Join us to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the UK Gay Liberation Front (GLF) that had its first meeting on LSE's campus in October 1970. The GLF was formed as an international activist movement for the liberation of LGBT people after the Stonewall Riots in New York in 1969. The event will look back at its founding and early history and examine what progress has been made since and what learnings we can apply to the challenges the LGBTQ+ community faces today.

Part of the event will include a short presentation from LSE’s archives that will be given by Dr Gillian Murphy, the Curator for Equality, Rights and Citizenship at LSE Library.

Jacob Breslow (@jlbreslow) is Assistant Professor of Sexuality and Gender at the LSE Department of Gender Studies. He is author of Ambivalent Childhoods: Speculative Futures and the Psychic Life of the Child, forthcoming with the University of Minnesota Press (2021). His research is published in Comparative American Studies (2020), American Quarterly (2019), Porn Studies (2018), and Transgender Studies Quarterly (2017).

Angela Mason is Labour councillor for Cantelowes ward and Camden’s Cabinet Member for Best Start for Children and Families, a founder member of the Gay Liberation Front, and Executive Director Stonewall 1992-2002. Angela is an alumnus of LSE and was made an Honorary Fellow of the School in 2011.

Gillian Murphy (@_gillianmurphy) is the Curator for Equality, Rights and Citizenship at LSE Library. She moved to LSE with the Women’s Library in 2013, where she had worked as an archivist for many years. Gillian promotes the Women’s Library collection and the Hall-Carpenter Archives through exhibitions, talks, blogs and workshops.

Jeffrey Weeks joined LSE as a research assistant in October 1970, and a few weeks later he got involved in GLF, taking part in the first demo in Highbury Fields in November. Involvement on the gay liberation movement changed his life. In the 1970s he was a pioneer of LGBT history, writing an account of the emergence of the movement, Coming Out. This was the first of many books on the history and sociology of LGBT life in particular and sexuality in general. His most recent book is a memoir, Between Worlds: A Queer Boy from the Valleys, to be published early in 2021 by Parthian. After 7 years at LSE, he worked in various universities until he joined London South Bank University in 1994, as Professor of Sociology. He subsequently held senior positions there as head of school, executive dean, and university director of research. He is now Emeritus Professor at LSBU. He has received various honours for his work, including the OBE in 2012, and the Gold medal of the World Association of Sexology in 2018.

Minouche Shafik, Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science, will deliver welcoming remarks at this celebration.

Rishi Madlani (@RishiMadlani) is Head of Sustainable Finance and Just Transition for the NatWest Group and is the Global Co-Chair of their Rainbow Network, the staff network for LGBT staff and allies. Outside the office, Rishi helped establish Foxes Pride, the LGBT supporters association for Leicester City Football Club and is the Campaigns Officer for Pride in Football, the umbrella group of LGBT+ fan groups. Rishi serves as an elected Councillor in Camden and has been appointed the Borough LGBT+ Champion. Rishi is an LSE alumnus and former General Secretary of the LSE Students’ Union. Rishi serves as the alumni representative of LSE’s LGBTQ+ Steering Group, having recently retired from LSE's Court of Governors.

Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEGLF

Podcast & Video

A podcast of this event is available to download from 50 Years on From the Founding of the Gay Liberation Front: progress made since and applicability today.

A video of this event is available to watch at 50 Years on From the Founding of the Gay Liberation Front: progress made since and applicability today.

Podcasts and videos of many LSE events can be found at the LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel.