The UK LGBT Archive records the the history and memories of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people living in the UK.
It’s a virtual time-capsule, capturing the experiences of our time, and a chronicle of the achievements and challenges of previous centuries
– the changing law, the amazing response to health epidemics, the newspapers and magazines
that come and go, TV programmes, sports, lesbian, gay, bi and trans businesses,
arts, music and theatre, events, pubs and clubs, and of course the amazing diversity of people who have had a part in our history.
The project was launched in June 2011 and was originally called The LGBT History Project. It was re-launched as The UK LGBT Archive in December 2015.[1]
By early 2021, articles on this Wiki had been viewed twenty million times. They’ve now exceeded 40 million.
Finding information
There are several ways to find information on this site. Note that anywhere you see a word or phrase in blue,
you can click on it and be taken to the item in question. If you see words in red, they are links to an article that hasn't been written yet
browse by category: to get an overview of the range of material that we cover, go to Category:Main categories.
browse by area of the country: our map on the United Kingdom page gives an overview of our geographical coverage, and our maps of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland give links to places round the country
take pot luck: use the Random page link at the left.
search for a particular item, using the search box at the top right of the page.
Who is writing it?
You could be! We need more people as volunteer editors, researching and writing up new articles, or improving existing ones. If you're interested in LGBT history, or if you've been involved in some area of LGBT life that's not well covered in our articles, we want to hear from you. We also want to hear from those that run gay clubs, businesses, venues, media – when did they start, who started them?
Why were they started? Who joined? The one thing that we do ask, wherever possible, is that you document the sources of the information so that other people can follow it up.
Alternatively you can write something personal to you, a "Vox Pop". This could be your "coming out" story, or your experience of visiting your first gay bar.
These first-person stories are valuable for academics who seek "qualitative primary sources". If you have been a member of a gay club,
read a gay newspaper, have a memory of going out with your mates to a gay pub, we want to hear about it – wherever you are in the country.
If you’ve never done anything gay, because there was nothing in your area, or you were too scared, we want to hear about that too!
We've got a small number of articles with Vox Pop entries, and would welcome some more.
The Articles needed page gives a list of items that we think out to be written up, but don't yet have their own articles.
We would also very much like some information about the remaining small number of Districts with no LGBT history
any help on these would be very welcome. See Category:Stubs.
With the often highly polarised debate about transgender, Detransition has become a newish feature of lgbt affairs.
William Longchamp (died 1197) was Bishop of Ely and virtual ruler of England while Richard I was away on the Crusades.
Elvira Chaudoir (1911-1996) was a Peruvian socialite and a double-agent for the British Secret Intelligence Service during World War II.
Transex Liberation Group was featured in a groundbreaking episode of the BBC's "Open Door" series on June 4, 1973.
Lesbian Line created in 1977, was a volunteer-run telephone helpline for those needing to talk about their lesbian identity.
For a full list of recent additions, see New Pages.
Did you know?
Edward White Benson
Edward White Benson (pictured), Archbishop of Canterbury, is thought to have been a repressed homosexual; his wife, his brother-in-law, and five of his children were almost certainly gay or lesbian.
Chelsea Manning, American soldier serving 35 years in gaol for leaking military secrets, went to school in Haverfordwest.
The poet Lord Byron swam from Europe to Asia in 1810, which is said to have started the sport of open water swimming.
The Ladies of Llangollen eloped from their families in 1780 and lived together for the rest of their lives.
Sex between men was illegal in the Isle of Man until 1992.
the sixth century King Maelgwn of Gwynedd in North Wales was described as "addicted very much to the detestable vice of sodomy".
All text in this wiki is freely reusable with certain provisos - see LGBT Archive:Copyrights. Some of the images may be subject to copyright restrictions. See LGBT Archive:Illustrations.
Please email us if you consider we have infringed your copyright.
