, is a revival of a previous exhibition which was created in 2019 alongside members of the LGBT+ community, such as Oxford Pride.
Marta Lomza, community engagement and exhibitions officer at the museum, points out that much of the material in the exhibition actually comes from peoples "words and voices", rather than physical objects.
She explained: "We are a museum about the people of Oxford, so we tell the stories of these people. We tell the stories of people whose voices are not often heard."
This is based on "how communities do things together and how they make their mark on Oxford".
She added: "We have recordings of people who have lived in Oxford for a number of years and have memories of growing up queer and what it was like."
Ms Lomaz is keen to stress the exhibition was created mostly by volunteers and is based on community research.
She explains there are "bound to be different - often conflicting - narratives of the same events or memories of the same spaces."
She said: "I am sure there are mistakes in the exhibition in terms of dates or precise locations.
"We have always stressed that we want to hear from people when they spot mistakes or omissions, and we’re very happy to keep adding things into the exhibition."
The objects the exhibition does feature include magazines and publications, badges, flags and audio content and interactive videos.
These are some of the items which tell the stories of Oxford's LGBT+ community:
Flags
The exhibition has a number of different Pride flags on display which highlights the changing history of how the LGBT+ community presents itself, both in Oxford and the wider world.
The original Rainbow Flag (third row from top and farthest to the right) was designed by American Gilbert Baker in 1978.
Baker's flag has gone on to develop and change a number of different times.
The most current flag (second row in the middle) encorperates the Morgan Carpenter's intersex flag from 2013 (top row far right) and Daniel Quasar's Pride Progress flag from 2018 (not pictured individually).
The other flags on display are for individual parts of the community, such as the Transgender Pride flag, Non-Binary flag and Lesbian flag.
There is also a handout sheet which explains what each flag means and people can take it away with them.
Oxford Pride painting
This painting by Jack Smith depicts the 2019 Oxford Pride parade while passing through Catte Street, with Oxford’s Radcliffe Camera in the background.
The colourful crowd was inspired by real people from the event and is a celebration of LGBT+ visibility in Oxford.
Smith has had several exhibitions in Oxford, including a series of portraits depicting the lives of LGBT+ people in the city.
He has painted other Pride parades, including the London Pride parade which was selected by the Magistrates Association to be among the exhibition ‘100 years of Justice’.
LGBT+ publications
A number of different LGBT+ focused publications are featured in the exhibition, including Pink Times, Oxford Gayzette and Northgate News.
Pre-internet, the publications existed to bring news, interviews, details of local events, and initiatives of interest to the community.
Some of these publications have been revived in the years since LGBT+ media has become more commonplace, with special editions published and online outlets created.
Community spaces
A large map which sits in one of the display cases highlights the number of LGBT+ community spaces which have exisited in Oxford.
The pinpoints on the map are not by time period and simply represent how many different spaces have come and gone during the years.
While some of the spaces may still exisit physically they may not be LGBT+ spaces anymore, other spaces no longer exist at all.
Some of these LGBT+ venues included The Red Lion Pub on Gloucester Street, OXAIDS and The Brewery Gate on St Thomas Street.
Pride in Oxfordshire
The first Pride event in Oxford was held on Saturday, May 3 2003 in Oxpens Field and the first parade happened in 2008. The company became a charity in 2012 and the festival and parade continue to grow year on year.
After two highly successful digital events in 2020 and 2021, they are hoping to have an in-person parade again in 2022.
There are also pride events in Witney, Abingdon and Bicester, which celebrated its first one last year.
Permanent parts of the museum
A number of permenant objects and displays which pay homage to the LGBT+ community are also featured across the museum all year round.
The above photograph shows a display which focuses on pubs in the city. Visitors to the museum can flip up the cards to learn about famous pubs, one of these cards includes The Jolly Farmers.
The Jolly Farmers is an LGBT+ pub on Paradise Street, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year.
The below image shows an interactive video display where visitors can place objects on the screen and it lights up with a video.
In this case, when a visitor places the LGBT+ item the screen it the chair of Oxford Pride appears and tells the story of the LGBT+ community in the city.
If you wish to get in touch with the Museum of Oxford about your memories of queer spaces in the city, you can contact them on museum@oxford.gov.uk.
Queering Spires runs until March 26 2022.
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