LGBT+ HISTORY MONTH

During February 2023, as in previous years, we celebrated LGBT+ History Month. This year, the chosen theme was 'Behind the Lens'.

It celebrated LGBT+ peoples’ contribution to cinema and film from behind the lens - directors, cinematographers, screen writers, producers, animators, costume designers, special effects, make-up artists, lighting directors, musicians, choreographers and beyond.

Back in 2010 Scottish portrait photographer Donald MacLellan photographed 20 gay and lesbian professionals working in front and behind the lens. This year, to mark LGBT+ History month, 10 new ‘Pink Portraits Revisited’ were taken by Welsh photographer Dylan Lewis Thomas recognising the next generation of LGBT+ professionals.

Within ARL, we featured articles on Yammer highlighting people and events that put a spotlight on being part of the LGBT+ community during a period when it was much less accepted than it is now. Features include photographers Robert Mapplethorpe and Zanele Muholi, actor Peter Wyngarde and painter Joan Eardley.

Mapplethorpe and Muholi have documented LGBT+ life in New York and South Africa respectively, whilst Eardley relocated to the wild coast of north east Scotland to produce paintings and sketches of that harsh landscape.

Expanding on this year’s theme of ‘Behind the Lens’, we’ve also written about ’Pink Portraits’, a project based in Cardiff and ‘Out On An Island’, an LGBT+ photography exhibition from the Isle of Wight.

If you want to know more, you can contact ED&I leads Clive Ryan and Liam Nixon with any comments and ideas; they are always welcome. At a time when LGBT+ lives are in the media, we also encourage you to look ‘Behind the Lens’ and listen to LGBT+ peoples’ lived experiences.

Albert Kennedy Trust - https://www.akt.org.uk/ 
Mermaids - https://mermaidsuk.org.uk/ 
Terrence Higgins Trust - https://www.tht.org.uk/