[PAST EVENT]
Aberration online for LGBT+ History Month UK: talks, music, poetry & our cult quiz!
—BETWEEN THE LINES—
7pm to 9.30pm Fri 26 Feb 2021
Many thanks to our amazing contributors and audience for an intense night of talks, info, sharing, solidarity, poems, song, chat and quizzicality! Here are some links (in red) to find out more:
Check out the English translation of the verses recited by Rhys.
Jane Traies and Maggy Moyo talked about LISG (Lesbian Immigration Support Group) and their new book, Free to Be Me – mention Aberration to order your copy at a discount!
Chris Lee from the Romani Cultural and Arts Company in Cardiff told us about the new Gypsy, Roma and Traveller LGBTQI+ Spoken History Archive.
Cheryl Morgan has written a special blog post with more about the quest for Trans Celts.
Norena Shopland launched her new Welsh Pride timeline as an e-mag.
We heard music from Cerys Hafana whose new album Cwmwl is available now.
And watch this space for more about queering the museums of Cymru!
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These event details are here as part of our archive but the event has now passed.
Join us on a voyage through history, from antiquity to our own lifetimes! As we can’t manage to celebrate LGBT+ History Month and International Women’s Day separately this year in the Weird Times, we’re unashamedly biased towards women speakers for this special event.
Cheryl Morgan 
Norena Shopland 
Mark Etheridge
7pm CROESO / WELCOME from co-host Ruth Fowler, followed by…
Cheryl Morgan speaking on ‘Trans People in Celtic Britain’. This talk will look at the evidence for Gender Diversity in early Britain, from the Roman invasion through to the legends of King Arthur. Cheryl is a writer, critic and publisher with a strong interest in the history of trans people. She is co-chair of OutStories Bristol, and is a regular speaker on the LGBT+ History Month circuit. (In fact, that’s where we met her and first dreamed of inviting her to Aberration.)
7.30pm Norena Shopland launches her Welsh Pride timeline e-mag along with our co-host Jane Hoy. Norena has been an inspiration to the rest of us as we dig into the LGBTQ+ history of Wales. Now she’s about to make that history even more accessible with this new treasure trove. Norena is also the author of lively and informative books like Forbidden Lives: LGBT Stories from Wales. DOWNLOAD THE E-MAG NOW! https://www.rctpride.com/welsh-pride-timeline/
Mark Etheridge from St Fagans (National Museum of History, Amgueddfa Cymru) will tell us about his mission to queer up the archive. As curator of LGBTQ+ history, he is keen to include Mid Wales. As well as objects, documents and photographs, Mark is collecting oral histories.
Discussion: What would you put in a queer museum and why? Bring along your object and let’s chat in smaller groups (or just listen if you prefer).
Jane Traies 
Maggy Moyo 
Chris Lee
8pm Jane Traies is the editor of new book Free to Be Me: Refugee Stories – interviews with members of the Lesbian Immigration Support Group (LISG) in Manchester. Jane previously spoke to us about Now You See Me, her volume of oral history interviews with older lesbians. She has spent the last year working with LISG members (and our own Helen Sandler) to produce this moving and important new collection.
BOOK OFFER: Free to Be Me is out soon from Tollington Press. Mention Aberration for a £2 discount when you pre-order direct from Jane: nowyouseeme@btinternet.com (reduced to £10 + postage).
Maggy Moyo is a contributor to the book and will share a journey of self-discovery. Maggy fled from her highly conservative home country in Africa to the UK. The attitude of the authorities here to lesbian asylum seekers has caused further distress to herself and her friends in the Lesbian Immigration Support Group. Maggy is a tireless human rights campaigner and works for Right to Remain, campaigning to end immigration detention in the UK.
8.30pm The Romani Cultural and Arts Company in Cardiff recently launched their Gypsy, Roma and Traveller LGBTQI+ Spoken History Archive. Chris Lee will tell us about this exciting collection of interviews and the social movement behind it. Chris is a community champion and researcher at the company, and conducted the oral history project with Isaac Blake and Daniel Baker. In 2019 she spoke at the Senedd at the first GRT LGBTQI+ conference in the UK.
9pm Ruth Fowler presents her cult quiz: ‘Who Wants to Win Three Quid When This Is All Over?’ with a special queer history focus.
9.20pm Jane Hoy then presents ‘Out In Aber’ – our contribution to the new Amgueddfa Ceredigion Museum virtual tour:
Rosie Collins, a retired top international scientist, and Sara McAleese, a very short midwife from Somerset, together founded the mythical ‘Wrecked@TheBoatClub’. This monthly night out for all kinds of queer women, in a dilapidated old building on Aberystwyth harbour, is now memorialised on audio.
Followed by ‘Lesberados’ lyrics from our previous oral history workshop about Wrecked – now put to music by talented musician Cerys Hafana.
+ MORE:
Interludes: favourite tracks for you to sing along or have a bop.
Queer poems from Wales: read by Rhys Lewis.
Closing toast around 9.30pm
Suggested ticket donation between £1 and £5 (goes towards event costs). This is an online event. Book one ticket per device, eg if two of you are watching on one laptop, book one ticket. Zoom link will be sent to you on the day. Above timings are approximate.
~ Spirit of Aberration ~
Come along in the spirit of Aberration – queer arts, activism, community and diversity. We are (of course) trans-inclusive and anti-racist. You are welcome whether you are lesbian, gay or bi, trans, genderqueer or non-binary, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual… or an open-minded ally! Yes that absolutely includes straight friends 🙂 so stop wondering and come along!
