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The University of Southampton
Humanities

'Southampton's Hidden Past and Present: An Oral History of the Gay Community' Event

Date:
7 - 11 May 2013
Venue:
South Corridor Avenue Campus University of Southampton SO17 1BF

For more information regarding this event, please email Sebastian Buckle at scb103@southampton.ac.uk .

Event details

Postgraduate Project Exhibition

This project explored how gay men and lesbians experienced and understood life in the city of Southampton both in the past and the present.

Supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council's Cultural Engagement Fund, the project was required to help support the University's engagement with the wider cultural and civic context of Southampton.  It has produced 18 interviews which have been deposited at the Southampton City Archive as part of their oral history collection for use by future researchers. The interviews have highlighted a series of common experiences and concerns which are explored in this exhibition.
 
18 people have been interviewed. 13 male and 5 female. The ages of the men range from 18 to 69, while the ages of the women range from 18 to 66. Requests for interviewees were posted online, in bars, on flyers, and through word of mouth.
Interviewees were asked to speak about their experiences of living in Southampton as a gay man or woman. They spoke about a range of topics including the social scene, dating, friendship, comparisons with other towns and cities, politics, religion, family, community, safety, and negotiating their sexuality and sexual identity.

After completing his postdoc project Sebastian Buckle (History postgraduate student and University of Southampton alumnus) has produced a small display that will be available to view in the South Corridor of Avenue Campus and also in the Library at Southampton Civic Centre.

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