University of Westminster and London Transport Museum celebrate LGBTQ+ history in new project
Organiser Zoe Few intends to collect historic items to add to the exhibition, as well as to tell the forgotten stories from the time
By Aaron Sugg
The University of Westminster and London Transport Museum are collaborating on Pride, Passengers and Personnel, celebrating LGBTQ+ passengers and transport workers from the 1970s and 1980s.
The project aims to recover forgotten stories from LGBTQ+ history, highlighting experiences in relation to London transport during Section 28 and the HIV/AIDS crisis.
The project highlights the political climate of the time, as AIDS was on the rise, Section 28 partially prohibited the promotion of homosexuality, coinciding with the emergence of Pride and the Gay Liberation Front.
The research team is actively seeking participants to share their personal accounts to ensure marginalised experiences are represented and preserved for future generations.
“This project will explore neglected histories of the LGBTQ+ community” – organiser Zoe Few on her Pride, Passengers and Personnel project
Organiser Zoe Few described the project in a statement: “Pride, Passengers and Personnel: Collecting LGBTQ+ Experiences in and on London’s Transport in the 1970s and 1980s.”
She continued: “This project will explore neglected histories of the LGBTQ+ community in relation to London transport and contribute to current debates around contemporary collecting as a tool for empowering communities.”
Few intends to collect historic items to add to the exhibition following a February event where Ian Wilmott, anti-Section 28 veteran, activist and leader of the S28PLUS40 project, provided a historic poster.
Wilmott donated an original 1988 Never Going Underground poster to London Transport Museum, with Manchester City Council and the Greater London Assembly represented at the event on 6 February.
“It’s a privilege to be working alongside the University of Westminster” – Ian Wilmott on working on the LGBTQ+ historic project
Wilmott said in a news release: “I am delighted that, having used (without their permission) the London Transport iconic logo for a historic campaign, we now have the opportunity to thank them personally by gifting one of the last remaining original posters.”
He continued: “It is in mint condition and will be lovingly preserved within the Museum’s poster archive, allowing future generations to see how London’s transport logo and a grassroots equality campaign in Manchester found such a powerful and enduring connection.”
On the upcoming project Wilmott said: “It’s a privilege to be working alongside the University of Westminster, whose research explores queer communities’ experiences of London’s transport system, alongside the staff and stakeholders at the Museum.”
“This collaboration reflects genuine community participation” – Wilmott on Pride, Passengers and Personnel
He added: “This collaboration reflects genuine community participation and echoes London’s diversity and energy.”
Few described the project, honouring the historic milestones of the LGBTQ+ community, as “critical to redress the imbalance in the material record whilst simultaneously advocating for LGBTQ+ rights.”
Dr Alison Hess, lecturer in Museum and Gallery Studies and lead supervisor on Zoe’s PhD project, added: “We hope Zoe’s work will create opportunities to reflect together on how diverse experiences of transport can build more equitable societies.”
For those wanting to contribute to the project, you can contact Zoe Few through the official Pride, Passengers and Personnel webpage.
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