Pride of Place: England's LGBTQ Heritage

Queer heritage is everywhere. What we today call Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Queer (LGBTQ) histories are embedded in the buildings and landscapes all around us. Pride of Place uncovers and celebrates places of LGBTQ heritage across England, ranging from the frontiers of Roman Britain to the gay pubs and clubs that remain important in our lives today.

  • Why LGBTQ Places Matter

    The built environment is where we have lived, loved, socialised and taken shelter. Not only does it meet our needs, it reflects our lives and desires.

  • Your Contributions

    A key feature of Pride of Place is an interactive crowd-sourced map that identifies places that are relevant to LGBTQ heritage and history.

  • Who's Included?

    Many historical locations and sources shed light on LGBTQ pasts. Some identities, groups and periods have been better recorded than others.

  • Love and Intimacy

    How same-sex couples have celebrated their relationships over the centuries.

  • Homes and Domestic Spaces

    Homes provided security and safety for some LGBTQ people. For others, home was the place of greatest risk.

  • Meeting and Socialising

    LGBTQ people have used all kinds of places and buildings to meet and find partners for sex, love, socialising and for political activism.

  • Workplaces and Creativity

    At certain historical moments, LGBTQ people have been associated with some areas of employment more than others.

  • Trans and Gender-Nonconforming Histories

    There are rich histories of people crossing gender throughout English history that can resonate for trans and gender-nonconforming identities today.

  • Law and Oppression

    Anglo-Saxon laws made no mention of same-sex desire or sodomy. Sexual activity between men wasn't criminalised until the reign of Henry VIII.

  • Activism and Community Building

    In response to oppression and social marginalisation, LGBTQ people gradually came together to campaign against unjust laws.

  • LGBTQ Architecture

    LGBTQ people have designed buildings throughout history but is there such a thing as Queer architecture?

  • My Pride of Place

    Celebrities and campaigners tell us about the places that are important to them.

  • Our Approach

    Pride of Place is an initiative led by a team of historians and scholars at Leeds Beckett University's Centre for Culture and the Arts.

  • Credits

    The contributors and sources that helped to create Pride of Place.

  • Reading List

    A reading list of sources for LGBTQ heritage information.