Sharing our project at Newham Council

In February, we were invited to take part in a staff event at Newham Council, held with the Council’s Race Equality, Women’s and LGBT+ Staff Forums.

The afternoon centred on a conversation about belonging – the historical exclusion of marginalised people from mainstream LGBT+ spaces, where things stand now, and the particular challenges of being queer and from a marginalised background. It also marked the launch of Desi Queers: LGBTQ+ South Asians and Cultural Belonging in Britain, with its author Rohit K. Dasgupta in conversation. We set up a Footprints of Love pop-up alongside it, inviting LGBT+ council staff to share their own stories and memories of Newham with us.

It was a reminder that this history isn’t only in the past or in our archives – it’s carried by people working across the borough right now, often without anyone having thought to ask.