Archiving Queer Culture
📅 Wednesday 16th September
📍 Bishopsgate Institute
⏰ Start 6:00 PM (essential to be a few min before !!), 90 min
🎟 Free Entry
🔞 18+ Only
♿ Access information below*
⚠️⚠️⚠️ IMPORTANT ⚠️⚠️⚠️
Plans changed? Let us know or cancel your ticket. No-shows aren’t sexy and stop others from joining. Repeat no-shows won’t get future bookings.
Join our tour of the Bishopsgate Institute's LGBTQIA+ Collections and discover the stories they're home to! Why was John Gielgud told to see a doctor? How many lesbian pulp fiction novels can one library hold? Bishopsgate Institute is a treasure trove of LGBTQIA+ history with extensive archives holding cuttings, badges, and banners – and even a set of wizard’s robes. By the end of this tour, you’ll know all about them. Come along for a guided walk-through of these vital collections and ask questions as we explore queer history together.
*Important Event & Accessibility Notes:
Age Restriction: Please note that archive tours are 18+ only because of the nature of the material the institute holds.
Accessibility & Stairs: There are some stairs on the tour, but if you have any access requirements, please let us know by DMing us on Outsavvy, and we can adjust accordingly!
This event is part of Fringe! Queer Film & Arts Fest and Love Hub – two festivals collaborating to create one big queer East London celebration from 11th - 20th September.
📽 Explore the full Fringe! Queer Film & Arts Fest programme here
🌈 Discover the full Love Hub programme here
A note on The Love Hub well-being: All the venues we're using are ventilated - but that doesn't make them totally COVID, flu, or common-cold safe. We'll have free masks available, HEPA filters pumping (not at Bishopsgate Institute), and designated quieter spaces for folx who need a moment. Got a cough, cold, or flu-like symptoms? Please rest up at home until your symptoms have subsided: many of us in our communities have to do everything we can not to get sick, including those of us with disabilities or compromised immune systems.
Our House Rules (and Why They Matter)
The Love Hub is brought to you by The Love Tank, a non-profit organisation promoting the health and well-being of underserved communities.
We’re a lived experience organisation: we’re queer, pro-trans, and believe that migrants make our worlds richer and more joyful. We’re proudly anti-racist and believe access to health care - including abortion - is a human right. We stand for bodily autonomy, including reproductive justice, the decriminalisation of drug use and sex work, and access to gender-affirming care.
A lot of our work focuses on sexual health, so please expect conversations that include sex and sexual well-being.
If you’ve just discovered The Love Tank and are thinking of booking a Love Hub ticket, but find our values challenging, this is a great moment to ask yourself: “Is this space right for me?”
Some sessions will have an official photographer present. If you do not wish to be photographed, please let us know when you arrive at a session. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, photography, video, or audio recording of panel members or audience members is not permitted. Anyone who records or photographs without consent will be asked to leave the session.
Our events are fun, joyful, and supportive. It takes courage for presenters and facilitators to get up and share their work, so please be respectful: clap in the right places, don’t heckle, and help create a welcoming environment. If our values don’t align with yours, that’s okay - please don’t attend. We won’t mind.
Stay Connected:
Follow us on Instagram @thelovetankcic for updates on this event and other exciting free projects and events you can be a part of!
About our FREE events
💜 Our events are free to ensure they remain accessible to our communities. However, organising them comes with costs. If you'd like to support our work, please consider donating via this link.
💜 To make sure as many people as possible can attend, we ask that you cancel your ticket if you can no longer make it. Failing to show up without prior cancellation takes a spot from someone else and wastes resources, including food and venue costs. We track attendance, and individuals who miss three events without cancelling will be unable to register for our future events. Please be considerate and let us know if you can’t attend.
💜 To ensure a smooth and respectful experience for everyone, please arrive on time. Our events are not drop-in sessions, meaning attendees must arrive at the start time and stay for the duration. We allow a 10-minute grace period for late arrivals - after that, entry will not be permitted as it can be disruptive to the group. Additionally, the entrance is not monitored after the grace period, so there will be no one available to let latecomers in. The event hours are clearly stated in the description, so please plan accordingly. Thank you for understanding and helping us create a welcoming space for all!
💜 Alongside this, we appreciate it if you could respond to any communication by the given response deadline so we can make the necessary arrangements for the event.
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