2.3
CONTEXT
Industrial Heritage Evolution and Queer Communities in Sheffield it is inferred that initially, the ex industrial spaces were available and affordable for them as a Queer collective. However, over the years this situation has been changing drastically. “As the city is developed, fewer spaces are available” (Gut Level, 2022, pp.7), and as their
The evolution of the Industrial Heritage in Sheffield has also accompanied processes of displacement for marginalized groups such as Queer Communities. Sheffield’s coal industry was the city’s major economic pillar until the early twentieth century, when it evolved into an industrial cluster with heavy industries like steel as a new primary element, earning Sheffield the nickname “City of Steel”. The steel evolution influenced people’s relationships within the space in which the workforce was highlighted as a homogeneous form of life. Indeed, the discourse of the so-called modern industrialization was the origin of multiple buildings and spaces in Sheffield where the central element of people’s relations was the accumulation of capital, rather than community connections and other forms of life. From Connoly’s (2022) archive, it was also identified that during this process the presence of Queer communities in Sheffield were also accompanied by heteropatriarchal discourses that forced people to live behind. From hidden bars up to secret spaces where ‘Queer Revolutions’ take place as Sheffield wasn’t necessarily understood as an inclusive and safe space for Queer communities. It is in this context, that the story of the process of recognition for Queer Communities started in Sheffield. With the demise of the steel sector after World War II, the historic region quickly deteriorated, being surrounded by abandoned factories and decaying housing. Since the origin of the industrial spaces was the labour workforce. These inhabited spaces started to be appropriated by marginalized people such as the Queer community.
Fig 7.
From Gut Level’s archive (GL Archive 2022, pp.7)
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Figure: Queer Celebration of Joy and Collective Conne
