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LGBTQ+ History Month

In the UAL typeface, 'LGBTQ+ History Month' is spelled out. However, several of the letters, including the '+' sign, are colourful embroidered pieces created by members of the LGBTQ+ Staff Network.
  • Written byStudent Communications
  • Published date 28 January 2026
In the UAL typeface, 'LGBTQ+ History Month' is spelled out. However, several of the letters, including the '+' sign, are colourful embroidered pieces created by members of the LGBTQ+ Staff Network.
LGBTQ+ History Month | UAL Creative

LGBTQ+ History Month takes place across the UK every year in February to celebrate and commemorate the history of LGBTQ+ rights. Throughout the month, we’ll be proudly celebrating and focusing on all things LGBTQ+.

How did it all begin?

LGBTQ+ History Month started back in 2005 in the UK, following an initiative created by teachers Sue Sanders and Paul Patrick. They organised the first British LGBTQ+ History Month as part of a Schools Out UK project, a programme that aims to educate young people about the challenges LGBTQ+ people face and to make schools inclusive for everyone, celebrating all gender identities and orientations. The event was held in February to coincide with the 2003 abolition of Section 28 of the 1988 Local Government Act.

Ever since, events have taken place every February in the UK, focusing on a specific theme.

What is this year’s theme?

The theme for 2026 is ‘Science and Innovation’, encouraging us to celebrate the contributions of LGBTQ+ people historically and today in the development of solutions that benefit society. It also provides us with an opportunity to consider the harm that LGBTQ+ people have historically faced as a result of the ways in which science has been explored and misapplied in the past.

Our LGBTQ+ History Month visual identity

Our Creative team have developed a visual identity for use by our LGBTQ+ Staff Network and in our LGBTQ+ History Month campaign, which explores the role of DIY textile design in self-expression, community-building and protest through needlepoint typography. Network members were invited to a workshop to help create a custom alphabet that works in tandem with, and challenges the orthodoxy of, the UAL core brand typographic system. There's a sneak peak of the design in this story's header image and we hope you'll enjoy seeing more of it as the month goes on!

People sit at a table using coloured pencils to draw on paper.
LGBTQ+ custom alphabet workshop | Photograph: Daniela Di Martino

What’s on at UAL?

We are pleased to share with you a fantastic programme of activities designed to educate, empower and encourage community building within UAL. A big thank you to our EDI team, Halls Life team and LGBTQ+ Staff Network for putting on various events and activities for our community

1 February – 1 March

Art of Drag transformation course | 3 – 6pm | Sketch House, 36 Clifton Terrace, N4 3TD

Open to staff and students, this 5-week course will help you develop the skills of drag performance, build confidence, feel empowered and explore a more extravagant version of yourself.

3 February

Zine workship with UAL Amazines | 2.30 - 5pm | Learning Space, Library, LCC

Come along to this zine workshop celebrating the start of LGBTQ+ History Month. Attendees will be looking through zines from LCC zine collection, discussing some important LGBTQ+ scientists and innovators and making mini-zines

12 February

Join Dr Kevin Guyan as he discusses how we measure and consider representation in the arts. In his book, 'Rainbow Trap', he reveals how the fight for LGBTQ+ equalities is shaped – and constrained – by the categories and classifications we encounter every day.

18 February

UK Black Pride Sofa Talk with Lady Phyll, CEO of UK Black Pride | 6.30 - 8.30pm | London Art Bar, 300 High Holborn, WC1V 7JH

UAL is collaborating with UK Black Pride to launch Sofa Talks, a new conversation series centring Black LGBTQ+ knowledge, lived experience and movement-led innovation.

For the first Sofa Talk, Lady Phyll, CEO of UK Black Pride, will be in conversation with Rob Berkeley, founder of BLKOUT UK. They will explore how Black LGBTQ+ communities have long been sites of innovation, developing new ways of organising, caring, surviving and resisting exclusion in the absence of institutional support.

21 February

Queer London Magic | 11am – 11pm | Various locations

Halls Life invite students and staff to join them in a journey across London for a full day of free events. From zine making, exhibitions, drag brunches, clothes swaps, matchmaking and cabaret, the day will bring together queer art, culture and joy. Whether you want to drop in to a session or stick around for the full day, you are welcome.

24 February

Join us for a special life drawing session led by 2B Or Not 2B Collective, a People of Colour (POC)-run group dedicated to reimagining life drawing spaces. Whether you’re a seasoned life drawer or have never tried it, all are welcome to come along and draw, reflect and connect within a space that challenges traditional approaches to life drawing.

26 February

Join us in conversation with Morgan M. Page to explore trans history throughout the ages. Drawing on four hundred years of trans history in the UK and beyond, we'll reflect on real stories such as a runaway slave who fought the Old Bailey and won and the tarot reader who launched Britain's first trans activist group in the 1970s.