LGBTQIA+ histories in the University Archive
London Metropolitan University holds a unique collection of institutional records that not only document its operational history, but also capture the lived experience of LGBTQIA+ people who studied and worked on campus. These records were often written by LGBTQIA+ students and staff, and provide an important snapshot of their contribution to initiatives like the creation of safe and welcoming spaces at our University, and their campaign work for LGBTQIA+ rights.
Dating from the early 1970s onwards, these records can be set against a wider socio-historical timeline of LGBTQIA+ events happening in the UK, such as the establishment of the London Gay Liberation Front (1970), the introduction of Section 28 of the Local Government Act (1988), or the first Trans Pride (2013). Against this backdrop, they demonstrate how changes in the law, and the different histories of LGBTQIA+ movements off campus, impacted our students and staff on campus.
Our records include:
- Students’ Union (SU) newsletters and handbooks
- news circulars from staff networks
- promotional flyers for social and research events
- records created by LGBTQIA+ clubs and societies
Searching the Catalogue
To help researchers discover our LGBTQIA+ history, we have created both a Digital Gallery and Subject tags for records that contain terms like Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and/or Transgender.
We continue to develop how you find our records, and welcome any feedback on how we can improve the catalogue.
Collaborative Project
During 2025, in collaboration with our Rainbow Room and the Gender and Sexual Diversity Research Group, we have begun to further research the University Archive for LGBTQIA+ records. Our aim is to celebrate key events in our LGBTQIA+ history, like the afterparty for the first London Pride March of 1972 held at our Holloway campus. And, to uncover individual experiences of LGBTQIA+ students and staff, to learn what communities were built and what change was actioned.
From initial research carried out across selected archives, we imagine this project will focus on material created from the 1970s onwards, including:
- the introduction of a Gay and Lesbian Society at the Polytechnic of North London (1971-1992)
- listings of support networks (e.g. London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard which launched in 1974) and community venues for Gay and Lesbian students
- articles written about LGBTQIA+ advocacy and campaign work in SU newsletters and ‘letters’ written in by students sharing their lived experience of being an LGBTQIA+ person on campus.
In February 2025, we will support the Rainbow Room with an historical timeline of important dates in LGBTQIA+ history, in parallel to records from our University Archive.
Call to Action
If you attended either London Metropolitan University, or any of our precursor institutions, and would like to gift or donate e.g. photographs, ephemera or club/society documents relating to our LGBTQIA+ history, please email: specialcollections@londonmet.ac.uk