Research into the LGBTQ+ history of Wales
Proud Writing is a project run by LGBTQ+ author/historian Norena Shopland in collaboration with Cerian Wilshere-Davies, Youth Engagement Facilitator for Amgueddfa Cymru. The writing workshops consisted of an initial four sessions and proved so popular that additional sessions were added. Each workshop consisted of a short text taken from historic newspapers from Welsh Newspapers Online … Read More “Proud Writing free eBook” »
In 2021/22 and 2023 the Welsh Government commissioned training in LGBTQ+ Language and History for local museums, libraries and archives to encourage the celebration of local stories of sexual orientation and gender identity. This is part of the work being done on raising awareness and understanding of the diverse population of Wales, and compliments the … Read More “The Welsh County LGBTQ+ Timeline Collection” »
Norena Shopland Here are a few ideas for using the county timelines – if you have any others please do send them in. Collecting items Contact celebrities/named people and ask for donations, e.g. Carmarthenshire and Merthyr could ask Owain and Arran if they would be willing to donate photographs/invites/etc of their wedding. Virtual Exhibitions Use … Read More “Some tips on using the timelines” »
In 1897 a short story appeared in a Welsh newspaper written by Clara J Denton (1842-1927) an American writer, the daughter of David Melick Fort and Glorvinia Maloney, and wife of Lemi Bradley Denton whom she married 1865, in Detroit, Michigan. Clara wrote several children’s books as well becoming the first president of the Grand … Read More “Francis or Frances” »
Event details from the University of South Wales: “In 2004, the Church in Wales published an issue of its journal Theology on ‘The Church and Homosexuality: A Contribution to the Debate’. As the contributors represented a wide range of views, it gives a picture of what the Church in Wales was thinking at that time, and probably … Read More “‘Gender, Sexuality and Faith: Twenty Years On’” »
[Chapter extract from the Undergraduate dissertation “What drove the development of Welsh-language LGBTQIA+ terminology 1972-2022” by Luke Blaidd (2023)] Fig. 1: Welsh LGBTQIA+ dictionary terminology timeline and events in UK LGBTQIA+ history 1957-2007 Welsh language LGBTQIA+ terminology in the mid-20th Century was much the same as it had been in the 19th and 18th Centuries. … Read More “The Post-1957 Shift in LGBTQIA+ Language in Wales” »
(For Welsh see below) Amgueddfa Cymru has been collaborating with Welsh LGBTQ+ Historian Norena Shopland to run a Creative writing project that focuses on creatively responding to pieces of Wales’ often hidden or forgotten LGBTQ+ history. We are inviting people to submit prose, poems, or artwork inspired by the four historic texts in this pack … Read More “Proud Writing Call Out:” »
Luke Blaidd Recently, I posted this image (below) on my Prosiect Llyfr Enfys social media accounts: This is an infographic which I made on a whim after noticing that Jac L. Williams’ Geiriadur Termau turned 50 years old this year. I came to realise that by extension, so had the terms ‘lesbiad’ and ‘deuryw’, which … Read More “Term Anniversaries- Vital Landmarks for Welsh LGBTQIA+ History” »
Norena Shopland I came across this old newspaper recently, it is a 1976, 100-year celebration edition of the Glamorgan Gazette. Interesting what you can find when leafing through, such as a bit of cross-dressing from an ‘Old family album’ – Note the intimate touching in both photos –
Norena Shopland Sometimes, when recording a history of diversity, diversity within diversity often gets left out. We struggle at the best of times to find cases of sexual orientation and gender identity but finding minority ethnic or disability, for example, within that history is ten times harder. Consequently, we are often left with a history … Read More “Mystery Gauze, the female impersonator” »
