1st February 2024 - Section 28: Coming Out at School 1988-2003, 6.30pm-8.30pm – Central Library, Surrey Street
In 1988, the Conservative Government created a new law. It prevented schools and local authorities from ‘promoting’ homosexuality as an alternative lifestyle. This social experiment on the nation's children was rooted in the belief that if children never heard about lesbians, gay men, bisexuals or trans people, then they couldn’t grow up to be LGBTQ+.
Section 28 remained in place for 15 years, and has negatively affected tens of thousands of children well into adulthood. SAYiT have invited a panel of LGBTQ+ people to discuss how this law blighted their school lives, and how they discovered community outside the school gates.
1st February 2024 – Working with LGBTQ+ Young People Forum – ONLINE, 1-2pm
Join us for our bi-monthly drop-in session for professionals.
Suitable for youth, education and health and social care workers, and anyone else in the voluntary or statutory sectors who supports LGBTQ+ young people in a professional capacity.
There will be a short presentation detailing some of the current issues impacting LGBTQ+ communities followed by a discussion session where you can seek advice and support about any issues you may be facing in your practice.
Book here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/working-with-lgbtq-young-people-forum-tickets-772907877267
5th February – Counting Queers Online data collection training with our CEO Heather, ONLINE - 1pm-3.30pm
This session, delivered by our CEO, Heather Paterson, will look at best practices and key considerations when collecting demographic data related to sexual orientation and gender identity.
Are you responsible for the collection of data as part of your role? Do you monitor data for your organisation, or complete monitoring reports for funders and partners? How can you be sure you are collecting the right information for your context, in the best format? What data should you be collecting, how should you ask those questions, and what should you do with that information?
This session is aimed at those working in administration, IT, HR and any other roles involving data collection of service users or staff.
6th February 2024 - The Surprising and Subversive Drag King – 1pm-1.45pm - Weston Park Museum
Did you know that 100 years ago, the highest paid female entertainer in the UK was a Drag King? Vesta Tilley sprang out of the Music Halls, and toured the UK and America with her 'male impersonator' act that she had honed since childhood. A pair of the black and ivory boots she wore in her ‘Burlington Bertie’ act are held at Sheffield Museums.
We look at the popularity of Drag Kings in the UK and in the US, the similarities and differences between the British Kings and those who performed in America, and the resurgence of Drag Kings today.
20th February 2024 – "We need more than medicine" - The AIDS Crisis – Then and Now 4.30pm-6pm - Star House, Division Street
The theme for LGBTQ+ History Month this year is Medicine. SAYiT emerged from the AIDS crisis, so it seems fitting that we host a panel looking at how Sheffield handled the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, and how we continue to fight against the spread of AIDS and HIV today. The discussion will be recorded by Proud Changemakers and available to listen to at a later date.
21st February 2024 - My Mind on Paper: How we Found Ourselves in Queer Literature – 6.30pm-8.30pm - Central Library, Surrey Street
SAYiT introduce a panel of LGBTQ+ writers and readers, asking which books, poems or scripts opened a whole new Queer world to us. A lively discussion looking with pleasure at ancient texts, poetry, graphic novels, diaries, sci fi, rom coms, pulp fiction, and everything in between.
27th February 2024 – Queer Artefacts – LGBTQ+ Representation in the Archives – 1pm-1.45pm - Weston Park Museum
Badges, court records, photos, zines, and a trans man born in Doncaster in the 1700s. We take a trip through the LGBTQ+ archives at Sheffield Museums and Sheffield Libraries, and reflect on what they tell us about being LGBTQ+ in the past. Small things holding great significance – they show us how the LGBTQ+ community was represented, how we challenged authority, changed minds, and fought for our rights.
Book here:
We will also be releasing a series of podcasts throughout the month in collaboration with Proud Changemakers - https://linktr.ee/proudchangemakers
February 2024 – PODCAST Same Sex Desire in working class men 1895-1957
Helen Smith is a social and cultural historian of twentieth century Britain and her research focusses on sexuality, class, masculinity and region in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. She published her monograph, Masculinity, Class and Same-Sex Desire in Industrial England, 1895-1957 in 2015. Hear her discuss her research and the stories she discovered on our first podcast.
February 2024 – PODCAST Bury Your Gays – Looking for LGBTQ+ Working Class People in Sheffield History
''Last summer, I spent every Saturday in Sheffield archives, looking for Sheffield’s working-class queer history. What did I find?'' Our Training Officer Fiona talks with Oliver about what she had hoped she would find, and the fascinating lives that she uncovered in our second podcast.