MILITARY PRIDE : IWM North needs your stories
The multi-award winning Imperial War Museum North
in Manchester would like people from the lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender communities who have served or who are serving in
the Armed Forces to contact them about a new photographic display
as soon as possible.
Military Pride (which will run from 12 July – 12 October
2008) will be a small but powerful display which reveals via portrait
photography and personal testimony the experiences of lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender people within the context of conflict,
war and military service. Military Pride will also detail historical
context and a timeline of post 1945 legislature and policies within
the Armed Forces and is timed to connect with the Manchester Pride
Festival.
Organisers would love to hear from those who would like to share
their experiences with the possibility that your story may be part
of the final display of around 10 personal testimonies which reflect
how war and conflict have shaped people in the LGBT communities’ lives
from 1945 to the present day. As well as reflecting adversity
the display will aim to celebrate the achievements and reflect the
positive contributions of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
communities to the Armed Forces and examine how experiences may
have changed since 1945.
Catherine Roberts, Visitor Programmes Manager, Imperial War Museum
North says:
“The experience of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, within
the context of conflict, war and military service, is arguably still a largely
hidden history. With your help hopefully we can make a step towards helping
to reveal and celebrate it. We look forward to hearing from people as soon
as possible – we are hoping to finalise content by the end of March.”
To find out how you can get involved or for more information please
contact Catherine Roberts (0161 836 4062 croberts@iwm.org.uk)
or James McSharry (0161 836 4099 jmcsharry@iwm.org.uk) at Imperial
War Museum North.
Imperial War Museum North has a 3-year history of delivering tours
and events relating to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender experience
in war and conflict from the First World War to the present day,
reflecting the Museum’s focus on how war has shaped and continues
to shape peoples lives.
The Imperial War Museum is the national museum of the experiences
of people who have lived, fought and died in conflicts involving
Britain and the Commonwealth since 1914. The Museum continues to
gather the testimony of those whose lives have been shaped by war.
The Imperial War Museum is the museum of everyone’s story:
the history of modern war and people’s experience of war and
wartime life in Britain and the Commonwealth. It is an educational
and historical institution responsible for archives, collections
and sites of outstanding national importance.
 The Museum’s five branches include Imperial War Museum London
which houses the award-winning Holocaust Exhibition; the Second
World War cruiser HMS Belfast; the Churchill Museum and Cabinet
War Rooms, housed in Churchill’s secret headquarters below
Whitehall; Imperial War Museum Duxford, a world-renowned aviation
and heritage complex, and Imperial War Museum North, one of the
most talked-about new Museums in the UK.
To view a timeline on equal rights in the armed forces from 1955
onwards see www.proud2serve.net/lifestyle/theroadtoequality.htm.
Imperial War Museum North
Open 7 days a week from 10am - 6pm (Nov to Feb 10am - 5pm) with
free admission
The Quays, Trafford Wharf Road, Trafford Park, Manchester M17 1TZ
(close to Harbour City Metrolink and Junction 9 of the M60)
T: 0161 836 4000 E:iwmnorth@iwm.org.uk
http://www.iwm.org.uk |
