We are our history
Professor Paul Johnson OBE, reflects on the importance of LGBT+ History Month.
Professor Paul Johnson OBE
Each year, as we approach LGBT+ History Month, I remember these words of James Baldwin:
“…history is not the past.
It is the present.
We carry our history with us.
We are our history.
If we pretend otherwise, to put it very brutally, we literally are criminals.”
Baldwin’s plea, to remember how the past inhabits the present, is as urgent now as it was when he said it in 1980. It is a plea to recognise that each and every one of us is living with, and being shaped by, the past and, therefore, that we must have a fuller understanding of history in order to make a better future.
This very much resonates with LGBT+ History Month, which was founded in the UK in 2004 by Schools OUT UK and first celebrated in February 2005. LGBT+ History Month recognizes that the history of LGBT+ people in the UK has often been hidden or erased. The core mission of LGBT+ History Month, therefore, is to encourage LGBT+ people to claim our past, to celebrate our present, and to create our future.
How LGBT+ people engage with the past, as a means to comprehend the present and positively shape the future, takes different forms. For many LGBT+ people, personal history is an important starting point. For example, in a very moving piece published recently in Leeds Magazine, Peter Workman reflected on his life – including his time as a student at Leeds in the late 1970s and early 1980s – and how his own personal experiences and history now underpin his support for the University’s new Pride Scholarships.
Having access to the life stories of other LGBT+ people, like Peter, is important because, in essence, they remind us that we, as LGBT+ people, are never alone. Many LGBT+ people, from diverse backgrounds and cultures, share similar life experiences and, through the recounting of personal histories, can gain a shared understanding of the past which, crucially, can inform a collective vision for a better future.
An important point in our shared history
LGBT+ people in the UK are at an interesting and important point in our shared history. A raft of recent legislative changes has significantly reduced discrimination against and promoted the equality of LGBT+ people. During the period since the turn of the century, for example, people in the UK have been able to gain legal recognition of a same-sex relationship (first through civil partnership and, more recently, through marriage), have been able to access a legal process to gain recognition for a change of gender, and have been protected by a prohibition on discrimination in employment. These and other important legal changes, which have arisen from a recognition of the injustices of the past, enable LGBT+ people to live our lives with greater freedom from discrimination and hatred.
At the same time, the journey to full equality for LGBT+ people in the UK is far from over and, in that sense, the history of discrimination against people on the grounds of sexual orientation and/or gender identity is still very much ongoing. Only two years ago, for example, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe – Europe’s leading human rights organisation – condemned with particular force the extensive and often virulent attacks on the rights of LGBTI people that it recognized had been occurring for several years in Europe, specifically mentioning the UK (along with Hungary, Poland, the Russian Federation, and Turkey). Moreover, last year, the United Nations Independent Expert on sexual orientation and gender identity, following a visit to the UK, stated that he was “deeply concerned about increased bias-motivated incidents of harassment, threats, and violence against LGBT people, including a rampant surge in hate crimes in the UK”, which was attributed to “the toxic nature of the public debate surrounding sexual orientation and gender identity”.
Hatred of and discrimination against LGBT+ people in the UK is definitely not the past but is very much the present, and recognizing this is central to eradicating such hatred and discrimination in the future.
I am really pleased, therefore, that our LGBT+ Staff Network – which I am very proud to support through my role as University Executive Group LGBT+ Champion – has contributed to organizing some of the important and exciting LGBT+ History Month events in the University throughout February.
One event, which I am really looking forward to, is Lord Cashman’s visit to the University, which will round off LGBT+ History Month, on Thursday 29th February. As a politician and veteran campaigner for LGBT+ rights in the UK, as well as being part of that historic kiss in Eastenders in 1987, Michael Cashman is uniquely placed to illuminate the past, show us how history informs our present, and give us the opportunity to reflect on how we want our future to be.
LGBT+ History Month is for everyone, and I hope everyone in our university will want, in some way, to take part in it. As a community proud of its diversity and being made up of people with widely different experiences and personal histories, LGBT+ History Month is an opportunity for us to explore what continues to divide us and, crucially, what unites us for our common good.
To quote the poet Mary Oliver: “I would say that there exist a thousand unbreakable links between each of us and everything else, and that our dignity and our chances are one”. LGBT+ History Month allows us to explore the links between us, through a shared understanding of personal and collective histories, and to recognise that we depend upon each other to, together, make a brighter future for us all.
About the Author
Professor Paul Johnson OBE is Executive Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, and University Executive Group LGBT+ Champion.Posted in: University news
"Mwanamke huyo, Paul Johnson OBE, ambaye ni mwanafunzi wa historia wa chuo kikuu cha Oxford, alisema: ""Hii ni siku ya kuadhimisha mwezi wa historia ya LGBT." "Mwanamke huyo, Paul Johnson, alisema: ""Kila mwaka, tunapokaribia mwezi wa historia ya LGBT, ninakumbuka maneno haya ya James Baldwin: ""Historia si ya zamani.""" Ni wakati uliopo. Tunabeba historia yetu pamoja nasi. Sisi ni historia yetu. "Kama tunajifanya vinginevyo, kwa kusema kwa ukatili sana, sisi ni wahalifu. ""Mwito wa Baldwin, kukumbuka jinsi zamani unavyoishi sasa, ni muhimu sasa kama ilivyokuwa wakati alivyosema mnamo 1980." Ni wito wa kutambua kwamba kila mmoja wetu anaishi na kuundwa na wakati uliopita na kwa hivyo lazima tuelewe historia kwa ukamilifu ili tuweze kujenga siku zijazo bora. Mwezi wa Historia ya LGBT + ulianzishwa mnamo 2004 na Shule za OUT UK na kuadhimishwa kwa mara ya kwanza mnamo Februari 2005. Mwezi wa Historia ya LGBT + unatambua kwamba historia ya watu wa LGBT + nchini Uingereza mara nyingi imefichwa au kufuta. "Kusudi kuu la Mwezi wa Historia ya LGBT ni ""kuwatia moyo watu wa LGBT+ kudai zamani zetu, kusherehekea sasa letu, na kuunda siku zetu zijazo.""" Jinsi watu wa LGBT + wanavyojihusisha na zamani, kama njia ya kuelewa sasa na kuunda siku zijazo kwa njia nzuri, inachukua aina tofauti. Kwa watu wengi LGBT, historia ya kibinafsi ni hatua muhimu ya kuanza. Katika makala yake ya kwanza katika jarida la Leeds, Peter Workman alitoa maoni yake juu ya maisha yake, ikiwa ni pamoja na wakati wake kama mwanafunzi katika Leeds mwishoni mwa miaka ya 1970 na mapema miaka ya 1980, na jinsi uzoefu wake binafsi na historia sasa inasaidia msaada wake kwa Chuo Kikuu cha Pride Scholarships. Kuweza kupata hadithi za maisha ya watu wengine LGBT kama Peter ni muhimu kwa sababu, kwa msingi, zinatukumbusha kwamba sisi, kama watu LGBT, hatujawahi kuwa peke yetu. Watu wengi wa LGBT kutoka asili na tamaduni tofauti wanashiriki uzoefu sawa wa maisha na, kupitia hadithi za kibinafsi, wanaweza kupata uelewa wa pamoja wa zamani ambao, kwa muhimu, unaweza kuelezea maono ya pamoja kwa siku zijazo bora. """Watu wa LGBT + nchini Uingereza wako katika hatua ya kuvutia na muhimu katika historia yetu ya pamoja." Mabadiliko ya hivi karibuni ya sheria yamepunguza kwa kiasi kikubwa ubaguzi dhidi ya na kukuza usawa wa watu wa LGBT +. Katika kipindi cha miaka ya 2000, watu nchini Uingereza wameweza kupata utambuzi wa kisheria wa uhusiano wa jinsia moja (kwanza kupitia ushirikiano wa kiraia na, hivi karibuni, kupitia ndoa), wameweza kupata mchakato wa kisheria wa kupata utambuzi wa mabadiliko ya jinsia, na wamelindwa na marufuku ya ubaguzi katika ajira. Mabadiliko haya na mengine muhimu ya kisheria, ambayo yametokana na utambuzi wa ukosefu wa haki wa zamani, yanawawezesha watu wa LGBT kuishi maisha yetu kwa uhuru zaidi kutoka kwa ubaguzi na chuki. "Hata hivyo, safari ya kupata usawa kamili kwa watu wa LGBT nchini Uingereza bado haijakamilika, na kwa maana hiyo, historia ya ubaguzi dhidi ya watu kwa sababu ya mwelekeo wa kijinsia na au utambulisho wa kijinsia bado inaendelea. """ Mkutano wa Bunge la Baraza la Ulaya, shirika la Ulaya linaloongoza la haki za binadamu, limekosoa kwa nguvu mashambulizi makubwa na ya mara nyingi dhidi ya haki za watu wa LGBTI ambayo imekubaliwa kuwa yamekuwa yakitokea kwa miaka kadhaa huko Ulaya, ikitaja hasa Uingereza (pamoja na Hungary, Poland, Shirikisho la Urusi na Uturuki). "Mchunguzi wa Umoja wa Mataifa wa masuala ya jinsia na mwelekeo wa kingono, baada ya ziara yake nchini Uingereza, alisema kuwa ""anashangaa sana juu ya kuongezeka kwa matukio ya unyanyasaji, vitisho na vurugu dhidi ya watu wa jinsia moja, pamoja na kuongezeka kwa uhalifu wa chuki nchini Uingereza,"" na kuelezea ""ubaya wa mjadala wa umma unaohusu mwelekeo wa kijinsia na utambulisho wa kijinsia.""" Chuki na ubaguzi dhidi ya watu wa LGBT + nchini Uingereza ni dhahiri si ya zamani lakini ni ya sasa sana, na kutambua hii ni muhimu kwa kuondoa chuki na ubaguzi kama huo katika siku zijazo. "Ninafurahi sana kwamba mtandao wetu wa wafanyikazi wa LGBT + - ambao ninajivunia sana kuunga mkono kupitia jukumu langu kama Mshindi wa Kikundi cha Utekelezaji wa Chuo Kikuu cha LGBT + - umechangia kuandaa baadhi ya matukio muhimu na ya kusisimua ya ""Mwezi wa Historia ya LGBT +"" katika Chuo Kikuu katika Februari." "Mwaka huu, ""Lord Cashman"" atakuja katika Chuo Kikuu cha Cambridge, Uingereza, na kuanzisha mwezi wa historia ya LGBT +, Alhamisi, Februari 29." Kama mwanasiasa na mwanaharakati wa zamani wa haki za LGBT + nchini Uingereza, pamoja na kuwa sehemu ya busu hilo la kihistoria katika EastEnders mnamo 1987, Michael Cashman yuko katika nafasi ya kipekee ya kuangaza zamani, kutuonyesha jinsi historia inavyotuambia sasa, na kutupa fursa ya kutafakari juu ya jinsi tunataka siku zetu za usoni kuwa. Mwezi wa Historia ya LGBT + ni kwa kila mtu, na natumaini kila mtu katika chuo kikuu chetu atataka, kwa njia fulani, kushiriki katika hilo. Kama jamii inayojivunia utofauti wake na kuwa na watu wenye uzoefu tofauti na historia ya kibinafsi, Mwezi wa Historia ya LGBT + ni fursa kwetu kuchunguza kile kinachoendelea kutigawanya na, muhimu zaidi, kile kinachotuunganisha kwa faida yetu ya kawaida. "Mwandishi wa vitabu vya hadithi Mary Oliver alisema: ""Kuna uhusiano wa kudumu kati ya kila mmoja wetu na kila kitu kingine, na kwamba heshima yetu na nafasi zetu ni moja.""" Mwezi wa Historia ya LGBT + unatuwezesha kuchunguza viungo kati yetu, kupitia uelewa wa pamoja wa historia ya kibinafsi na ya pamoja, na kutambua kwamba tunategemea kila mmoja ili, pamoja, tufanye siku zijazo nzuri kwa sisi sote. Profesa Paul Johnson OBE ni Mkurugenzi Mtendaji wa Kitivo cha Sayansi ya Jamii, na Mshindi wa Kikundi cha Utendaji cha Chuo Kikuu cha LGBT +.