The month is a chance to celebrate and learn about LGBTQ+ community milestones and influential figures, past and present. This year’s theme is activism and social change, celebrating LGBTQ+ people’s contribution to creating a more inclusive society.
Further events will be added as details become available, so please check for updates on the Staff Pride Network webpages:
LGBTQ+ History Month 2025 – Staff Pride Network
Water Trouble: Queer Bodies and Fluidity in the Mediterranean
Wednesday 5 February 1-2pm, Seminar room, 2 Hope Park Square, Edinburgh EH8 9NW
Organised by Dr Alice Parrinello, Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities
Staff and students are invited to join this seminar:
In recent years, the Mediterranean has been constructed as a border between Central Europe and the Global South. Simultaneously, queer Italian films promote a different view of the Mediterranean as a place of resistance and reclamation. This talk will investigate this idea further through the films Il padre d’Italia by Fabio Mollo, La Dea Fortuna by Ferzan Özpetek and Misericordia by Emma Dante.
Please join in-person, or click the link below to join the webinar:
https://ed-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/83015772676
Passcode: b1QpaAD7
Crochet and Craftivism
Tuesday 11 February, 12-2pm, Usher Engage (ground floor, Usher Building)
Staff and students are invited to the Usher Community and the BioQuarter Pride Committee for a lunchtime drop-in session of crafting and community building. There will be an introduction to crochet (whether you’re a crochet newbie or an experienced yarn-lover) and LGBTQ+ activism-themed fabric painting (canvas, paints and brushes are provided so you just need to bring your enthusiasm and creativity!).
If you have any questions about the event, please email BioQuarter.Pride@ed.ac.uk.
LGBTQuizzing Afternoon
Friday 21 February 4-6pm Paterson’s Land 1.26
The Staff Pride Network are hosting a social opportunity during LGBTQ+ History Month that will allow you to get to know your colleagues better and flex your quizzing skills on all things LGBTQ+! Teams will be arranged on the night, so attendees have the chance to mingle and meet new people.
Non-alcoholic refreshments will be provided!
Please feel free to invite friends and colleagues from across the University as the event is open to all staff and students.
Register for the LGBTQuizzing event
LGBTQ+ History Month Seminar and Social
Tuesday 28 February, 12:30-2pm, IRR South 1.05 Edinburgh BioQuarter
Join the BioQuarter LGBTQ+/ally community for a lunchtime seminar with speakers from across the staff and student community. The seminar will be followed by a social with pizza provided. Both staff and students are welcome to attend this event.
Seminar and social information
LGBTQ+ History Month: 'Portable closets: Secrets and lives in queer Britain since gay liberation'
Monday 3 March, Meadows Lecture Theatre, Doorway 4, Old Medical Schools, Teviot Place
The School of History, Classics, and Archaeology is pleased to host a lecture by Professor Matthew Cook (Oxford University) for an annual LGBTQ+ lecture:
Gender and Sexuality Data Lab
Throughout February
The University of Edinburgh Business School has launched the Gender + Sexuality Data Lab, a new data initiative to explore how data is reshaping the fight for LGBTQ+ equalities in the UK and around the world.
The Lab aims to become a north star for researchers, practitioners, activists, and creatives engaged in critical work on collecting, analysing, and using gender, sex, and sexuality data.
Welcome to the Gender + Sexuality Data Lab | Gender and Sexuality Data Lab
College of Science and Engineering host LGBTQ+ exhibition
Running until 14 February
This month, the Nucleus Building at King’s Buildings is host to a student-led LGBTQ+ exhibition, drawn from materials from the University archive. The artwork - ‘We have always been here. And we always will be’ - showcases queer activists and community members throughout a time of significant repression and discriminatory laws and policies. The piece was created by students Paige Cooper, Hannah Freitag, Olivia Norbury, Nora Quigley, Freya Wilson, and Ash Scholz. The exhibit is on show next to the Elm Lecture Theatre.
University Library updates
This month’s University Library updates focus on the work it’s carrying out in LGBTQ+ history.
Related links
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion