Hearing our Stories: LGBTQ+ Lives and the BBC
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Westminster
Department Name: Westminster Sch of Media & Communication
Abstract
While the Channel 4 drama It's A Sin has demonstrated profound awarenss in the generation of LGBTQ+ people affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, there's a need to situate momentous periods likes this from the LGBTQ+ timeline within the wider context of how LGBTQ+ lives have been reflected and represented for successive generations from the 1970s (as the watershed period after the partial decriminalisation of gay male sex in 1967) to the 2000s.
Hearing our Stories: LGBTQ+ Lives and the BBC is a public engagement project which enables us to learn how BBC coverage of LGBTQ+ people and issues has been viewed and understood by the LGBTQ+ audience, and what impact the BBC has had in representing queer lives and framing debates.
In partnership with the BBC, the PI will conduct research in the BBC archives to identify materials which illustrate and illuminate our understanding of the way BBC output (primarily drawn from news and current affairs) that foregrounds personal stories and experiences of ordinary LGBTQ+ people, for two demographic generations: those whose formative years covered the 1970s - early 1990s, and those who have grown up since the Millennium.
For the generation age 55 years and above, research will focus on key events from the LGBTQ+ timeline such as the emergence of the Gay Liberation Movement (1970s); Section 28 (1980s); and the HIV/AIDS pandemic (1980s-90s). The themes that are likely to emerge from this period will include visibility and marginalisation, community participation and activism, the formation of identity and tensions between sexual liberation and continuing legislative inequality.
The narrative from the generation born and growing up during the Millennial years will focus on events such as the equalisation of the age of consent, the introduction of civil partnership and same sex marriage and trans visibility. The emerging themes will highlight tensions around heteronormativity and assimilation, the broadening of sexual and sexuality identities as reflected by the LGBTQ+ acronym and the visibility of trans rights within these communities.
The BBC archive materials are used to create an audio/visual presentation, spotlighting LGBTQ+ interviewees and contributors, to illustrate the narrative arc that frames these two periods in LGBTQ+ history and extrapolate the key themes.
This presentation becomes the focus and stimulus for public engagement with two partners who work with LGBTQ+ communities. These partnerships will enable engagement with participants drawn from the two demographic groups who have experienced wide ranging changes in LGBTQ+ society: 55 years old and above, and those in their 20s. These groups will be facilitated in discussion, to enable reflection, dialogue, reminiscence, and disagreement. In addition, members of both community groups will be brought together to facilitate a further, intergenerational dialogue. These participant group conversations will be recorded and form the basis for a short series of podcasts. These will be published on relevant platforms and disseminated on BBC 100 Voices, alongside promotional work on social media channels, using short clips. This will bring the conversation into contact with the wider LGBTQ+ community, and also non-LGTBQ+ audiences, as part of ongoing public engagement. Other outputs will be a journal article and the ongoing availability of the presentation for future community and educational use.
As part of the legacy of the project, the community groups will benefit from podcast-making workshops run by the project, to enable them to produce and publish further conversations with their members.
The goal for both sets of participants is to allow them to share their experiences and be heard, and to learn from each other. This will create a cross-generational connection, and an opportunity for participants to learn from each other, and reflect on the impact of BBC coverage and representation through key moments in their lives.
Hearing our Stories: LGBTQ+ Lives and the BBC is a public engagement project which enables us to learn how BBC coverage of LGBTQ+ people and issues has been viewed and understood by the LGBTQ+ audience, and what impact the BBC has had in representing queer lives and framing debates.
In partnership with the BBC, the PI will conduct research in the BBC archives to identify materials which illustrate and illuminate our understanding of the way BBC output (primarily drawn from news and current affairs) that foregrounds personal stories and experiences of ordinary LGBTQ+ people, for two demographic generations: those whose formative years covered the 1970s - early 1990s, and those who have grown up since the Millennium.
For the generation age 55 years and above, research will focus on key events from the LGBTQ+ timeline such as the emergence of the Gay Liberation Movement (1970s); Section 28 (1980s); and the HIV/AIDS pandemic (1980s-90s). The themes that are likely to emerge from this period will include visibility and marginalisation, community participation and activism, the formation of identity and tensions between sexual liberation and continuing legislative inequality.
The narrative from the generation born and growing up during the Millennial years will focus on events such as the equalisation of the age of consent, the introduction of civil partnership and same sex marriage and trans visibility. The emerging themes will highlight tensions around heteronormativity and assimilation, the broadening of sexual and sexuality identities as reflected by the LGBTQ+ acronym and the visibility of trans rights within these communities.
The BBC archive materials are used to create an audio/visual presentation, spotlighting LGBTQ+ interviewees and contributors, to illustrate the narrative arc that frames these two periods in LGBTQ+ history and extrapolate the key themes.
This presentation becomes the focus and stimulus for public engagement with two partners who work with LGBTQ+ communities. These partnerships will enable engagement with participants drawn from the two demographic groups who have experienced wide ranging changes in LGBTQ+ society: 55 years old and above, and those in their 20s. These groups will be facilitated in discussion, to enable reflection, dialogue, reminiscence, and disagreement. In addition, members of both community groups will be brought together to facilitate a further, intergenerational dialogue. These participant group conversations will be recorded and form the basis for a short series of podcasts. These will be published on relevant platforms and disseminated on BBC 100 Voices, alongside promotional work on social media channels, using short clips. This will bring the conversation into contact with the wider LGBTQ+ community, and also non-LGTBQ+ audiences, as part of ongoing public engagement. Other outputs will be a journal article and the ongoing availability of the presentation for future community and educational use.
As part of the legacy of the project, the community groups will benefit from podcast-making workshops run by the project, to enable them to produce and publish further conversations with their members.
The goal for both sets of participants is to allow them to share their experiences and be heard, and to learn from each other. This will create a cross-generational connection, and an opportunity for participants to learn from each other, and reflect on the impact of BBC coverage and representation through key moments in their lives.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Matthew Linfoot (Principal Investigator) |
| Title | Podcasts |
| Description | A short series of three podcasts were produced as a result of the three participant workshops, which were recorded, in audio. In podcast one, volunteers from Opening Doors watched and discussed a selection of clips from programmes from the 1970s and 80s, including the BBC's reporting of the early Gay Liberation movement, a fly-on-the-wall documentary about a pioneering trans woman, and coverage of HIV/AIDS and Section 28. In podcast two, contributors in their twenties, from London Friend, an organisation working with the LGBT+ community in London watched clips spanning the past 45 years, from a documentary about Scottish gays and lesbians in the era before decriminalisation, to the experience of early Pride marches, and more recent reporting of casual racism in the queer community. In podcast three, volunteers from both groups watched further clips and engaged in an inter-generational dialogue about their reflections and experiences. |
| Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | The contents of the podcasts demonstrate a range of responses from the contributors. Some of the contributors remember the programmes when they were first broadcast, and the podcasts captured how they reacted on seeing them again, and whether they viewed them differently in the light of their own lives and experiences since. The younger participants were surprised, amused and shocked by what they were shown, and made interesting comments on how they compared their own experiences to the portrayal of LGBT+ people from past decades. It was also interesting to hear perspectives from two generations about what they learn from each other's experiences and how do they feel about the BBC's role in LGBT+ representation in the future. |
| URL | https://canvas-story.bbcrewind.co.uk/hearingourstories/ |
| Description | The award enabled the project to make several achievements. First, it facilitated the exploration of the BBC programme archive, to uncover examples of output in features and documentaries that focussed on LGBTQ+ live in the past 50 years. This was focussed on exploring specific themes, relevant to LGBTQ+ experiences in these decades, notably: - The early years of the Gay and Lesbian Liberation movement - Trans rights - Lesbian visibility - The rise of Gay and Lesbian Pride events - The HIV/AIDS epidemic - Section 28 - Equal age of consent - Equal marriage / civil partnership - The expansion and wider inclusion of the LGBTQ+ acronym The project was able to identify output that covered these themes, and extract examples. 1. These highlighted different approaches and treatments of LGBTQ+ related topics, in terms of production. Therefore the project can draw conclusions on the comparative way that LGBTQ+ material was treated, comparing established formats such as Panorama and Horizon, with more community or minority focussed programmes such as Brass Tacks and Open Door, and latterly with LGBTQ-produced output. The styles of production, the framing of presentation, the choice of contributor and the narrative structures depict key editorial decisions in representation of this minority audience. This objective was achieved, notably in the way the participants reflected on the differences between the styles of the programmes. One notable discussion point focussed on a 1990s talk show, which aired a range of responses to prejudice against those with HIV/AIDS. Some participants reflected positively on the effectiveness of this discursive format for this era, while others criticised the combative style and intrusiveness of the programme. 2. The project was able to collate a sample of these programmes and present them to participants drawn from two community groups, engaged in LGBTQ+ work around issues such as health and well being. This process had several objectives: to learn from the participants how they viewed the programmes, how they reacted to them: because there were two distinct demographies involved, we had two comparable perspectives: those who might remember the original transmission of some of the programmes and certainly the circumstances and themes they were dealing with. And those, younger participants who may have remembered the more recent programmes but viewed the older material as more of a historical record. We achieved this objective - there were clearly memories forthcoming of watching the original programmes, some of which stirred sensitive thoughts and emotions. A memorable example centred on an edition of Horizon, dealing with HIV/Aids in the early 1980s. Some participants remembered how ground-breaking and provocative this was at the time, to create debate and action, while others responded negatively to the language used and the way the script was constructed. Another objective concerned self-reflexive reminiscence and storytelling, enabling participants to reflect on their own experience, set against the back drop of the BBC output. For instance, once contributor reflected on their own gender identity and transition, a journey which was not helped by some aspects of negative and damaging portrayal in specific BBC programmes. Another contributor reflected on their HIV diagnosis and subsequent life, set against several examples of BBC coverage which contained both challenging and positive messages. The contributors had very diverse views on the presentation of equal marriage in a BBC radio documentary: some rejecting it and others acknowledging it was useful but not the paramount achievement of LGBTQ liberation. 3. The project enabled the two groups of participants to have an inter-generational exchange about their lives and experiences. This aspect was particularly commented on by contributors as a major impact on them, as it often hard from younger and older LGBTQ+ people to meet and have a meaningful exchange. These exchanges included not just opinions and views, but also life experiences and perspectives. Although there were points of disagreement, the dialogue was respectful and friendly, and everyone acknowledged and welcome the opportunity to learn from each other, for instance when discussing trans rights and gender identity, which is a very polarising subject for many, especially in the light of negative media coverage. 4. The project achieved an interesting insight into the relationship between the BBC and the LGBTQ+ audience, as a valuable piece of market research. The older participants generally held the BBC in high regard and trust, but this was largely based on the BBC as a heritage or legacy institution, drawing on past personal memories. The younger group viewed the BBC as one platform among many, and did not have the same instinctive attachment to it. Interestingly, neither group felt the BBC was the immediate destination for specialist LGBTQ+ output. Rather they saw the BBC's role as making sure that LGBTQ+ representation and fair reporting were clearly visible across all mainstream output. The participants felt that specialist LGBTQ+ programmes or content are now much more democratically available as podcasts or user generated output, which they themselves could make or contribute to. 5. The three podcasts that were produced as an output of the discussions were an achievement. They were not simply a verbatim recording of the proceedings but were recorded and produced to a high professional standard, incorporating a narrative structure, examples of the BBC clips and good representation of the views and discussions at each session. |
| Exploitation Route | There is potential to explore further some aspects of the project. One would be to continue the process of intergenerational dialogue, around media representation, perhaps using other artefacts, such as examples of gay and lesbian newspapers and magazines. This could be in partnership with an organisation such as the Bishopsgate Institute which hold collections of LGBTQ+ archives across a range of media, and capturing aspects of queer culture and history. There is also the potential to continue to explore the BBC archive and find ways of allowing more public access to significant programmes or output from the queer chronology. In addition, the project could continue its work to help the BBC consider the breadth and direction of diversity and representation, for its audiences and as an institution representing a broad workforce. |
| Sectors | Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| URL | https://canvas-story.bbcrewind.co.uk/hearingourstories/ |
| Description | There are two areas of impact which are emerging for this project. The BBC has testified on the positive impact the project has had on the dynamic way that archive material can be re-interpreted, especially in collaboration with trusted third parties who can facilitate public engagement. Previously there has been sensitivity about the way archive material can be accessed outside the BBC's direct control but this project demonstrates the potential for illuminating our understanding of cultural and societal changes, through innovative interpretive techniques and mechanisms. The three podcasts, as the major outputs, have been hosted on a BBC platform, and the analytics show that in the last three months, the webpage has had 678 unique views. The first podcast has had 41 listeners, the second, 23 listeners and the third, 15. The podcasts have also recently been published on podcasting platforms such as Spotify and Apple, and have added a further 27 listeners. The listenership has commented favourably on the impact the podcasts have had on them such as this tweet: 'Really loved this podcast from @linfootm Especially episode 3 where the different generations come together to discuss the archive programmes' The two community partners have testified to the benefits of their involvement to their participants, in terms of societal impact. Both groups work in the sector of health promotion and well being, and they recognise that this collaboration helped them achieve their key strategic objectives, by enabling their members to participate with their communities, to learn about themselves and their heritage through media portrayals. The project allowed them to engage in social and media activities outside the parameters of the organisations' usual services, to reflect on representation and identity, through personal reminiscence and dialogue. Participants reflected especially on the impact made possible by the opportunity for inter-generational dialogue, meeting LGBTQ+ people from a contrasting demographic, to exchange and learn from each other. The community groups reflected on how this created a positive impact on quality of life. The community groups were offered the chance to learn more about podcast production, and the project donated an audio recorder to each group. The impact here was to upskill the partners and provide continued access to creative approaches for audio storytelling which they hope to develop further in the future. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2023 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal |
| Description | Hearing Our Stories: LGBTQ+ Lives and the BBC: partnership with the BBC |
| Organisation | British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | For the collaboration with the BBC, the contribution of the PI was in terms of providing insight and specialist knowledge to help the BBC archive team with the selection of possible clips from the archive, relevant to the project. The archive team provided a long list of material, which the PI then viewed and commented on. The PI also contributed other suggestions. This process provided greater contextual awareness of relevant LGBTQ+ holdings, particularly with regard to historical, cultural and societal significance, which enhances their practice by enabling them to target the use of their materials for furture purposes. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The BBC's contribution involved allowing access to the BBC archive (radio and television output), and the specialist services of an archivist researching the archive. The BBC also provided a point of strategic co-ordination and the web-based platform to disseminate the outcomes (a short series of podcasts). The BBC's collaboration also helped to focus the project around uncovering new versions of BBC history, to explore diverse personal stories and fresh dialogues. |
| Impact | The main outcome is three podcasts, which are drawn from the audio recordings of the three participant groups and include extracts of the BBC archive material. There is also a portfolio of archive material which can be reversioned for a series of presentations, which help explore the key themes and narratives of the project. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Participant Workshop: London Friend |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Worshop two involved eight participants recruited by London Friend, consisting of younger LGBTQ+ people. The workshop involved viewing a selection of archive material from the BBC archive including news, features and documentaries around key LGBTQ+ themes from the past 50 years (Gay Liberation, HIV/AIDS, Section 28, coming out, equal age of consent, equal marriage etc). The participants discussed and reflected on the material and engaged in dialogue with eachother. The discussion included reminiscence of seeing/hearing these programmes when originally broadcast, the impact they had on their lives at the time, their memories of events and attitudes contemporary to the broadcasts and their reflections looking back. The workshop was recorded and were used to create three audio podcasts. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://canvas-story.bbcrewind.co.uk/hearingourstories/ |
| Description | Participant Workshop: Opening Doors |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Worshop one involved eight participants recruited by Opening Doors, consisting of older LGBTQ+ people. The workshop involved viewing a selection of archive material from the BBC archive including news, features and documentaries around key LGBTQ+ themes from the past 50 years (Gay Liberation, HIV/AIDS, Section 28, coming out, equal age of consent, equal marriage etc). The participants discussed and reflected on the material and engaged in dialogue with eachother. The discussion included reminiscence of seeing/hearing these programmes when originally broadcast, the impact they had on their lives at the time, their memories of events and attitudes contemporary to the broadcasts and their reflections looking back. The workshop was recorded and were used to create three audio podcasts. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://canvas-story.bbcrewind.co.uk/hearingourstories/ |
| Description | Participant Workshop: Opening Doors and London Friend |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Worshop three involved 15 participants recruited by London Friend, consisting of younger LGBTQ+ people, and Opening Doors, who are older LGBTQ+ people. The workshop involved viewing a selection of archive material from the BBC archive including news, features and documentaries around key LGBTQ+ themes from the past 50 years (Gay Liberation, HIV/AIDS, Section 28, coming out, equal age of consent, equal marriage etc). The participants discussed and reflected on the material and engaged in dialogue with eachother. The discussion included reminiscence of seeing/hearing these programmes when originally broadcast, the impact they had on their lives at the time, their memories of events and attitudes contemporary to the broadcasts and their reflections looking back. This was also an opportunity for an inter generational dialogue between the two demographic groups, to exchange their respective experiences, and hear about the lives of LGBTQ+ people who they don't normally associate with. The workshop was recorded and were used to create three audio podcasts. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://canvas-story.bbcrewind.co.uk/hearingourstories/ |