Syeda

Syeda Ali giving a talk: Section 28: In and Outside the School Gates - LGBTQ+ History Month 2026 Thu 26 Feb 2026 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM TACO!, SE2 9FA

Niche location for this talk, but very dear to my ❤️, as I started teaching back in the 'Section 28 era' in Thamesmead (where the magnificent Beautiful Thing by Jonathan Harvey was filmed, partly @ aforementioned school!). 26 FEB www.tickettailor.com/events/lgbtt...
#LBTHM26 #QueerHistory #Thamesmead

Bump for my CFP for Nostalgia and Radical Politics, Past and Present www.northampton.ac.uk/research-blo... Deadline 14 February! Have had a few abstracts already and it's shaping up to be great. 🗃️

LGBTQ+ History Month: 'Scottish trans pasts, useable and otherwise?' | School of History, Classics & Archaeology | History Classics and Archaeology Celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month with Dr Sam Rutherford and learn more about the last 150 years of trans history in Scotland.

I am giving the Edinburgh Uni LGBTQ+ History Month lecture on the evening of 27 February, with the title 'Scottish Trans Pasts, Useable and Otherwise'. Details and link to register are here: hca.ed.ac.uk/updates-even... Do come along if you're in Edinburgh!

Imperial Footprints | Hurst Publishers From the Victorian era to Partition, Mukherjee uncovers the unique experiences of the very youngest South Asian migrants to Britain.

Hurrah!!! The brilliant Sumita Mukherjee has a new book out about the lives of South Asian children in Modern Britain in just a few weeks.

I love the cover photo!

A must read so now would be a great time to preorder and commission reviews.

www.hurstpublishers.com/book/imperia...

Reimagining Trades Union History What does a new exhibition on 200 years of British trades union history reveal about the triumphs and challenges of collective action?

'The thread that runs through the exhibition is this: no matter the context [...] as individuals, as people, we can come together, we can organise, and there's power to that.'

Historians and archivists on the LSE Library's new exhibition on trades union history.

Darkrooms in the Home Are you LGBTQIA+ or non-heterosexual? Do you have experience of darkrooms in the home or in spaces that feel like home to you? If so, then this project is for you! I wish to speak to people who have experience of one or multiple of the following as part of my PhD research: • Have you ever made or owned a home darkroom, permanent or semi-permanent, in Britan? • Do you work with analogue and/or alternative photographic processes at home? • Do you have memories of home darkrooms? Has this influenced your photography? • Do you have experience of setting up or running a home or community darkroom? • Have you been part of a community darkroom that felt like home? If you are interested in learning more, please get in touch by: Email: m.warren@westminster.ac.uk Phone: 07902489831

A very interesting PhD project is looking for interviewees with LGBTQ+ photographers with experiences of making photographs in home darkrooms. Get in touch if this applies, and do share.

Call for chapters! Amy Tooth Murphy and I are editing the Routledge Handbook of Oral History Theory, and we are seeking contributions from a range of scholars and practitioners. See our full call here. oralhistory.org/2025/11/11/c...

My Bad A powerful and hilarious personal history that tells the true story of the queer ’90s and how it transformed queer life in the decades that followed The 19...

As a memoir in essays, this is a big change. I'm telling my own stories..but also a broader story about changes in queer life around the Millennium: from private to public; disconnected to online; gay and lesbian to queer and trans; AIDS as death sentence to manageable condition (for some) etc.

Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho - Wilton's Music Hall James Seabright by arrangement with Áine Flanagan presents Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho   We are 100! Maggie returns in her smash hit drag extravaganza to mark the centenary of her epic arrival on ...

Passed my viva (with corrections)!
Celebrated with Maggie Thatcher Queen of Soho (at the beautiful Wilton's Music Hall) which, fittingly, features in my thesis on Section 28 and queer collective memory.
wiltons.org.uk/whats-on/mar...

Gender and Sexuality MA - University of Birmingham Course information for prospective postgraduate students on our MA History taught masters degree programme at the University of Birmingham.

Some big news: the University of Birmingham is launching a new MA in Gender & Sexuality. It's interdisciplinary, with a focus on combining theory & practice. It's going to be amazing. I'm convening it: message or email with questions. www.birmingham.ac.uk/study/postgr... @unibirmingham.bsky.social

Front cover of comic 'Action Pact', 1979, published by the Anti-Nazi League. It shows Mike and Vince walking to school past racist graffiti and news of violence, imagining a future of camps, military curfews, banning of 'degenerate' music and 'repatriation' ships.

Second page of comic 'Action Pact', 1979, published by the Anti-Nazi League. It shows Mike and Vince encountering "obnoxious propaganda" from the National Front at school and encountering violence against their community.

Third page of comic 'Action Pact', 1979, published by the Anti-Nazi League. It shows Mike and Vince transforming into the Justice Brothers, countering fascist propaganda through truth delivered with punchy comic book sound effects.

Fourth and final page of comic 'Action Pact', 1979, published by the Anti-Nazi League. It shows the "rattled fuhrer" taking refuge in a TV studio and being countered by the Justice Brothers and concludes with an appeal for action to counter racist lies.

KPOW! ZAP! BLAM! WHAMF!

In 1979 the Anti-Nazi League published 'Action Pact', a comic showing schoolchildren Mike & Vince battling NF fascist lies together as the Justice Brothers

National & local ephemera, photos & more feature in the archives of the Leamington Anti-Racist, Anti-Fascist Committee

As part of my PhD research on space (i.e the built environment/social space) and feminism during the British Women’s Liberation Movement, I’m looking for oral history participants to interview about their experiences. You don’t need to have thought about space and your activism- I’m just interested in your experiences! If you were involved in Reclaim the Night, squatting/housing activism, or feminist architecture from c.1968-1990 (ish), you can contact me on this platform or email me: sinead.carter@pgr.reading.ac.uk. Please share with anyone you think may have contacts!

I'm looking for participants for my oral history on space and feminism! Please share with anybody you feel may have contacts and email me if you have any questions or would like to get involved: sinead.carter@pgr.reading.ac.uk

Global Connections: Oral Histories of Ugandan Asians in Britain after 1972 This one day course brings together evidence from interviews with the ever decreasing number of original arrivals to the UK from Uganda, following Idi Amin’s expulsion in 1972. Using oral history we a...

It's South Asian History Month. If you fancy finding out about Ugandan Asians in the UK, why not sign up? August 14th, 19:00 - 20:30, online. www.citylit.ac.uk/courses/glob...

Book cover for 'language and LGBTQ+ youth: analysing marginalised identities through an intersectional lens' by Lucy Jones

If you're at #IGALA13 this week, look out for our display of key books on language, gender & sexuality.

Plus, pick up a discount flyer to pre-order IGALA President @lucyjones.bsky.social's new book, Language and LGBTQ+ Youth, at 35% off: Bloomsbury.com/language-and-lgbtq-youth-9781350469495/

a photo of a footnote from my phd dissertation which includes poly styrene and also the smiths.

The joy of juxtaposition in footnotes: The Smiths and Poly Styrene on the same page! Makes 4 years of PhD research all worthwhile.

Right. Niche question, maybe. Anyone got any good recommendations for academic analysis of queer (female) erotica, erotics, the queer (female) gaze in film or literature? Not really sure where to start looking, or even if there is much in the way of a body of work on the topic. (Must be, surely?)

Collective Memories of Section 28

www.history.ac.uk/events/colle...

I seem to post a lot about Section 28. 4pm, today (Friday 6th June) - free, online. It will be worth your while, I promise. #IHR #HistoryofSexuality #HistSex #Section28 Everyone is welcome

Legacies of Section 28 As we face renewed attacks on the dignity and rights of trans and non-binary people in the UK, many have pointed to the parallels with Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988, which prohibited loc...

Really excited about our upcoming interdisciplinary conference on the 'Legacies of Section 28' in contemporary history, education and activism, which will be held at UCL on 6th and 7th June. For more details and to register for this free event: www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...

Programme. 6–6.20: Falle Nioke live 6.20–9:00: DJ Bernadette Hawkes 6.30–7.15: Panel discussion: Section 28 & acts of resistance: Stef Dickers, Sue Sanders, Syeda Ali 7.45–8.20: In conversation: the central role of Black women in resistance movements: Stella Dadzie, Kelly Foster 5.30–9:00: Margate Pride Medal Workshop Charlee Piper 5.30–9:00: Film Screening: Once Upon a Time in Dollis Hill

Friday 30th May. Turner Contemporary Rendezvous, Margate. 17:30 - 21:00. An evening of conversation, music, and food to celebrate the final weekend of Resistance: How protest shaped Britain and photography shaped protest.
turnercontemporary.org/whats-on/eve...

If it’s ok for schools to read these stories then surely it’s ok for every child to hear them?

I'd also wager this was a mainly English sample because in Scotland c*nt is used differently, and 'cow' would surely be on the highly offensive list. Another gendered insight!

metrocharity.org.uk/news/2025/fe... Out From the Centre:40 yrs of local history, untold stories + power of collectivity. METRO Charity has advocated for diverse &inclusive health, youth, &community support since ‘80s, from frontline Section 28 protests to community-based HIV/STI testing in London

#History_Teachers! Free CPD for #AQA History #GCSE. 23 June 2025 all day. Black Cultural Archives. Reserve your seat buff.ly/HVQxCLo
This event is brought to you by RHUL's Inclusive Histories project, in collaboration with Black Cultural Archives, The London Archives, and AQA.

Life at the Fence Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp 1983/84

Kickstarter: Janine Wiedel's new book:
'Life at the Fence, Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp'. Wiedel spent 1983/84 @ GCWPC documenting Non-Violent Direct Actions & the women's lives ... Pre-order @ reduced price www.kickstarter.com/projects/fru...
#Greenham_Common #CND #Women #history #1980s

📢 Wowzers 😮! What a line up we have for @cont-brit-hist.bsky.social @ihr.bsky.social Term 3. Fab speakers incl: @racheljcollett.bsky.social @nataliethomlinson.bsky.social @lauratisdall.bsky.social Lucy Robinson Lukas Herde + Jennifer Wallis. Join us via link below 👇 www.history.ac.uk/seminars/con...

Thanks. I will try again! Teaching resources seem to be so ephemeral 🤔

Back for more #sex_ed. Any teachers who kept a copy of the teacher's notes from #BBC Scene 'Two of Us' c.1990?
Do we need to start an archive of teaching materials because there does not seem to be a decent one anywhere? (Happy to be corrected, if there is a comprehensive UK one). #teachers

On a slight tangent, this reminds me of a Cambridge conversation over dinner about 'the difference between Oxford and Cambridge queers' (yes, I know alll very elitist, but there was a good point underlying it!) ... and I think, unwittingly, it was a discussion about neurodiversity.

If you live in a place where there are millions of people and you keep on having discos and you always get drunk and eat a lot of fat and crisps, then you drink gin and orange juice and all that type of stuff and you - um - and they have drugs and they get drugs off people and smuggle them like in aeroplanes and you can disguise them quite easily and - um - if you get and they stole the needles, they shared them, and when they put them away, they wouldn't put them in holders with boiling water to sterilise them, they just put them in say a dirty old cupboard, something like that, and also if you don't sterilise, if you share needles and something's happened (giggle) and you can if you share a needle you'll get AIDS from them, and then it carries on spreading and spreading and spreading.

Fascinating insights into health and sex education as interpreted by a year 4 pupil in 1989. #sexeducation #HIV #AIDS #teachers #dont_eat_crisps_with_gin

I first read that as ‘a friend of Dorothy’ - something wrong with my brain!