History of Parliament and Excavating Early Queer History

To mark LGBTQ+ History Month 2023, guest blogger Charles Upchurch, Professor of British history at Florida State University, explains how he used the History of Parliament project as a resource when researching his newest book, “Beyond the Law”: The Politics of Ending the Death Penalty for Sodomy in Britain. LGBTQ+ stories are often overlooked within parliamentary history, but Professor Upchurch utilised the History of Parliament … Continue reading History of Parliament and Excavating Early Queer History

NEW PODCAST for LGBT+ History Month: Lord Ronald Gower (1845-1916)

Based on his recent blog series on The Victorian Commons, this LGBT+ History Month Dr Martin Spychal sat down (virtually) with our public engagement team to discuss his research on the queer MP Lord Ronald Gower. We’ve made our 30 minute conversation available for you below. Martin has been researching Lord Ronald Gower as part of the History of Parliament’s Commons 1832-68 project and been … Continue reading NEW PODCAST for LGBT+ History Month: Lord Ronald Gower (1845-1916)

Archbishop Laud’s secret ‘misfortunes’: decoding sexual identity in the seventeenth century

Continuing the theme of LGBTQ+ History Month, Dr Paul Hunneyball, assistant editor of the Lords 1558-1603 section, explores the problem of interpreting evidence from the early modern period… ‘I dreamed that K.B. sent to me in Westminster church, that he was now as desirous to see me, as I him, and that he was then entering into the church. I went with joy, but met … Continue reading Archbishop Laud’s secret ‘misfortunes’: decoding sexual identity in the seventeenth century

Voices from the Oral History Project – Chris Smith

Unusually for a profile of one of our Oral History Project interviewees, Chris Smith has not recently passed away! Yet as the first sitting MP who chose to publicly come out, his is a fascinating interview to focus on this LGBT history month. Dr Emma Peplow, our Oral History Project lead, explores his parliamentary career… Chris Smith, Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury 1983-2005, … Continue reading Voices from the Oral History Project – Chris Smith

Disregarding the Past: The Problems of Pardoning Homosexual Offences

Ahead of this evening’s IHR Parliaments, Politics and People seminar, the speaker from the previous session in collaboration with the History of Sexuality seminar, Dr Justin Bengry, Director of the Centre for Queer History at Goldsmiths, University of London, summarises the issues raised in his paper about the pardoning of historical homosexual offences. In June 2015 I was approached by filmmaker Rosemarie Reed who was … Continue reading Disregarding the Past: The Problems of Pardoning Homosexual Offences