Studio Voltaire announces new Rainbow Plaques- London LGBT+ Forums’ Network and Studio Voltaire announce five new Rainbow Plaques, serving as a permanent homage to queer communities across London.
Supported by The Mayor of London’s Untold Stories Fund and Wandsworth Oasis, five new Rainbow Plaques will be unveiled, dedicated to people, places, culture and significant moments that have been obscured or lost in LGBTQIA+ histories.
London is a beacon of inclusion and diversity around the world, but we still have work to do to ensure that our public spaces fully reflect the many different communities that make up our great city. As we look ahead to our capital’s Pride celebrations this weekend, I’m delighted to announce that five new rainbow plaques will be installed across our capital in honour of significant people, places and moments in LGBTQIA+ history. These plaques are a symbol of the enormous contribution that our LGBTQIA+ communities make to all our lives and I hope to see many more installed in the future as we build a fairer, more equal city for everyone.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan
Initiated in 2018, Rainbow Plaques is an ongoing national scheme highlighting the importance of intersectional LGBTQIA+ visibility in our streets and public spaces. While there have been significant advances in the rights of LGBTQIA+ people, many individuals and communities continue to experience discrimination and hostility. At a time of heightened tensions, increased transphobia, hate crime and targeted budget cuts to community services, this programme works to honour the histories and legacies of influential LGBTQIA+ figures and their associated spaces, stories and culture.
Suggestions for the new plaques were crowdsourced by a group of more than one hundred people who took part in consultation workshops and rigorous discussions alongside an advisory panel including Dr Justin Bengry (MA Queer History course convenor at Goldsmiths, University of London), Fisch (Performer and Activist), Tessa Havers-Strong (Director of Forum +), Juliet Jacques (Writer and Filmmaker), Nathan Lewis (Programme and Partnerships Manager of Black Thrive & Chair of Southwark LGBT Network), DJ Ritu (DJ, Broadcaster, Producer) and Marc Thompson (Curator and Activist).
The five new Rainbow Plaques will be dedicated to:
Beautiful Thing, Greenwich
Written by Jonathan Harvey and directed by Hettie Macdonald, Beautiful Thing (1996) is an important queer cinema classic with its representations of coming out and coming-of-age within South East London’s working-class communities. The story is set and filmed in Thamesmead and Greenwich, and the Rainbow Plaque will mark a key scene filmed at The Gloucester pub, known today as The Greenwich Tavern. The first plaque in this new series will be unveiled on Sunday 23 July 2023, alongside a special screening and Q&A with the film’s cast and crew at Greenwich Picturehouse, supported by Film4.
I am so touched that the film is being commemorated in this way. As filmed in that pub on a blazing hot day nearly thirty years ago, little did we know that the film would still be touching people (appropriately) today.
Jonathan Harvey
Black Lesbian and Gay Centre, Peckham
Originally established in Haringey in 1985, the Black Lesbian and Gay Centre project found a permanent home in a converted railway arch in Peckham in 1992. Whilst local to London, the project reached people far beyond, providing advice, counselling, a helpline and library. The centre was the first of its kind in Europe and serves as an essential inspiration for queer communities today.
We are delighted that the Black Lesbian and Gay Centre will receive this recognition. Dr Helen Deane was the last Chair and Management Committee member of the BLGC at a time when the centre faced severe funding cuts. With the closure of the premises, she moved the helpline to her home to ensure this critical resource continued to serve the community. Veronica Mckenzie attended the Friday group, and was involved in early discussions about the need for a dedicated space for the black community. She later documented the journey to establish the first Black Lesbian and Gay Centre in her film Under Your Nose.
Dr Helen Deane (former Chair of the Black Lesbian and Gay Centre) and Veronica Mckenzie, Filmmaker (Director of Under Your Nose), Plaque Recipients
Jackie Forster, Westminster
In the 1960s, journalist, writer and Lesbian Rights activist Jackie Forster (1926–1998) joined the Minorities Research Group and wrote for the UK’s first lesbian publication Arena Three. She later set up the long-running magazine and social group, Sappho. Sappho was hugely influential, offering a safe forum for women marginalised by society and working at the intersection of the Women’s Liberation Movement and the Gay Liberation Front.
London Lighthouse, Ladbroke Grove
Founded in 1986, the London Lighthouse was a pioneering centre and hospice for people with HIV and AIDS. It offered an innovative model of residential and daycare for adults and children, offering respite for people marginalised or abandoned following their diagnosis. Princess Diana first visited in 1989 and often went unannounced to talk with patients.
Section 28, Haringey
In the 1980s, Haringey was at the forefront of the LGBTQIA+ rights movement. In 1986, the council set up the Lesbian and Gay Unit, among the first of its kind in the UK. In the same year, the group Positive Images was formed to increase lesbian and gay visibility. Haringey Civic Centre became a site of numerous protests in the struggle for equality.
The Rainbow Plaques programme was established in 2018 by York Civic Trust and the York LGBT Forum to honour lesbian diarist Anne Lister (1791–1840). The programme builds upon existing work established by Wandsworth LGBTQ+ Forum and Studio Voltaire in creating permanent plaques for Oscar Wilde at Clapham Junction Station in 2019, and the 1980s film classic, My Beautiful Laundrette, on Wilcox Road in 2021.
These five new plaques demonstrate a wider ambition to grow the Rainbow Plaques programme across the UK, and to inspire communities to share their nominations, spark important conversations and make more queer history visible in the public realm.
We are delighted to expand our partnership with London LGBT+ Forum’s Network with the support of The Mayor’s Office to realise an unprecedented number of Rainbow Plaques across the capital. While there have been significant advances in the rights of LGBTQIA+ people, many individuals and communities continue to experience significant discrimination and hostility. It is vitally important to commemorate and celebrate key moments in LGBTQIA+ histories. We are extremely grateful to all who have supported and participated in the project and look forward to unveiling them to the people of London and beyond.
Joe Scotland, Director of Studio Voltaire,
About London LGBT+ Forums’ Network The London LGBT+ Forums Network is a collection of individual LGBTQIA+ forums, Prides and borough-based community groups from across Greater London. They exist to tackle issues of inequality within the public services and to be a voice for their members and LGBTQ+ residents as well as deliver projects that celebrate our shared culture and heritage.
