Here you can find details of all the events, activities and more taking place as part of LGBTQIA+ History Month 2024 at Queen Mary.
All are open to our staff and students to mark this important month, so please join us. We will be adding to and updating our listings throughout the month, so check back regularly!
If you are a student at Queen Mary, you can also check out the Queen Mary Students' Union campaign for the month to keep up with what's on. Queen Mary Residential Life are hosting their own events too!
Date: Thursday 1 February
Time: 12.00pm-1.30pm
Location: Hitchcock Cinema, Arts One Building, G19, Ground Floor
Tickets and Trailer: Free tickets via Eventbrite (please note there is limited capacity for this event)
The stories of eight female couples who are pivotal to women’s and LGBTQIA+ rights in Ireland, including gender studies, and health care. Screening as part of St Brigid’s Day celebrations and LGBTQIA+ History Month (70 mins, Irish Language, English Subtitles).
Time: 12.00pm-12.30pm
Location: Outside the Queens' Building, Mile End
You are warmly invited to a flag raising ceremony marking the beginning of LGBTQIA+ History Month at this flag raising event. The Intersex Inclusive Progress Pride flag will be flown as a visible symbol of Queen Mary’s commitment to championing our LGBTQIA+ community. Find out more about the evolving design of the Pride flag, including the intersex-inclusive Progress Pride iteration.
Date: Thursday 8 February
Time: 12.00pm-1.00pm
Location: Mile End Library Seminar Room and Online
Tickets: Undergraduates and taught postgraduates, sign up via the Library Services Booking System, Staff and PhD students register through the CPD Booking System
In this engaging workshop, James Soderman, Faculty Liaison Librarian for Science and Engineering, invites you to explore the vibrant realm of LGBTQIA+ materials within the Queen Mary Library collection.
Learn expert tips on navigating and discovering books, audiovisual resources, and articles across various formats. James will also share recommendations for those eager to delve deeper into LGBTQIA+ literature. Be prepared for intriguing answers to questions like "Who penned the first modern lesbian fiction?" and "Which influential English author posthumously published their LGBTQIA+ themed book?" Uncover fascinating stories, including the enigmatic figure known as the Goddess Bunny.
Join us for an illuminating journey into LGBTQIA+ narratives. Any questions or special requirements? Reach out to j.soderman@qmul.ac.uk
Time: 2.30pm-4.30pm
Location: Blomeley Room 1, SU Hub
This event is open to all, no ticket required.
Join us for a Tea and Talk session where we will be discussing health and wellbeing in the community over drinks and snacks. ELOP will joining us to help facilitate the discussion and offer guidance, support and signposting.
Date: Tuesday 13 February
Time: 5.00pm-7.30pm
Location: St Benet's Chaplaincy
Knit and Knatter are holding an special LGBTQIA+ event on Tuesday 13 February, at St Benet's Chaplaincy.
Join in and enjoy the knitting and crocheting of hearts, flowers and flags under the theme ValentinesxLGBTQIA+
Date: Monday 12 February
Location: This event took place online via MS Teams. The recording is now available to watch on YouTube.
Rebecca Mbewe, MBA, research assistant at Queen Mary and Winnie Ssanyu-Sseruma, a freelance International Development consultant, will discuss the story of “Our Stories Told By Us”, the book they co-authored, on celebrating the African contribution to the UK HIV response.
This illuminating session will touch on their own journeys, research and activism and will consider an LGBTQIA+ perspective.
Time: 10.00am-11.00am
Location: School of Mathematical Sciences, MB-504 (5th floor common room)
The School of Mathematical Sciences (SMS) is hosting a Queer Coffee Morning and it's open to all staff and PhD students from across Queen Mary.
You're all invited to come and meet with colleagues in a friendly, informal environment, while enjoying the views from the top floor of the Maths Building. Following on from last year's Big Fat Queer Quiz, we're back with another edition to put your LGBTQIA+ knowledge to the test.
Please RSVP to Alex Fink a.fink@qmul.ac.uk so we can make sure we have refreshments for everyone. Your friends from the SMS LGBTQIA+ EDI subgroup
Update: This event will be rescheduled to take place later in the year.
Join Liz Grand (EDI Manager, Gender Equality) and Sean Crowley-Smith (Deputy Early Years Manager / Inclusion Officer, Westfield Nursery) for a discussion about taking an inclusive approach to families at Queen Mary.
Date: Tuesday 20 February
Time: 11.30pm-1.30pm
Location: Dept W, Staff Hub, 1st floor
Have a chat with colleagues and members of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Team and collect a rainbow lanyard and pronoun badge, to signify your commitment to providing a safe and comfortable environment for all of our LGBTQIA+ staff and students.
Date: Monday 26 February
Location: Online via MS Teams - Sign up via Eventbrite
Throughout the history of the LGBTQIA+ community, a common attack has been that "it's not natural" to be lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer, asexual or other.
This informal seminar will debunk the myth of "unnatural" sexuality by looking at a wide range of examples of LGBTQIA+ behaviour taken from the natural world (featuring examples you probably have heard of and a whole load of examples that you probably haven't yet - from bison to bonobos, from giraffes to gynandromorphs).
Professor Tony Michael (Faculty of Science & Engineering, School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences) has designed an accessible, thought-provoking seminar which requires no prior knowledge of biology.
There will also be time for questions and a discussion following the seminar.
Date: Wednesday 28 February
Time: 12.00pm-2.00pm
Location: Graduate Centre Foyer
Join us for an informal gathering to celebrate the closing of LGBTQIA+ History Month 2024 and to introduce the new co-chairs of QMOut; Queen Mary's LGBTQIA+ Staff Network.
This drop-in event offers a fantastic opportunity for both long-standing and new members of QMOut, as well as allies, to meet the new leadership team and engage with the community.
Come enjoy a cup of coffee, tea, and some biscuits. It's the perfect occasion to say hello, ask questions, or simply enjoy the company of fellow QMOut colleagues. Members of the EDI Team will be attending to distribute rainbow lanyards, pronoun badges, and share copies of the Queen Mary Awareness and Inclusion calendar. We look forward to seeing you there!
When was the last time you had a meaningful conversation?
Meaningful Conversations in Healthcare is a YouTube channel founded by Riya George (Reader (Associate Professor) in Clinical Communication Skills and Diversity Education at Barts and The London School of Medicine & Dentistry) and created collaboratively with Peter McClintock from CBZ Photography. It showcases the lived experiences of people in healthcare.
To celebrate Pride Month in 2023, Riya collaboratively created with the organisation ASME (Association for the Study of Medical Education) three thought-provoking and personal episodes, that touch upon the journey in finding and bringing one’s authentic whole-self to work and what this means in relation to issues relevant to gender identity and sexuality.
These important conversations are closely linked with the LGBTQIA+ History Month theme of Medicine #UnderTheScope for 2024. If you missed them last year, then do visit the YouTube channel where you can watch all episodes.
The first episode introduces Ethan Wilson, a medical student from the University of Glasgow, who shares some of his own personal story around coming out as transgender and finding out what his identity means to him.
The second episode features Duncan Shrewsbury, a queer academic, general practitioner from Brighton, who candidly shares his journey into queerness and clinical practice.
The third episode explores the complexity of the terms gender identity and sexuality as social and biological constructs. In this episode, Ethan and Duncan are joined by Kyle Ring, a Consultant in HIV medicine and sexual health to explore myths around gender and sexuality.
CS4FN was created in 2005 by Paul Curzon and Peter McOwan of the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science. Since then the project has been helped by many people locally, most notably Gabriella Kazai, Jonathan Black, Chrystie Myketiak, Jo Brodie and Nicola Plant.
CS4FN's aim is to share the passion about all things to do with Computer Science and especially to show that it is an exciting subject that is great to learn about just for the fun of it. CSFN produce a free magazine twice a year, as well as a series of special booklets and have also produced magazines on Electronic Engineering and Audio Engineering and their links with computing. All are sent free to schools in the UK (over 20,000 copies per issue). Lots more articles also go on the website.
For LGBTQIA+ History Month, you can take a look at their blog LGBTQ+ Computer Science Greats.
For only the second time ever, The School of Medicine & Dentistry will be offering LGBT+ Healthcare as a seminar module (Student-Selected Component) for first year Medical students. Running daily from 19 February until the 1 March, 14 learners will take a deep-dive into the issues that LGBT+ communities face in healthcare, from mental health and social stigma to supportive clinical practice.
This student-selected course has been devised to address feedback from MBBS graduates that they feel underprepared as junior doctors in LGBT+ healthcare knowledge. Dr Sam Miles, Senior Lecturer in the Institute of Health Sciences Education (IHSE) will be building on elements of Dr Jen Randall's student-centred teaching in this new course, involving students in inquiry-led research.
Guest speakers include Barts NHS Trust clinicians, academics from UCL and LSHTM, and patient advocates from Bipolar UK. Themes explored include the history of HIV/AIDS Activism, trans-inclusive healthcare, and students meeting LGBTQ clinicians who will be reflecting on their personal and professional identities.
Learners will venture beyond classroom or clinic to visit the LGBTQ archives at The Bishopsgate Institute in City of London, where they will explore queer communities with the Institute's curator.
*Please note that this is not an open event
If you are looking for details of Resources & Support available please take a look at on our dedicated page.