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OurStory Scotland

... recording the stories of the LGBT community in Scotland

Archiving Heritage Oral History Storytelling Drama Exhibitions Research

Queer Story Scotland launched at Pride Awards 2005

Queer Story Scotland launched at Pride Awards

The Scottish Arts Council Lottery Fund grant was announced with special publicity and a speech on receipt of the Pride Award for Culture 2005

Press Release

Saturday 25 June 2005

PRIDE IN THE QUEER STORIES OF AN EXCLUDED COMMUNITY

A major storytelling project, celebrating the personal and local histories of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in Scotland, has received substantial backing from the Scottish Arts Council Lottery Fund. OurStory Scotland, a recognised Scottish charity, has been awarded over £20,000 to provide archiving resources, creative platforms and storytelling events throughout Scotland over 18 months from June 2005 to November 2006.

The project is organised by OurStory Scotland and is entitled Queer Story Scotland. It will offer the opportunity for people to take part in events that recognise the importance of sharing experiences as a means of encouraging and supporting personal development. The project will provide space for people identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer to share stories in a sympathetic and non-judgmental environment.

OurStory Scotland already receives support from Communities Scotland for its oral history work, and the Scottish Art Council National Lottery Fund award will help it to develop its work in recording, presenting and archiving the neglected stories of a discriminated community. Already one of the key themes to emerge from work with this community is discrimination at a local level, especially away from the big cities. Storytelling events throughout the country will allow unfamiliar voices to be heard, telling queer tales that are poignant, moving, sad, funny and heroic. These stories can reveal the tremendous changes that have occurred in this community during living memory, and show up continuing challenges, particularly in smaller and more remote localities.

While the intensive storytelling tour will end in November 2006, this project will have a lasting legacy. Stories, oral history materials and other documents and artefacts will be archived at the National Museums of Scotland, forming the heart of a National Archive of LGBT Lives as part of the Scottish Life Archive, and will also be archived and exhibited at other museums and libraries, including the Mitchell in Glasgow, where OurStory Scotland is based.

The announcement of the grant was made at an awards ceremony at Pride Scotia in Edinburgh on Saturday 25 June. The Pride Scotia Award for Culture 2005 was presented jointly to OurStory Scotland and Edinburgh’s Remember When project. On receiving the award, OurStory Scotland announced the launch of Queer Story Scotland and thanked the Scottish Arts Council National Lottery Fund for its generous support for an important project that will record queer tales, suppressed stories and neglected narratives.

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