Although this exhibition is being staged in response to the 50th anniversary of the UK Sexual Offences Act, LGBTQ+ history is of course much wider ranging in both time and space, as amply demonstrated by the incredible range of artifacts on show. There are modern badges from 20th Century anti-homophobia campaigns, to an amphora from the ancient world, by way of a penny showing a Victorian Drag King. And the whole globe is covered too, with a Maori box and art by Australian artist David McDiarmid, a Hindu goddess whose story features trans elements, returning to crockery celebrating the Ladies of Llangollen, whose relationship scandalised 18th Century Britain.
As well as demonstrating the universal nature of sexual and gender diversity, these artifacts offer a glimpse of how open and frank many societies have been about this topic over the years, with some eye-popping results, such as the fantastic graeco-roman penis-creature pendant, or the Japanese gentlemen depicted on a scroll, disporting themselves with a paintbrush.
But however open some communities have been, in some cases celebrating LGBTQ+ stories in culture even while the acts themselves were illegal, as long as there are some parts of the world where even now the LGBTQ+ community is not safe, it is important to celebrate the vast step forward taken by the 1967 act in this country.
