Appendix 13
Edinburgh’s Remember When Project
Remember When… is a two-year long oral and community history project to document the lives and achievements of Edinburgh’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual people, past and present.
Remember When… has received the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund, of the Edinburgh City Council and the Living Memory Association.
Alongside the part-time project workers and administrator, and the city staff, many volunteers have contributed to the project with interviews, participation in the accessioning of objects.
The material and immaterial information gathered during the project lifetime will be passed on to complement the City museums’ social history collection with a LGBT dimension.
Questionnaire
How old were you when the first Pride happened in Edinburgh?4
You may have been 5 year old? 15 years old? 22 years old? 35 years old?
The first Pride happened in Edinburgh on Saturday 17 June 1995.
It has been known as the “Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Pride Scotland”.
The march began on Broughton Place, to go through Leith Street, up the Mound, along George IV Bridge and down Middle Meadow Walk.
A Festival took place on The Meadows on the same afternoon.
Ever heard of Stonewall?
Stonewall is a British charity founded in 1989, present in Scotland, England and Wales.
It has been a professional lobbying group to prevent legal and illegal attacks on lesbians, gay men and bisexuals ever occurring again and to put the case for equality on the mainstream political agenda by winning support within all the political parties.
The name “Stonewall” comes from the LGBT history. The Stonewall Inn used to be a gay bar in New York’s lower Manhattan.
During the last week-end of June 1969, it was the place for a dramatic protest of the LGBT community against police harassment.
Following liberation movements arising in the Black community and protests from women fighting for equality, LGBT people very quickly set new organizations to promote their rights.
In 1970, 5,000 people marched to commemorate the Stonewall Riots.
[Quote(s) from the questionnaires gathered after the 1995 Pride Scotland] 117
Rainbow City is an exciting new social history exhibition that celebrates Edinburgh’s LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) communities. It will be launched at the City Art Centre on 6th May.
The Rainbow City Exhibition, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, is the culmination of over two years of work within the LGBT communities by the Remember When Project to document the history of these communities in Edinburgh. A team of dedicated volunteers have been involved in a number of activities. These include interviewing, transcribing, web and graphic design, accessioning, animation, photography, research and organising events such as the one you are at now. The community involvement has been fantastic.
The exhibition will include artefacts, audio recordings, photographs, and interactive elements.; and a (drum roll, please) costume worn by Elton John
The landmark enterprise will be permanently archived within the social history collections of the City of Edinburgh Museums.
The exhibition is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Edinburgh- based Living Memory Association and the City of Edinburgh Council.
http://hw1.edinburgh.gov.uk/internet/Leisure/Museums_and_galleries/City%20Art%20Centre%20exhibitions/CEC_rainbow_city
Do you remember when having sex with your partner could lead to a charge of gross indecency and eighteen months imprisonment?
Do you remember when the Law decriminalised gay sex between men over 21?
1980. Not that long ago is it? The same year that Dallas was the most popular show on television.
A lot has happened in the last twenty six years. A lot more happened in the 400 years before that. Do you know the names of those who fought for your rights in Edinburgh? Do you know the places men would meet other men before the ‘scene’ existed? Do you know the significance of Crawford’s Tea
Room to gay men in past decades?
We do. Want us to show you?
Come along and see the fabulous exhibition celebrating Edinburgh’s LGBT communities which opens on May 6 2006.
City Art Centre
2 Market Street
Edinburgh
Tel: 0131 529 3993
Monday - Saturday 10am - 5pm
Sundays 12noon - 5pm
Admission Free, charging for occasional exhibitions
email
Who was Sophia Jex Blake and why did the gates of academia slam shut in her face?
In 1868, over a hundred years before Edinburgh Women’s Liberation marched through the streets to reclaim the night Sophia challenged the male hegemony and changed the course of history.
Do you want to know how she did it? Do you want us to tell you?
Miss Pirie and Miss Woods rang a genteel academy for young ladies in 1809. They also managed to outrage the American censors in 1936.
How was that possible? We know. Do you want us to tell you?
Edinburgh has a wealth of lesbian history that has been hidden behind her walls for too long.
The Rainbow City exhibition pulls down those walls and exposes the vibrant history underneath. Come along and see for yourself.
We’re here, we’re queer, and this time we won’t be hidden. Come along and see the fabulous exhibition celebrating Edinburgh’s LGBT communities.
It’s your history. Claim it.