Contact the Research team
We collaborate on research projects with a number of different partners, and we welcome suggestions for new projects and collaborations.
Resource pack - Queer places: Feelings, emotions and ways of ‘rebuilding’ intangible heritage
This resource pack was produced as part of the 2025 event series Research Routes: Emotions, senses and feelings in the archives. It includes information and links to records, articles and networks related to archival research and queer histories.
Sexuality and gender identity history in The National Archives collections
The National Archives’ records give a valuable insight into how government interacted with and viewed LGBTQ+ communities in the past. The state’s attempts to suppress and regulate sexuality and gender has paradoxically left us with many potential sources for the experiences of LGBTQ+ people.
Our collection reflects many of the significant moments and milestones in LGBTQ+ history through police, criminal, policy and legislation records.
We hold many 20th-century criminal records, but a significant proportion remain closed under the Data Protection Act. If you come across a closed record like this in our collection, there will be an option to request a Freedom of Information review to see if it can be opened.
To know more about our records and collection see the research guide to sexuality and gender identity put together by our collections experts.
Some examples of records include:
- CRIM 1/617 A central criminal record detailing the supposedly act of gross indecency enacted by two men visiting a public toilet in Brixton, 1932
- DPP 2/355 A plan of ‘Billie’s Club’, London, used as an exhibit in a prosecution for conspiracy to corrupt morals, 1936
- HO 345/7A Metropolitan Police map of Hyde Park, London, showing the location of urinals where arrests were made for importuning and gross indecency during 1953
- DPP 2/4670 Annotated copies of the International Times, seized in raids on their offices in 1969 and used as proves of moral corruption
- DEFE 24/765 Copy of the Sexual Offences Act 1967
The Caravan Club
In 1934, homosexual acts between men – in public and in private – were illegal in the UK. Police surveilled a number of social spaces across London suspected of permitting what the state then considered to be ‘immoral activity’ and in August conducted a raid on a venue in Soho called the Caravan Club. Possessions such as cosmetics and personal correspondence were confiscated from attendees and later offered as evidence in court. If you want to know more, you can:
- Read the Story of the Caravan Club
- Listen to the Sexuality under scrutiny in 1930s Soho podcast
- Visit The National Archives and order the Metropolitan Police record including the photograph of the interior of the Caravan Club (catalogue reference: MEPO 3/758)
Blog posts and events
We regularly host events with writers exploring queer-adjacent lives and publish blog posts on the stories behind and about our records. These can include stories of LGBTQ+ liberation and oppression. Some recent examples include:
Queer heritage network
The Queer Heritage and Collections Network (QHCN) is a UK-wide Subject Specialist Network that provides training, networking and peer support to people working with LGBTQ+ collections and histories. They support galleries, libraries, archives and museums that are developing public programming bringing LGBTQ+ histories and themes to the fore. Membership of QHCN is free and is open to heritage sector professionals and academics at all career levels (including independent and freelance). Find more information on the QHCN website.
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