Hastings

Hastings is a seaside town in East Sussex. At the Battle of Hastings, which took place about eight miles away in 1066, the forces of William Duke of Normandy (thereafter King William I) defeated the English forces, and King Harold II was killed.

LGBT History
Dr Sophia Jex-Blake was born in Hastings in 1840.

The Hastings CHE Group was founded in April 1974 and closed in 1982.

The 1066 Gay Community Organisation was founded in September 1982 and voted to dissolve itself in 1989.

The Hastings and Rother Gay Helpline was founded in 1987 (as Hastings Befrienders) and the Hastings and Rother Rainbow Alliance was founded in 2003.

In 2010 the University of Brighton secured funding for a study of the gay community in Hastings.

The UK's first national lesbian and gay biker rally was held in Hastings in September 2011.