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In pictures: Stonewall Housing opens archives for LGBTQ+ History Month
Launching amid the homophobia of 1980s Britain, Stonewall Housing has spent four decades supporting the LGBTQ+ community. Newly released photographs tell its fascinating history. Ella Jessel reports
Launching amid the homophobia of 1980s Britain, @Stonewallhousin has spent four decades supporting the LGBTQ+ community. Newly released photos tell its history #UKhousingStonewall Housing’s first home was set up in secret. The empty house in north London was transformed in 1983 to provide Fallout, a space specifically for queer people with nowhere else to go.
Places like this, which housed eight young people in Islington, were in huge demand because of the limited housing options for LGBTQ+ people, with many forced to rely on informal and often unsafe places such as squats.
But Fallout had to be established “under the radar”, as providing accommodation for young LGBTQ+ people was legally risky. The age of consent for gay men in the UK was 21, meaning its founders faced legal threats and police raids.
From these activist beginnings, the group adopted the name Stonewall Housing Association and eventually opened its first official hostel in 1986 provided by Islington Community Housing. Today the organisation runs a helpline, supported housing in London, Brighton and Eastbourne, and works with over 3,200 people every year.
Demand for its services is increasing, with the association receiving the highest number of referrals last year in its 41-year history. To mark LGBTQ+ History Month, Stonewall Housing has launched a new workshop series using its archive to explore LGBTQ+ history through the lens of housing, identity, and resilience.
In the 45-minute sessions, attendees can explore the intersections of LGBTQ+ identity and housing, learning about the resilience and determination that have shaped the organisation’s journey. Here are a few photographs from the archive.
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