LGBT+ History Month Archives - The Library Blog

Celebrating LGBT+ History Month

February is the month we celebrate LGBT+ History here in the UK. It is a month-long celebration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and non-binary history, including the history of LGBT+ rights and related civil rights movements. In the United Kingdom, we celebrate it in February to coincide with the 2003 abolition of Section 28.

What we are doing

Here at the Library, we think it is incredibly important to support and promote equality and diversity. Furthermore, we are working hard to create more inclusive collections and to support our LGBT+ users and staff. For example, we are currently creating a permanent LGBT+ virtual bookshelf here on our blog, and we are training our staff to be inclusive in their actions and the language they use.

Resources

If you are an LGBT+ student you can join Edinburgh Napier’s LGBT+ Society. You can also find out more about the student LGBT+ community on the Queer Napier site. Staff can join the University’s thriving LGBT+ Network or you can visit our web pages to learn more about becoming an ally.

In addition, The Library has a wealth of books and articles on the subject. From the history of LGBT+ rights to current Legal information to keep you informed. Use LibrarySearch to find what you are looking for, or contact us for help with any of your research needs.

Here are some items available through the Library to get you started:

Same-sex, different politics: success and failure in the struggles over gay rights

Lgbt Activism and the Making of Europe A Rainbow Europe

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people (LGBT) and the criminal justice system

Equality

Pride Parades and LGBT Movements: Political Participation in an International Comparative Perspective

Similarly, want to know more about Pride Month? Check out our article here.

Photo source: Photo by Jas Min on Unsplash

Alan Turing

To celebrate LGBT+ History Month, the library, in collaboration with Maths Plus, is looking at one of the many figures of the LGBT+ community who changed history. Alan Turing.

Alan Turing is one of the leading mathematicians of the 20th Century. He was a British mathematician and logician who has made major contributions to mathematics, cryptanalysis, logic, philosophy, and mathematical biology. He is responsible for breaking the Nazi Enigma code, helping win World War Two. Furthermore, his work would lead to the creation of the modern computer, and also creating visions for artificial intelligence. His most famous work is the paper published in1950 asking “can machines think?”.

In 1952, Turing was convicted of gross indecency under Section11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1885. As homosexuality between men was still a criminal offence at this time. Subsequently, he sadly took his own life not long after in1954. It wasn’t until 2009 that the British Government apologised for his treatment with then Primer Minister Gordon Brown saying, “You deserved so much better”. He was pardoned in 2013.

Genius, heroism, self-sacrifice: Alan Turing lived up to some of life’s highest virtues in serving his country, only for the British government to throw him under the bus due to contemporary attitudes about who it was okay to love. Turing’s story is a reminder that “being on the right side of history is about more than just winning a war. It means living up to the values we claim to defend” Source: radicalteatowel.co.uk

Maths Resources

Maths Plus sessions are held at Merchiston Library Monday-Thursday 2pm-4pm in Zone 2

LGBT+ Resources

For more information on how the Library is supporting the LGBT+ community, and for links to resources check out this article.

By Maya Green

Tag: LGBT+ History Month