The National Trust (NT) should stop emphasising the role
of families in the history of stately homes because it ‘privileges heterosexual
lives’ according to a National Trust curator. Her comments were reported in the
Daily Telegraph (26 January 2019) and have provoked a row over how history is
presented. They also highlight the lack of LGBTQ visibility in heritage
generally.
This is not the first time LGBTQ issues have been raised
in the heritage sector.
In 2017, the National Trust ran a ‘Pride and Prejudice’
campaign, marking 50 years since the decriminalisation of homosexuality. The
campaign caused some controversy when it outed a late country house squire, in
a film narrated by Stephen Fry, 48 years after his death.
The debate is timely because it comes on the eve of LGBTQ
history month which runs through February.
In recent years heritage organisations such as the
National Trust, the V&A, Historic England and others, have made greater
efforts to be more inclusive and recognise a wider range of groups who have
been marginalised, misrepresented, under-represented or who have been made
invisible. This also includes a greater emphasis on widening access and
increasing participation.
Lewisham Local History and Archives will be running a
series of LGBTQ history themed posts throughout the month. We will bring you
information on archives where you can do research, links to guides for finding
records and a self-guided tour of the V&A, as well as some family history
related links and resources.
To get the best out of the postings, please join us on
Facebook.
Recent copies of Newspapers are available in the
Information Section, Lewisham Library, Lewisham High Street.
Julie Robinson, Local Studies Librarian.
Local.studies@lewisham.gov.uk
@LewishamHistory
#LewishamHistory
Lewisham Heritage Blog:
http://lewishamheritage.blogspot.com/
