LGBT+ History Month

LGBT+ History Month has been happening every February in the UK since 2005. The overall aim is to promote equality and diversity for the benefit of the public by:

  • Increasing the visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (“LGBT+”) people, their history, lives and their experiences in the curriculum and culture of educational and other institutions, and the wider community.
  • Raising awareness and advancing education on matters affecting the LGBT+ community.
  • Working to make educational and other institutions safe spaces for all LGBT+ communities.
  • Promoting the welfare of LGBT+ people, by ensuring that the education system recognises and enables LGBT+ people to achieve their full potential, so they contribute fully to society and lead fulfilled lives, thus benefiting society as a whole.

LGBT+ History Month in 2023

This year the theme is ‘Behind the Lens'. Here at Imperial, we are committed to creating a culture where LGBTQ+ people feel welcome, included and fully able to be themselves.

Find out more about the events taking place below. Imperial College Union also has a programme of events to celebrate the Month. 

2021 events

Finding Inclusive Employers

Wednesday 1 February, 13.00 - 14.00

Hosted by the Careers Service at Imperial College London as part of LGBTQ+ History Month this event will help you to find and explore inclusive employers to find employment where you'll feel comfortable and successful at work while being yourself, regardless of your sexual orientation or gender identity. Open to all staff and students at Imperial.

Meet the organisers of Imperial 600

Friday 3 February, 15.00 - 15.50 and Monday 6 February, 12.00 - 12.50

Imperial 600 is run by a team of staff and postgraduate volunteers from across the College. Come to one of these informal online meet-and-greet sessions to learn more about the network, who’s part of it, what they are planning for the rest of the month, and how they do it.

Friday 3 February: Click here to join the Teams meeting

Monday 6 February: Click here to join the Teams meeting

LGBTQ+ Careers Panel 2023

Tuesday 7 February, 18.30 – 20.00

Hosted by the Careers Service at Imperial College London in partnership with IQ (the LGBTQ+ student society), this panel discussion gives you the opportunity to hear from LGBTQ+ professionals in a range of inclusive employers. The event aims to facilitate career discussions and share perspectives on the workplace to demonstrate that it’s possible to be comfortable and successful at work while being yourself, regardless of your sexual orientation or gender identity.

LGBTQ+ inclusion and mental health training

Thursday 16 February, 10.00 - 16.00

This face-to-face full-day course allows participants to gain insight and skills in assessing and addressing the needs of LGBTQ staff/students with mental health issues and gain confidence in dealing with heterosexism, homophobia, biphobia and transphobia.

Conversion Therapy and Applied Behavioural Analysis

Wednesday 15 February, 12.30 - 13.30

Can medical interventions 'cure' LGBTQ+ or Autistic people?

Organised by Imperial 600 and Able@Imperial, this event will explore the legal medical practices that seek to change a person's sexuality, gender diversity or neurodiverse behaviour, how these interventions harm the people they are meant to help, and what are the responsibilities of higher education institutions today.

LGBTQ+ awareness training

Wednesday 22 February 10.00 - 13.00

This face-to-face half-day course aims to extend participants’ knowledge and understanding of sexual orientation and gender identity and enable them to be effective allies to LGBTQ+ staff and students.

Belonging with Aneesha Bhumber

Friday 24 February, 12.30 - 13.30

Belonging is a series of candid interviews with minority ethnic students, academics and professionals sharing their experiences and insights in finding their sense of belonging. Join us for this special LGBT+ History Month edition of Belonging, featuring Imperial 600 co-chair Aneesha Bhumber as the guest!

Click here to join the Zoom meeting

Imperial LGBTQ+ Brains Symposium

Monday 27 February, 16.00 - 17.00

Organised by the Imperial Brain Sciences LGBTQ+ Allies Network, this event features exciting talks from 3 scientists (PhD student, Postdoctoral Fellow, Professor) who align with the LGBTQ+ community to highlight their research and academic journey, followed by a social with food and drinks at 17.00. Can't attend in person? The seminar will also be held virtually on Zoom!

LGBTQ+ resources

Explore our resources on LGBTQ+ equality for staff and students, including practical information on how you can act as an ally and guidance on pronouns.

We also offer further links to external resources to help support your learning on LGBTQ+ equality.

Previous years

Events organised by Imperial 600 to mark LGBT+ History Month in the past include talks from people such as Amy Lamé, London's Night Czar, and Adam Zmith, co-host of "The Log Books" podcast.

For the 2020 theme, "poetry, prose and plays", Imperial hosted a panel discussion with YA authors Darren Charlton, Cynthia So, and Kay Staples, who talked about their experiences as LGBTQ+ writers telling LGBTQ+ stories for teenagers.