LGBT+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans+) History Month 2026

Surrey History Centre preserves the written heritage of the county and its people spanning some 900 years. Through our unique collections we document the county's rich and remarkable past and Surrey’s amazing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans+ and Queer (LGBTQ+) history is part of this.

Queer Pioneers from Surrey’s LGBTQ+ archives

Our collections help to make lived experiences visible.  They reveal that Surrey had pioneering support groups and individuals, inspiring people and often providing a lifeline in challenging times.  They show us that community has always been key - Guildford was home to one of the country’s earliest LGBTQ+ groups, Guildford Area Gay Society, and Surrey is still home to Gender Identity Research & Education Society (GIRES), one of the UK’s foremost Trans support group.  This year our free foyer display celebrates Surrey’s pioneering LGBTQ+ support groups, including Guildford Area Gay Society, AIDSlink, GIRES, Outline, and Gay Surrey, as well as some incredible stories of lived experience in the county across the centuries, including Roberta Cowell, Alan Turing, Gwen Lally, Dame Ethel Smyth, Edward Carpenter and others.

Whether famous or not, many LGBTQ+ people in the past could not live their true lives in public, hiding their sexuality or gender identity for fear of social stigma or criminalisation. However, others absolutely did and our February display gives a flavour of their stories of courage, trailblazing campaigning, unapologetic queer self-belief, and the ongoing fight for LGBTQ+ equality.  All of these groups and individuals have helped shaped Surrey’s LGBTQ+ past and present. The display is available free, in our foyer from 3rd to 26th February 2026.

In 2024 we contributed to a national survey of HIV/AIDS related archives in England and Wales. We’re now sharing a brand-new case study highlighting the role of Surrey East Hampshire AIDSlink in the 1980s and 1990s, whose records we submitted to that survey (Surrey History Centre reference 4669). For the LGBTQ+ community it was a traumatic time, marked by ignorance and misinformation. AIDSlink was formed in 1986 in response to the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic and crucially provided a telephone helpline to signposted support services and help destigmatise misconceptions about the virus. In 1991 the group organised the local display of a huge commemorative quilt as part of ‘the names project’, which created quilt panels in memory of people who had died of AIDS. Read the full case study.

Can you help?

Collecting and preserving records of LGBTQ+ organisations and people who have lived and worked in the county ensures Surrey's LGBTQ+ history is not lost. If you or someone you know was involved with the work of AIDSlink and can provide more information we would be delighted to hear from you, please email us at shs@surreycc.gov.uk.

You can discover more about Queer heritage in the county and why we raise awareness of it.