Out in Oxford

The University of Oxford has launched its first cross-collections trail.

This trail is the result of ‘Celebrating Diversity’, a project funded by Arts Council England via the Oxford University Museums Partnership and created with the LGBTQ+ community. Nearly fifty volunteers who identify as LGBTQ+ or are allies have been involved writing the interpretations and co-curating the trail’s launch events. Through these interpretations we strive to celebrate diversity and highlight LGBTQ+ experiences. The items included have been identified with the help of staff from each collection represented. Through Out in Oxford, we hope to offer alternative insights into our shared, queer heritage.

This project is a response to a lecture given by Professor Richard Parkinson, author of A Little Gay History, Professor of Egyptology at the Faculty of Oriental Studies and a Fellow of The Queen’s College, Oxford, during LGBT History Month, February 2016. The lecture highlighted the demand for more explicit, not implicit, LGBTQ+ representation within museum displays. We are proud to be launching this trail a year later during LGBT History Month 2017. 2017 is an auspicious year as it is the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales.

You can find out more here.