Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Justin Bengry @justinbengry.bsky.social · 9d

Join me 4 Nov at Senate House for History Day. This year I'm delighted to be working with the IHR to include a Queer History Trail and have a Queer Zine workshop at History Day 2025.

Come say Hi and check out the amazing historical work being done around the UK.

www.history.ac.uk/news.../even...

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Justin Bengry @justinbengry.bsky.social · Jul 27

A delight to be interviewed by Elisha Pearce for this great piece on rainbow capitalism for Voice Magazine. I'm even happier that it's a publication for young people, engaging with issues that affect them too.

www.voicemag.uk/blog/15421/p...

Pride Month for Profit: Investigating the rise and retreat of rainbow capitalism

In Pride Month, brands are quick to sport corporate rainbow logos and invent lucrative products. What is this clever marketing scheme, and how can brands show genuine support for the queer community a...

www.voicemag.uk

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Justin Bengry @justinbengry.bsky.social · Jul 17

Very pleased to see David Roberts' We Are Your Children: A History of LGBTQ+ Activism published by @twohootsbooks.bsky.social

It was a delight to consult on the book & great now to see that the other consultant was @paulaakpan.bsky.social Good company indeed!

www.panmacmillan.com/authors/davi...

We Are Your Children by David Roberts

Find out more about We Are Your Children by David Roberts

www.panmacmillan.com

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Justin Bengry @justinbengry.bsky.social · Jul 13

@historyworkshop.org.uk is seeking to appoint two Editorial Fellows for the period October 2025 to September 2027. This is a paid, part-time role that supports early career historians to develop expertise in public, radical and digital history.

www.historyworkshop.org.uk/article/hist...

Call for Applications: Editorial Fellowships at History Workshop, 2025

History Workshop is advertising two part-time, paid Editorial Fellowships in 2025, open to early career historians.

www.historyworkshop.org.uk

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Justin Bengry @justinbengry.bsky.social · Jun 25

Delighted to be interviewed (in such stellar company with Lillian Faderman) on 'lavender marriages' for Parade magazine.

parade.com/living/laven...

What Is a 'Lavender Marriage,' Exactly?

Plus, where it gets its name.

parade.com

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Reposted by Justin Bengry

DeclanKavanagh.bsky.social @drdeclankavanagh.bsky.social · May 13

Great to see NOTCHES on Bluesky. Get following!

Justin Bengry @justinbengry.bsky.social · May 13

NOTCHES is a collaborative and international history of sexuality blog that aims to get people inside and outside the academy thinking about sexuality in the past and in the present. We’ve left Twitter so do follow NOTCHES on Bluesky at @notchesblog.bsky.social

Please share widely!

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Justin Bengry @justinbengry.bsky.social · May 13

NOTCHES is a collaborative and international history of sexuality blog that aims to get people inside and outside the academy thinking about sexuality in the past and in the present. We’ve left Twitter so do follow NOTCHES on Bluesky at @notchesblog.bsky.social

Please share widely!

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Reposted by Justin Bengry

Chris(tyn) Parkes @parkesland.bsky.social · May 1

OPEN LETTER: HISTORIANS FOR TRANS RIGHTS

Are you a historian in the UK or working on UK history fed up at seeing the history of LGBTQIA+ discrimination repeat itself? Sign this open letter to MPs demanding they stand up for trans rights now!

Letter: tinyurl.com/879vuver
Sign: tinyurl.com/4p7wktrn

Historians for Trans Rights - Open Letter to MPs

In light of the recent and incessant attacks on the trans community in the UK by the UK government and legal system, a group of UK-based historians have drafted the letter linked below. Our aim is to ...

tinyurl.com

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Reposted by Justin Bengry

NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · Apr 29

Following two illuminating articles on nightclub Taboo and iconic doorman Marc Vaultier, today we bring you a new post: “Would You Let Yourself In?” Reflections on Marc Vaultier’s Mirror by Stephen Brogan.

Read it here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Ni

#QueerHistory #HistSex #HistoryofSexuality

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“Would You Let Yourself In?” Reflections on Marc Vaultier’s Mirror

The often-repeated, shady story of how Marc Vaultier turned away people from Taboo’s door turns out to be apocryphal.

wp.me

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Justin Bengry @justinbengry.bsky.social · Apr 28

The NOTCHES history of sexuality blog is now on Bluesky @notchesblog.bsky.social

Please follow and share widely!

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Reposted by Justin Bengry

NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · Apr 24

Today is #ThrowbackThursday but, before we get into it, we believe it is important to highlight NOTCHES' ongoing support for the trans community and our commitment to trans scholarship.

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Reposted by Justin Bengry

QueerAF @wearequeeraf.com · Apr 25

🏳️‍⚧️ How to tell our history stories, so we learn from them

At this critical moment, how can we tell stories of @transhistoryweek.bsky.social and apply the lessons from them to today’s fight?

🧵👇

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Justin Bengry @justinbengry.bsky.social · Apr 17

@onnigust.bsky.social @jameyj.bsky.social Have you seen this? You might be better placed to share it with people working in these areas.

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Justin Bengry @justinbengry.bsky.social · Apr 17

Call for Papers: Queering the Tensions of Empire (edited collection)

Abstracts of 500 words and a brief CV (2 pages, single-spaced) to be submitted by 31 May 2025. Complete essays by 1 January 2026.

More info and submission info: networks.h-net.org/group/announ...

Call for Papers: Queering the Tensions of Empire | H-Net

Call for Papers: Queering the Tensions of Empire (edited collection)Beginning in the late 20th century, scholars influenced by postcolonial and feminist theory and social and cultural history began to...

networks.h-net.org

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Reposted by Justin Bengry

Trans+ History Week @transhistoryweek.com · Apr 1

Tickets to our big community event in LDN are now on sale and we'd love to see you there.

Show up for our history. Stand up for our future.

Join us on the evening of the 6th of May for and evening in community and in celebration of our history at a time when we're facing down efforts to erase it.

Image reads 'celebrate with us' tickets now on sale for Trans+ History Week's community event. Images of Marty Davies founder of Trans+ History Week and Jamie Wareham who is the Founder of QueerAF

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Justin Bengry @justinbengry.bsky.social · Mar 25

It was lovely to meet you. Thanks for coming!

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Justin Bengry @justinbengry.bsky.social · Mar 5

Call for Participants: "I am looking to talk with LGBTQ+ identifying performance makers (of all disciplines) who were educated in England, Scotland or Wales during the span of the legislation (1988 – 2003)."

queerdramaturgy.uk/participant-...

Fabulations

Part archival visit, research interview and creative workshop FABULATIONS is a one-to-one performance that archives the unrecorded experiences of Section 28 for LGBTQ+ youth, 1988 – 2003. The…

queerdramaturgy.uk

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Reposted by Justin Bengry

Feminist Gender Equality Network @networkgender.bsky.social · Feb 20

The Feminist Gender Equality Network (FGEN) invites submissions for a special one-day conference Trans Liberation Now!

The Trans Liberation Now! conference will be held on Midsummer’s Day, 21st June 2025, in Bush House, Campus of King’s College London. feministgenderequality.network/conference-2...

Conference 2025 - Trans Liberation Now - Call for Papers - Feminist Gender Equality Network

The Feminist Gender Equality Network (FGEN) invites submissions for a special one-day conference Trans Liberation Now! The Trans Liberation Now! conference will be held on Midsummer’s Day, 21st June 2...

feministgenderequality.network

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Justin Bengry @justinbengry.bsky.social · Feb 27

London's most recent rainbow plaque has been unveiled honouring Lesbian activist Jackie Forster. It's an honour to be part of the Advisory Board for London's Rainbow Plaques.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Rainbow plaque to be unveiled at former home of Jackie Forster

Forster's activism is to be commemorated with a special plaque with rainbow stripes round it.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Justin Bengry @justinbengry.bsky.social · Feb 27

Have a listen to Criminally Queer a podcast from @hughsheehan.bsky.social and BBC Sounds about the Bolton 7, a group of men criminalised in the late 1990s for consensual sex. It was a pleasure talking to Hugh and being a part of sharing this important history.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...

BBC Sounds - Criminally Queer: The Bolton 7, Welcome to Criminally Queer: The Bolton 7

Hugh Sheehan explores how a landmark legal case changed the lives of seven men forever.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Justin Bengry @justinbengry.bsky.social · Feb 17

My reflections on the importance of queer history, published this week in The Big Issue, have become even more relevant since I submitted the piece just a couple weeks ago. Read it here:
www.bigissue.com/opinion/lgbt...

Our history is way queerer than you think – here's why that matters

For LGBT+ History Month, Justin Bengry explains how understanding our queer history can help combat rising homophobia and transphobia.

www.bigissue.com

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Reposted by Justin Bengry

Julia Laite @julialaite.bsky.social · Feb 14

Johnson, DeLarverie, Griffin-Garcy: you can take these gender non-conforming and trans leaders off a website but you will never take their names from people's mouths or their bricks from people's hands.

ACLU @aclu.org · Feb 14

Erasing our history won't erase us.

Transgender people have always been here — and we always will be.

U.S. Park Service Strikes Transgender References From Stonewall Website

The “T” was removed in references to L.G.B.T.Q.+ on the official site for the Greenwich Village monument, which marks a milestone in the fight for gay rights. Later, the Q+ also disappeared.

www.nytimes.com

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Justin Bengry @justinbengry.bsky.social · Feb 12

CALL FOR PROPOSALS
Conference | 6 – 7 June 2025 | University College London

Legacies of Section 28: a two-day event exploring the history and legacy of Section 28 of the Local Government Act, 1988.

DEADLINE EXTENDED to the end of February

royalhistsoc.org/calendar/leg...

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Justin Bengry @justinbengry.bsky.social · Jan 17

Quoted today in a good piece about lavender marriages and precarity in Cosmo. Have a look: www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/a63...

TikTokers Are Offering Their Hand in Lavender Marriage

An old-fashioned ruse is having a renaissance—but with a uniquely 2020s twist.

www.cosmopolitan.com

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Justin Bengry @justinbengry.bsky.social · Dec 10

Delighted that we could feature these amazing, newly translated, 19th-century sources on Russian trans history at the NOTCHES blog.

Huge thanks to @cherylmorgan.bsky.social, Margarita Vaysman and their collaborators for sharing their important work with us.

notchesblog.com/2024/12/10/a...

Aleksandr Aleksandrov: New Sources in Nineteenth-Century Russian Trans Life-Writing

Aleksandr Aleksandrov (1783-1866) was a Russian-Ukrainian hero of the Napoleonic wars and a celebrated trans author.

notchesblog.com

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