Queer Footprints of Tower Hamlets

Join the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in marking 🌈LGBT history month with a community-building event, focusing on the Queer Footprints of Tower Hamlets.

Our host, Dan de la Motte, will be joined by Dan Glass (author of Queer Footprints); Isabella Lewis (from the iconic Friends of the Joiners Arms campaign group) and Nazir Uddin (from the Bangladeshi community group The Rainbow Tree) to explore the development of LGBTQ community in the east end. Through the lens of Dan's writing on Whitechapel, we will trace the footprints of local queer presence from past into present, looking at the ways in which local groups are now fighting to preserve community, and the significant challenges of carving out space for queer living in the future.

In addition to our amazing panel, we will also be displaying historic material from the Tower Hamlets Library and Archives, and asking you get involved in setting out a community vision for our LGBTQ residents.

We hope to see you there!

(Food and drinks provided!)

Dan de la Motte is a queer performer, activist, curator, producer, host and tour-guide, being part of the Queer Tours of London team since 2017.

Dan Glass is an educator, performer and film presenter recognised as 'Activist of the Year,' ‘campaigning role model’ and 'BBC Greater Londoner' for founding ‘Queer Tours of London - A Mince Through Time’. His book(s) ‘United Queerdom’ won Observer book of the week and is now touring ‘Queer Footprints’.

Isabella Lewis is a member of and event planner for the Friends of the Joiner's Arms. FOTJA are an award-winning campaign group which came into existence in 2014 to fight against the closure of the Joiners Arms, a queer pub, on Hackney Road in East London. FOTJA have since transformed into an organization passionate about protecting and creating queer spaces. We aim to open London’s first community-run LGBTQI+ space and want to help reverse the pattern of mass closures of queer venues.

Nazir Uddin is a part of the management team of The Rainbow Tree, a United Kingdom-based Bangladeshi/Bengali LGBTQ+ community group, which aims to create a safe online platform for Bangladeshi and Bengali queer people around the world. Rainbow Tree also welcomes all queer people and allies to join in the group.