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now developing its future direction. This has included some very ‘big thinking’, such as the role of a police museum. Never before has it been more pressing to use this museum to engage and connect with local communities about their wellbeing, safety and concerns. As part of this work, the OPCM women’s volunteer group applied for an emergency Covid-19 grant from Arts Council England, to work with victims of domestic violence. It is no surprise that domestic violence has skyrocketed in the pandemic, and this includes in LGBTQ+ communities. The grant is facilitating the women’s volunteers to make short films about strong women in Sussex’s history who have either been in the police - or in the hands of the police. These films are going to be made available on the museum’s website. Then, working with women’s shelters and other services, the museum will drop over locally baked organic cakes for residents to share together while they watch the films. Hopefully the project will offer both some comfort and inspiration. With the largest queer population per capita in the UK, and with it well recognised that local LGBTQ+ communities are equally as affected by domestic violence as the broader community, it was vitally important that the films included LGBTQ+ content. By doing this, OPCM begins the process of engaging with the local queer community about issues that affect them and are important to them. This is what museums should do – act as agents of positive social change.
Not On My Watch
As the Old Police Cells Museum launches a series of short talks aimed at tackling domestic violence during Covid, volunteer Zoe Sutherland-Rowe reveals how she researched Queer Suffragettes: Censorship and Opposing the Law
) The Old Police Cells Museum (OPCM) is
situated beneath Brighton Town Hall, in the 11 original Victorian holding cells that were used before people appeared upstairs in the old courtroom. You can still see graffiti carved into the cell walls, including Dave the Rocker who managed to find something sharp enough to engrave his name into the cell wall when all the Mods and Rockers who were arrested during the 1974 Battle of Brighton Beach were held
together downstairs in the cells.
“My research project on lesbian and bi suffragettes will be one of six films about strong women in Sussex’s history” Recently, OPCM has embarked on a journey to become Brighton & Hove’s fourth nationally recognised accredited museum. A team of nearly 40 volunteers have spent several years
“My favourite is a poster that depicts two women kissing, with the caption ‘Girls are doing all the fellows’ jobs now!’. Over the last year I’ve seen this poster reclaimed by fellow Sapphics across social media, and it was this that inspired me to create my film” My research project on lesbian and bisexual suffragettes will be one of six films about strong women in Sussex’s history: Queer Suffragettes: Censorship and Opposing the Law Anti-suffragette propaganda posters from the early 1900s painted women’s rights activists as ‘ugly’ or ‘wild’, with some intended to shock and anger their audience by showing what Britain would look like if they succeeded. In this ‘dystopian’ world men would have to share in the carrying out of household chores and even help to look after their own children (the horror!). However my favourite is a poster that depicts two women kissing, with the caption Girls are doing all the fellows’ jobs now!. Over
