Queer Asia community support screenings with Q&A

June - July 2020
Hosted by Queer Asia, LSE Spectrum, LSE EmbRace and Queer @ Kings

Online discussion series: "The Bisexual"

May - June 2020
Hosted by LSE Spectrum

Film screening: “Paris is Burning”

Friday 21 February 2020
Hosted by LSE Spectrum and LSE Embrace 

LGBT History Month lunch for staff

Tuesday 18 February 2020
Hosted by LSE Spectrum

Social Revolution: women's liberation and gay liberation in the 1970s and 80s

Monday 20 January to Friday 3 April 2020, Lunchtime tours 11 and 26 February
Hosted by LSE Spectrum, Allies Network and LSE Library 

Festive coffee morning for staff

Tuesday 17 December 2019
Hosted by LSE Spectrum

Welcome reception for staff

Wednesday 6 November 2019
Hosted by LSE Spectrum and the LSE LGBTQ+ Equality Steering Group

Anniversary of the Gay Liberation Front 

Monday 21 October 2019
Hosted by LSE Library and LSE Spectrum

The first meeting of the GLF was on LSE Campus on 21 October 1970. The GLF was formed as an international activist movement for the rights of LGBT people after the Stonewall Riots in New York in 1969. 49 years on from that first meeting, LSE Library and LSE Spectrum held a reception and private view of documents and memorabilia from the early years of the GLF.

Fighting Proud: The untold story of the gay men who served in two world words

Thursday 27 July 2017, 6.30pm – 7.30pm

Hosted by Spectrum, LSE Library and I B Tauris 

Speaker: Stephen Bourne

Chair: Dr Hakan Seckinelgin

Stephen Bourne talks about his latest book Fighting Proud, which explores some of the untold stories of the gay men who served in two world wars. These include Lord Kitchener, Battle of Britain hero Ian Gleed, writer Hector Bolitho, Police Constable Harry Daley, Noel Coward and bandleader Ken "Snakehips" Johnson.

Listen to the podcast of the event.

Rising through the Ranks: the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index and organisational change

Thursday 4 May 2017, 6.30pm – 8.00pm

Hosted by Spectrum and LSE's Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Taskforce

Speakers: Rob Childe, Claire Harvey, Jacqueline Newcombe and Rebecca Stinson

Chair: Dr Chris Thomas (Assistant Professor, Department of Law)

This event brought together professionals from across various sectors to address the impact of the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index on LGBT+ equality in the workplace and beyond.

Stonewall: then and now

Tuesday 14 March 2017, 6.30pm – 7.30pm

Hosted by LSE Library and Spectrum 

Speaker: Ruth Hunt

Chair: Julia Black

Ruth Hunt, Chief Executive of Stonewall, reflected on Stonewall’s history, the progress made and the work still to be done regarding equality for LGBT people with an emphasis on women.

The 1967 Act and Beyond: a tale of North and South

Wednesday 15 February 2017, 7pm – 9pm

LGBT History Month 2017 event hosted by Spectrum, LSE Library and Opening Doors London

Speaker: Peter Scott-Presland

Chair: Martin Reid

Peter Scott-Presland spoke about the real lives of gay people during the 1960s and 1970s. Peter was introduced by Jeffrey Weeks.

Listen to the podcast.

Pressing For Change: 25 years seeking trans equality

Tuesday 10 January 2017, 6.30pm – 7.30pm

Hosted by Spectrum and LSE Library

Speaker: Professor Stephen Whittle

Chair: Professor Hakan Seckinelgin

Trans activist Professor Stephen Whittle discussed trans equality in the UK: what worked, what didn't and what is left to be done? 

Listen to the podcast.

LSE staff networks summer reception

Monday 25 July, 4.30pm – 6pm

The event was an opportunity for members of all staff networks to network and socialise with each other, and for staff who are interested in joining any of the networks to come along and find out more in a relaxed environment.

Hosted by LSE’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion team, the networks taking part were:

Embrace – ethnic minorities broadening racial awareness and cultural exchange

LSE Power – professional women for equality and respect

Spectrum – representing and supporting LGBT+ staff

AUA – the professional body for HE professional services staff.

A Night at the Movies… "Lilting"

Wednesday 6 July 2016

Spectrum and Embrace film screening and discussion

Chair: James Deeley

Set in contemporary London, Lilting tells the story of a Cambodian-Chinese mother mourning the untimely death of her son. Her world is suddenly disrupted by the presence of a stranger. Though they don't share a common language, a translator helps piece together the memories of a man they both loved. Lilting is a touching film about unlikely connections and the tragedies that bring us together even though we may be worlds apart.

Gender and Sexual Diversity: inclusion and empowerment in the workplace

Wednesday 29 June 2016

LSE Power conference: resilience and confidence 

Facilitators: Tamara Ansons, James Deeley and Hayley Reed

Spectrum hosted a breakout session at the inaugural LSE Power conference. In this interactive session we explored how to champion an LGBT+ inclusive environment at work. 

Queering the African City: Johannesburg and Nairobi

Thursday 2 June 2016

LSE Cities and Spectrum public discussion

Speaker: Mark Gevisser (pictured)

Discussant: Andrew Van Der Vlies

Chair: Deborah James

Mark Gevisser is one of South Africa's most celebrated writers and journalists. Notable works include Defiant Desire: Gay and Lesbian Lives in South Africa (1994), co-edited with Edwin Cameron, and Thabo Mbeki: The Dream Deferred (2007). Mark will be reading sections from his recent work, Lost and Found in Johannesburg: a Memoir (2014), and 'Walking Girly in Nairobi', his contribution to a new anthology of African writing, entitled Safe House: Explorations in Creative Nonfiction (2016). 

A Night at the Movies... "The Celluloid Closet"

Tuesday 8 March 2016

Department of Media and Communications and Spectrum film screening and discussion

Chairs: Sarah Cefai and James Deeley

The Celluloid Closet is a 1995 film looking back at LGBT representation in film through the years. 

Not Yet Over the Rainbow

Tuesday 2 February 2016

LSE Law, Spectrum and LSESU LGBT+ Alliance public discussion

Speakers: Claire Fox, Sarah Hannett and Daniel Winterfeldt

Chair: Chris Thomas 

Drawing on a mix of personal experience and professional insight, speakers from the City, the bar and the bench discussedcontemporary barriers to the advancement of LGBT+ people in the legal profession and how those barriers may be overcome. 

A podcast and video of this LGBT History Month 2016 event are now available.

Blowing the Lid: Gay Liberation, Sexual Revolution and Radical Queens by Stuart Feather 

Tuesday 2 February 2016

Hosted by the Department of Social Policy and Spectrum

This LGBT History Month book launch featured the author, GLF veteran Stuart Feather, along with Daniel Monk and Hakan Seckinelgin. 

Kenya: the next milestone for LGBT+ rights?

Monday 23 November 2015, 6.30pm – 8pm

LSE Law, Human Dignity Trust, Kenyan National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission and Spectrum public conversation

Speakers: Eric Gitari (pictured) and Sandé Ligunya

Chair: Chris Thomas

The past few months have seen many historic developments in LGBT+ rights in Kenya. The Kenyan High Court recently held in Gitari v NGO Coordination Board that LGBT+ rights organisations must have their right to freedom of association recognised, and President Obama publicly called on the Kenyan government to treat LGBT people equally under the law. discussion of what these developments mean for LGBT+ people on the ground. 

Fighting Homophobia in Uganda: a conversation with Frank Mugisha

Wednesday 8 July 2015

LSE Law and Spectrum public conversation

Speakers: Frank Mugisha and Dr Rahul Rao

Chair: Chris Thomas

Rahul Rao interviewed Frank Mugisha, Executive Director of Sexual Minorities Uganda, about his experiences as a gay man and an LGBT activist in one of the most actively hostile nations towards LGBT people in the world. 

Listen to the podcast now.

A Little Gay History

23 February 2015

Spectrum public lecture

Speaker: Richard Parkinson

Chair: Sue Donnelly

Listen online now to A Little Gay History. Professor Richard Parkinson presents a ground-breaking LGBT history project by the British Museum, drawing on objects ranging from ancient Egyptian papyri to images by modern artists such as David Hockney and films such as James Ivory's Maurice, to discuss how and why museums should represent same-sex experiences as integral parts of world culture.

This event was part of LSE's Literary Festival  in LGBT History Month 2015. 

A Night at the Movies… "Paris is Burning" and "Talking Transgender"

February 2015

Spectrum film screening

Chair: James Deeley

Paris Is Burning is a 1990 American documentary film directed by Jennie Livingston. Filmed in the mid-to-late 1980s, it chronicles the ball culture of New York City and the African-American, Latino, gay, and transgender communities involved in it. The film is considered to be an invaluable documentary of the end of the "Golden Age" of New York City drag balls, and critics have praised it as a thoughtful exploration of race, class, gender, and sexuality in America. Running time: 76min approx.

Talking Transgender introduces a group of transgender individuals who candidly share their personal stores with compassion, honesty and humour, to widen knowledge, to increase understanding and to promote an awareness of transgender issues. Running time: 26min approx.

This event was held for LGBT History Month 2015.

Sex in the Archives: collecting and interpreting erotic materials

Monday 8 December 2014

LSE Gender Institute and Spectrum public lecture

Speaker: Terence Kissack

Chair and Respondent: Clare Hemmings

Many LGBTQ archives collect and make available erotic materials including magazines, ephemera, commercial and amateur photographs, personal writings, and objects such as sex toys and art.  What are the challenges of acquiring and cataloguing the historical traces of sexual desire? How do researchers interpret them and how can they be used in exhibits and other public history work? 

Mobilizing Gay Singapore: rights and resistance in an authoritarian state

Thursday 20 November 2014

Centre for the Study of Human Rights and Spectrum book launch

Speakers: Lynette J Chua, Nicholas Bamforth and Ernest Caldwell

Chair: Mara Malagodi

For decades, Singapore's gay activists have sought equality and justice in a state where law is used to stifle basic civil and political liberties. In Mobilizing Gay Singapore, Lynette Chua asks, what does a social movement look like in an authoritarian state? She takes an expansive view of the gay movement to examine its emergence, development, strategies, and tactics, as well as the roles of law and rights in social processes.

Chua tells this important story using in-depth interviews with gay activists, observations of the movement's activities, including "Pink Dot" events, where thousands of Singaporeans gather in annual celebrations of gay pride, movement documents, government statements, and media reports. She shows how activists deploy "pragmatic resistance" to gain visibility and support, tackle political norms that suppress dissent, and deal with police harassment, while avoiding direct confrontations with the law. 

Staying Out Late with Clare Summerskill

Wednesday 28 May 2014

Opening Doors London and Spectrum public lecture

Speaker: Clare Summerskill

Chair: James Deeley

Spectrum joined Opening Doors London to host Staying Out Late with Clare Summerskill about older LGBT people's thoughts and concerns about being Out and in care later in life, whether in residential homes or receiving care in their own home.

Reflections on the Impact of HIV and AIDS

26 February 2014

Spectrum public lecture

Speaker: Vernal Scott

Chair: Carolyn Solomon-Pryce

A talk by Vernal Scott, an out Christian gay dad, diversity and human rights consultant and HIV/AIDS activist with over twenty-five years of experience working on the full range of equality/diversity characteristics. This event was organised for LSE's 2014 Literary Festival in LGBT History Month. 

It's Ok to be Gay

26 February 2014

Spectrum public discussion

Speakers: Alice Arnold, Charlie Condou, Evan Davis, Stella Duffy, Claire Harvey and QBoy

Chair: Shelley Silas

The panel added their own coming out stories to a collective narrative which hopes to make the coming out experience a positive one for future generations. These stories and others are featured in Alison Stokes’ edited collection It’s OK to be Gay. This event was organised for LSE's 2014 Literary Festival in LGBT History Month. 

A Night at the Movies… "Bette Bourne: It Goes With The Shoes"

February 2014

Spectrum film screening

Spectrum held a screening of Bette Bourne: It Goes With The Shoes for LGBT History Month 2014, telling the story of gay rights icon Bette Bourne who took on the establishment with high heels and lipstick, playing a vital role in the fight for gay liberation during the 70s & 80s. Bette was also an original member of the Gay Liberation Front founded at LSE.

Pride and Propaganda: LGBT rights in Russia today

January 2014

LSE Law, Spectrum and the LSESU LGBT+ Alliance public discussion

Speakers: Jonathan Cooper, Kseniya Kirichenko and Peter Tatchell

Chair: Susan Marks

Spectrum joined the Department of Law and the Students' Union LGBTQ Alliance host a panel discussion Pride and Propaganda: LGBT rights in Russia today, to kick off LGBT History Month 2014.

Gateway To Heaven – Fifty Years of Lesbian and Gay Oral History with Clare Summerskill

February 2013

Spectrum public event

Speaker: Clare Summerskill

'Fifty Years of Lesbian and Gay Oral History' is a collection of stories about the lives of forty-six older lesbians and gay men and their experiences from the 1940s to the 1990s. Compiled by writer, alternative stand-up, actress and performer Clare Summerskill, the chapters address a range of subjects relating to personal, social and political history from the twentieth century.

This event was organised by Spectrum for LGBT History Month 2013.

When Gay People Get Married

Monday 26 November 2012

Gender Institute, Spectrum and LSESU LGBT+ Alliance public lecture

Speaker: M V Lee Badgett

Chair: Dr Wendy Sigle-Rushton

As the keynote public lecture for LSE Pride Week, M V Lee Badgett asked what happens in societies When Gay People Get Married. Badgett studies family policy issues and labor market discrimination based on sexual orientation, race, and gender, and is author and co-author of numerous journal articles and policy reports. With an introduction from LSE Director Craig Calhoun.

Out in the Archives

23 February 2012

Spectrum archives visit

Out in the Archives – a hands-on session examining historical sources in the Hall-Carpenter Archive at LSE.

A Night at the Movies… "Breaking the Surface, the Greg Louganis Story"

Wednesday 8 February 2012

Spectrum film screening

Louganis chronicles his winning of back-to-back double gold medals at the 1984 Summer Olympics and 1988 Summer Olympics, and his self-doubt and lack of confidence that held him back personally and professionally because of concealing his sexual orientation as a gay athlete. This is about him coming out as an HIV-positive gay man.

A Night at the Movies… "Training Rules"

16 February 2012

Spectrum film screening

Training Rules examines how women's collegiate sports, caught in a web of homophobic practices, collude in the destruction of the lives and dreams of many of its most talented athletes. It focuses on the women's basketball program at Pennsylvania State University under head coach Rene Portland and her policy of discrimination on her players based on their sexual orientation over a 30-year period as coach of the university's basketball program, particularly from the 1980s to the late 1990s.

A Night at the Movies..."Pictures of Zain" and "What You Looking At?"

3 November 2011

Spectrum film screening

Pictures of Zain tells the story of Tamanna, a Pakistani woman who embarks on a journey of self discovery after the death of her gay son; confronting her prejudices and making amends with his grieving lover on the way.

In What You Looking At? a woman in a burkha and a drag queen get trapped in a lift - and realise they have more in common than they thought.

International LGBT Rights Lunchtime Seminar / Discussion Group

10 November 2011 

Spectrum seminar and discussion

A short group meeting and lunchtime seminar to talk about topical developments in international LGBT rights. A discussion on what we in the UK can usefully do in this field, and also what the boundaries of our campaigning should be. Attendees were invited to have a look at the FCO LGBT Rights webpage and Jessica Geen's article in Pink News.

GLF at 40 conference and reception

Thursday 19 May 2011

Spectrum reception

As part of the Gay Liberation Front's 40th Anniversary Conference, organised by  LSE, Spectrum hosted a drinks reception.

Click on the following link for more information on the GLF at 40 Conference.

Dr Ashley Steel "Coming out in the workplace – does it help or hinder your career?"

Wednesday 25 May

Spectrum seminar

Speaker: Ashley Steel

Dr Ashley Steel is the City's most openly lesbian board member. She is senior partner for infrastructure and government at KPMG and has been a member of the KPMG board in the UK since 2003. She is the board sponsor on the issues of corporate social responsibility and sexual orientation. Dr Steel is also a member of KPMG's European board. She joined KPMG in 1985, having completed an MA in manpower strategy and a management PhD. She was based in San Francisco between 2001 and 2003 as part of the firm's global management for its technology practice and is also the global chairwoman for transport.

The event included a seminar presented by Ashley Steel, followed by questions and discussion and then informal networking.