LGBTQ History Month 2025

Every February in the UK is LGBTQ+ History Month, to honour the contributions and history of the LGBT+ community. This year, the theme is ‘Activism and Social Change’, focusing on the pivotal role of LGBTQ+ individuals in driving societal progress.  

As a University focused on the principles of social justice, York St John is flying the Progress flag from its Lord Mayor’s Walk campus. This marks our commitment to protect and recognise marginalised people of colour in the LGBTQ+ community, the trans and gender-diverse community, and anyone living with HIV/AIDS.  We value inclusivity and welcome the richness that a diverse LGBTQIA+ community brings to our lives at York St John.   

LGBTQ+ History Month is a time to honour the trailblazers who dared to live authentically, to reflect on the progress made, and to reaffirm the fight for equality, dignity, and love for all." 

Jake Furby, Jake Furby, Equality and Diversity Adviser 

We are pleased to be hosting the following events at York St John University 

An Evening with the Linden Archives 

Thursday 13 February 
6.00pm to 7.00pm, talk and Q&A in the Creative Centre Auditorium 
7.00pm to 8.00pm, drinks reception in the Creative Centre Atrium 

An evening with Stuart Linden Rhodes and the Linden Archives, looking at photographs from the UK queer scene of the 1990’s taken for Gay Times and All Points North magazines, and hearing the stories behind them. Includes photographs from York and Harrogate. 

Tickets are £5 from Eventbrite LGBTQ+ History Month 2025: An Evening with the Linden Archives Tickets, Thu, Feb 13, 2025 at 6:00 PM | Eventbrite 

Colourful Language: Understanding and Reclaiming LGBTQ+ Slurs 

Wednesday 19 February 
4.30pm to 6.00pm, Creative Centre Auditorium 

This talk will be given by Dr Daniel Edmondson, Lecturer in Applied Linguistics at York St John University. Daniel will be speaking about his research on LGBTQ+ slur words in British English.   He will also discuss the phenomenon of 'reclaiming' (or 'taking back') slur words in the LGBTQ+ community: how this act of linguistic resistance can be defined, the debates surrounding it, and findings from his own research as to the measurable effects reclaiming slurs have on individuals' emotional responses to them. 

Book your free ticket via Eventbrite Colourful Language: Understanding and Reclaiming LGBTQ+ Slurs Tickets, Wed, Feb 19, 2025 at 4:30 PM | Eventbrite 

Being Gay in Thatcher's Britain 

Wed 26 February 
4.00pm to 5.30pm  

2025 marks the fortieth anniversary of AIDS becoming well known in the UK. 
From the death of actor Rock Hudson to the introduction of the first HTLV-III antibody test, society was waking up to the reality of a serious epidemic. Whilst the LGBTQ+ community had valiantly rallied together to fight the disease, ignorance and misinformation, it was clear that more needed to be done, to counter the panic in the mass media which labelled the disease the ‘gay plague’. This talk will introduce new research about how the government responded to the moral panic of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, and how politics and public policy emphasised the marginalisation of Britain’s LGBTQ+ community.   

More information on our website Upcoming : LGBTQ+ HM 2025: Being Gay in Thatcher's Britain | York St John University

Students from York Business School, supported by Dr Winojith Sanjeewa have been supporting the development of the York LGBT History Month Programme. Find out more about events taking place across the city: York LGBT History Month – York LGBT+ Pride