For many, Islington is seen as a diverse place which stands on the shoulders of a rich history. In 2017, Islington council set up Islington’s Pride, an initiative that pledged to “give a voice to the lives of ordinary LGBT+ people of the borough, to allow them to tell their stories or record their struggles over the years for equality, freedom and liberty”.
Islington’s Pride is an initiative that strives to support, celebrate and preserve LGBT+ history in the borough. Supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the project focuses on archiving and sharing material relevant to the LGBT+ community in Islington.
Over three years later, the initiative continues to gain momentum. Seán McGovern, the LGBT+ heritage project manager at Islington’s Pride, believes this work is more important now than ever.
“Our heritage work celebrates the people you’ve heard of, but also the ones you have not […] heritage can be anything from the home of a historic lesbian Egyptologist, to the former premises of a legendary afterhours club,” he says.
Seán is dedicated to telling the story of Islington’s colourful, radical history. For him, the borough owes a great deal to the many brave voices that went before: “I think of figures like Mayor Bob Crossman, the first openly gay mayor in the UK, or the very first Gay Liberation Front demo in Highbury Fields in 1970. Islington is a borough full of firsts.”
Sharing history in an accessible, engaging way is key to Islington’s Pride ethos. At present, Seán and his team are developing an interactive heritage map of Islington designed by Humap, featuring over 150 locations of significance to the LGBT+ community.
“It’s designed to be something people can use at home on their computers, and eventually something to do out and about on the street,” Seán says. “We will be installing 50 plaques with QR codes to learn about just some of Islington’s rich history.” The project will launch in April.
Islington Now support to Central Station Bar
At Islington Now, we have pledged our support to save Central Station Bar, Islington’s oldest surviving LGBT+ venue. Owners Duncan and Martin have hopes to raise £70,000 to keep the bar alive.
This is a cause Seán is also behind. “Central Station is an Islington institution and beloved across London,” he says. “We are especially indebted to Duncan and Martin because they donated a whole treasure trove of items to our archive.
“Central Station caters for every letter on the LGBTQ+ spectrum. We lament queer spaces when they are gone, but this one is still here. Let’s keep it that way.”
Over the past decade, queer venues across the UK have struggled to stay afloat. Between 2006 and 2017, more than half of these spaces closed in the UK, and the pandemic has only intensified the struggle.
In September, the Mayor of London gave an additional £130,000 worth of extra grants to support LGBT+ pubs and bars in the capital, but many continue to slip through the net.
For Seán, these spaces represent what it means to be truly yourself, free of judgement or danger. “We are a diverse community who have different lives and experiences, but we come together in spaces to feel safe, social and not to be judged,” he says.
“When I go into a gay bar, I often feel a sense of relief because I can be exactly who I am without any explanation. Plus, let’s be honest, they are the most fun bars around.”
At Islington’s Pride, Seán and his team are recalibrating history’s focus and telling stories we should already know by heart. While looking to the past, this history forces us to look to a future Islington which represents us all.
“You can’t know how to change the future if you don’t know your past. Every LGBTQ+ person has a right to be themselves and feel part of the community. The best way to do that is to know your history, and here in Islington’s local community is the place to start.”
