Queer Connections in the 1920s

In the 1920s people we might now consider to be LGBTQ used innovative and creative ways to meet and communicate with members of the same sex involving love letters, publications and events. This film explores this, asking, in eras when the law criminalised your love, how was it possible to forge relationships?

This film uses LGBTQ as an umbrella term to talk about collective experiences, and also uses the term queer, as it is the most commonly used word in The National Archives records for men to self-describe their sexuality in this period.

The National Archives is the official archive of the UK government, England and Wales. We are home to 1000 years of history and are the guardians of some of the world’s most iconic documents from the Domesday Book to Downing Street tweets. We believe that archives are for everyone because they are about everyone, past, present and future. Our collections contain ideas, language and imagery from original records which reflect historical viewpoints and attitudes. Some may be considered offensive. However, we think it important to show them here as accurate representations of the record to help us understand the past.