Welcome to West Yorkshire Queer Stories

From Wetherby to Wakefield, Cleckheaton to Castleford, everyone has a memory worth sharing. From 2018-2020 West Yorkshire Queer Stories collected stories about LGBTIQ+ life, from the everyday to the extraordinary. We interviewed people from across the region to make sure that LGBTIQ+ voices were captured and conserved as part of local history.
'We have a history... We're not alone'
'We have a history... We're not alone'

We collected 200 stories from people of all ages and backgrounds, so you can hear Ian talking about Huddersfield’s famous Gemini Club in the 1980s, or Claye talking about setting up the Yorkshire trans choir in 2018. Lesbian motherhood, aversion therapy and intersex activism are just some of the topics we covered. So, dip into the clips or search for topics of interest to explore the rich history of LGBTIQ+ life in West Yorkshire. We hope you enjoy listening to the clips as much as we enjoyed recording them.

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'For the record...'

'For the record...'

Ajamu X talks about his upbringing in Huddersfield, his nights out in the area as a young queer black man, and his work and study on the subject of black/queer archiving.

Duration 13:11
The UK's first national trans conference

The UK's first national trans conference

A reading of the Yorkshire Post's report on the social event held at Leeds' Guildford Hotel to tie in with 'The First National TV/TS Conference' in March 1974.

Duration 04:30
Coming out as trans at school

Coming out as trans at school

Koban describes the process of coming out as a trans teenager, from identifying with people on TV to asking for a change of name on school records.

Duration 04:43
Coming out again and again

Coming out again and again

Gay couple Stuart and Mike talk about assumptions made by colleagues in the workplace, and how coming out is an ongoing process rather than a one-time deal.

Duration 02:16
Aversion therapy

Aversion therapy

Concerned about living a 'double life', Bill asked for 'treatment' for being gay from his doctor in the 1960s. He tried aversion therapy and describes what it involved.

Duration 02:12