LGBT+ HISTORY MONTH:

Three Organisations to Collaborate on new LGBTQIA+ Heritage Project

A collaboration between HERe NI, Cara- Friend and The Rainbow Project has been awarded a grant of £337,131 by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to deliver an exciting new heritage project that will capture, preserve and share local LGBTQIA+ history.

The LGBTQIA+ Heritage Project was launched as part of LGBT+ History Month at an event at Belfast City Hall hosted by the Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Ryan Murphy on Tuesday 6 February.

The three year heritage project will review the period between the introduction of Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act in 1998 to the present day and will record the heritage of the LGBTQIA+ community and the campaign for equality.

The personal history of the LGBTQIA+ community around these legislative changes is broadly unrecorded and will be preserved through a series of activities. These include the creation of an online archive of local LGBTQIA+ history, a podcast uncovering forgotten stories, a heritage trail in Belfast city centre plus an LGBTQIA+ film club and history club.

The launch was attended by the Chair of The National Lottery Heritage Fund Northern Ireland Committee Mukesh Sharma MBE DL, key staff, a range of organisations and volunteers who are involved in the project. Amy Finlay Jeffrey one of the project volunteers spoke about the benefits of volunteering for the Heritage Project and Cara McCann Director of HERe NI spoke about the development of the project.

Cara McCann, Director of HERe NI stated: “For many years our heritage has not been recorded by LGBTQIA+ people. This is an exciting opportunity for members of the LGBTQIA+ community to be part of something special and to tell their untold stories. This project is community-led and community implemented. The benefits from participating in a project like this range from increased positive health and wellbeing and employability skills.”

Scott Cuthbertson, Director of The Rainbow Project welcomed the funding:

“For all our lives our history as LGBTQIA+ people has been obscured and hidden. The launch of the LGBTQIA+ Heritage Project is the beginning of changing that, and what better time to do so that LGBT History Month. The Rainbow Project is proud to be a part of this project and looks forward to the many hidden histories it uncovers.”

Adam Murray, Community Development Manager from Cara-Friend continued:

“Cara-Friend is delighted to partner with our colleagues at Here NI and The Rainbow Project on the LGBTQIA+ Heritage Project. We look forward to the next three years as the project continues to explore and utilise the rich history of the LGBTQIA+ community, bringing the stories of LGBTQIA+ life to new audiences in exciting new formats. The huge interest the project is already generating is testament to how timely and valued it is. Cara-Friend wishes to express our thanks to the Heritage Fund for making this work possible.”

Mukesh Sharma, Chair of The National Lottery Heritage Fund Northern Ireland Committee said: “We are proud to be supporting this important project that will address a gap in our social and political history in Northern Ireland. Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, this heritage will now be shared with the wider community and will highlight the local people who have paved the way for social change

Our Heritage 2033 strategy is committed to supporting greater inclusion, diversity, access and participation in heritage and we wish HERe NI, The Rainbow Project and Cara-Friend every success with their project.”

To get involved with the project please contact Mary Ellen or Joe at HERe NI maryellen@hereni.org and joe@hereni.org.

Follow the project on X, Facebook and TikTok using @lgbthistoryni on and visit the online archive www.lgbthistoryni.com