LGBTQ+ History Month began in Missouri, in the United States in 1994 by Rodney Wilson, a high school history teacher, before coming to U.K. eleven years later in 2005. Whilst many countries celebrate this during October, the U.K. marks this occasion in February, to coincide with the abolition of Section 28, a governmental restriction that banned teachers and local authorities from “promoting” LGBTQ+ issues to young people. In the U.K., LGBTQ+ History Month was established by LGBTQ+ rights activists, Sue Sanders and Paul Patrick.
The month’s aims are to not only celebrate, but to educate and advocate for queer communities so often under-represented and villainised in society. The 2025 incarnation has been appropriately themed around ‘Activism and Social Change’, a reference not only to the deep-rooted queer history of protest, campaigning and boycotts, but also looking ahead to our future, in a world more unpredictable and unstable than before. With a greater call than ever for queer people to claim, celebrate and create our past, present and future, remembering whilst looking forwards is more important now than ever.
But why is queer history important? Surely all history is history, so we don’t need a specific month for LGBTQ+ history. Consider your own time studying history in school – you may have learned about the Battle of Hastings, Henry VIII and the War of the Roses, but when have you actually learned about LGBTQ+ history?
Did you know that it took until 2001 for the age of consent to be equalised for gay men? That gay men couldn’t adopt children until 2005? That gay men and lesbians were banned from joining the military until 2000, and that many were kicked out, or faced worse consequences?
Consider the codebreakers of WWII, the men and women who worked tirelessly at Bletchley Park to break the Enigma Code of the Nazi regime. It is predicted that breaking Enigma saved approximately 14 million lives during WWII. The group of mathematicians that secured the victory were led by Alan Turing, a gay man, who hid this from his friends and colleagues.
But even after securing such a momentous victory, when it was discovered that Turing was gay, he faced two years imprisonment for “gross indecency,” which he avoided by electing for chemical castration instead. It is widely believed he committed suicide in the years following this ‘treatment’. Whilst Turing was posthumously pardoned by HM Queen Elizabeth II in 2013, such barbarity was commonplace, and so widely ignored, even now. Queer history is extremely important, now more than ever.
Whilst we may be the most advanced we have ever been, socially, the world is regressing. A momentous year of elections in 2024 has ushered in a wave of Right and Far-Right populism, with victories across Europe, predicted ones in Canada and Germany, and of course, the return of Donald Trump. Within hours of him becoming President, he signed a number of restrictive executive orders, targeting minorities, immigrants and LGBTQ+ people, with calls to American LGBTQ+ crisis hotlines skyrocketing.
And let’s not forget what’s happening at home. A government that is committed to ending lifesaving healthcare for Trans+ young people. An opposition leader so rallied against ‘wokeness’ that she forfeited one of her parties’ seats on the Women & Equalities Select Committee specifically to allow anti-Trans+ activist, Rosie Duffield MP, to take a place. And that’s before we even begin to consider Nigel Farage, Reform UK, and other malign influences such as Tommy Robinson, Andrew Tate and Elon Musk.
And all of this coincides with a huge rallying against DEI causes. The reality is that this LGBTQ+ History Month is set to be one of the toughest in a long time for many queer people around, and things don’t seem likely to get better. So what can we do to support our LGBTQ+ friends and siblings in a time of such hardship?
The best thing any person can do is to be open and to listen wherever possible. Whether this is learning more about the challenges our community faces, or being a point of contact if those around you are struggling. But the most important thing for LGBTQ+ people is knowing that you are a safe person, whether to talk about issues they’re having or just knowing that you’ll love and respect them regardless.
Even if it’s something like helping them to re-style themselves or learn how to do makeup, knowing that you can be a person they can be themselves around is essential, particularly for young people or newly-out people, to live their authentically-true selves. But speaking up is now more crucial than ever. Elevate LGBTQ+ voices, advocate for queer rights whenever you can if you have the capacity to do so. Learning to correct yourself and to call people in, or call them out, as needed can go a long way, particularly as anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric becomes ever-more mainstream.
This LGBTQ+ History Month is a chance to celebrate the vibrant and incredible history that has led to the thriving community we see today. Generations of people have made remarkable strides in all fields of human endeavour, and this month is a chance to celebrate and highlight them and their work. But let’s not pretend everything is bright and beautiful. Our community faces ever graver threats, that for many, are more existential now than in living memory. Lets celebrate and enjoy, yes. But we cannot lose sight of who we must be to fight against systematic oppression at all levels.
