February is LGBT+ History Month 2022
https://lgbtplushistorymonth.co.uk
This year’s theme is Politics In Art: ‘The Arc Is Long’ taken from Dr Martin Luther King jnr’s quote “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice”. The community has faced many setbacks over the years and is still striving for full equality. LGBT+ History Month is all about ‘claiming our past, celebrating our present, creating our future’ so when we celebrate it, we should always be mindful that celebration of successes is always situated within the context of ongoing discrimination. There is a continuing fight for equality which needs to be acknowledged. LGBT+ History Month should not be just a performative gesture with a few rainbows and a tweet saying ‘Happy LGBT+ History Month’.
We should also consider the varying experiences and discrimination across the world for community members, some of whom have to hide their gender identity or sexual orientation. Simply being who you are continues to be justification for serious human rights violations around the world. Same-sex sexual activity is a crime in 72 countries, and is punished by death in 8 countries, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen. Some countries only criminalize sex between men but more and more countries have expanded their laws to include bisexual and lesbian women.
Prejudices and misconceptions about homosexuality and transgender people, usually stemming from fear, ignorance, or religious dogma, further fuel intolerant attitudes and behaviour towards this community. View the Stonewall website to discover more about the facts and figures around discrimination in the UK and abroad https://www.stonewall.org.uk/media/lgbt-facts-and-figures
Over the month of February, the University of Lincoln Library will be blogging and sharing resources on social media:
Library
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LibraryUoL
Instagram: instagram.com/uollibrary
Subject Librarians