Happy LGBT+ History Month!

January this year has been horrible in so many ways. It has seemed even longer and more tortuous than usual. But now February is here and there are many things to cheer us – it’s not dark at 5pm, pancake day is not far away and it’s LGBT+ History Month, a chance to learn about those whose stories may have been hidden.

Today is the first day of #LGBTHistoryMonth #LGBTHM22

LGBT+ people have always been part of our societies, but often their stories are hidden and go untold.

This month is an opportunity to discover, explore and celebrate those stories. pic.twitter.com/GfkyTfdDVG

— Liberal Democrats (@LibDems) February 1, 2022

It’s a chance to celebrate the diverse LGBT+ history and honour those who trod a difficult path to make thing easier for generations to come.

I was particularly taken by this series of tweets:

35 years ago at the height of the AIDS crisis, 35 policemen raided The RVT wearing rubber gloves.

Lily Savage was on stage at the time, and she said: ‘Well well, it looks like we’ve got help with the washing up.’ pic.twitter.com/olWTfMIUX7

— Royal Vauxhall Tavern (@thervt) January 31, 2022

This was only 35 years ago. In this Pink News story, Paul O’Grady recounts the events of that night:

“It was 34 years ago when the cops raided the Vauxhall,” he wrote. “I was doing the late show and within seconds the place was heaving with coppers, all wearing rubber gloves. I remember saying something like, ‘Well well, it looks like we’ve got help with the washing up.’

“They made many arrests but we were a stoic lot and it was business as usual the next night,” he continued.

“I was in quite a few police raids all over the country at the time. I was beginning to think it was me – in fact the South London Press in an extremely homophobic article called Lily ‘a lascivious act’ which I was very proud of.”

It was great to see our Mathew Hulbert’s video as Chair of the National Association of Local Council’s LGBT Network:

🏳️‍🌈 Today marks the start of LGBT+ History Month. Despite how far we may have come there is still more to do. Hear from our #LGBT+ network chair, @MathewHulbert. #LGBTHM22

Help #MakeAChange ⬇️https://t.co/8N3d6bsYa7 pic.twitter.com/JZjFryFaxE

— NALC (@NALC) February 1, 2022

Feel free to share what you learn during this month by sending us an article.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social