The homes of Oscar Wilde, Benjamin Britten and Anne Lister, a woman considered the “first modern lesbian”, are being relisted as part of a gay history project undertaken by Historic England. Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England, said buildings and places were witnesses to events that shaped society, but lesbian and gay stories had often been neglected. At a time when historic LGBTQ venues are under particular threat, this is an important step.”Some of the buildings are already listed, but their status is being updated to take into account their LGBTQ histories. Researchers had asked the public to suggest LGBTQ heritage sites ahead of the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality next year. “We’ve had a tremendous response to it from people across the country, who have pinned their favourite LGBTQ heritage places on our crowd-sourced map.

Source: The Guardian September 22, 2016 22:52 UTC