Imperial War Museum Presents Military Pride

Military Pride also details changes in historical and cultural context and a timeline of post 1945 legislation and policies within the Armed Forces and is timed to connect with the Manchester Pride Festival.

The display of 12 personal testimonies reflects through contributors’ own words how war and conflict have shaped people in the LGBT communities' lives from 1945 to the present day. As well as reflecting adversity the display aims to celebrate the achievements and reflect the positive contributions of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities to the Armed Forces and examine how experiences may have changed since 1945.

Catherine Roberts, Visitor Programmes Manager, Imperial War Museum North says: "The experience of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, within the context of conflict, war and military service, is arguably still a largely hidden history. Through this small but important display hopefully we can make a step towards helping to reveal and celebrate it."

An intimate, temporary display, Military Pride will have a permanent legacy as the histories collected will form part of Imperial War Museum’s collections for future generations and it is hoped that the display will also tour.

Imperial War Museum North has a 3-year history of delivering tours and events relating to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender experience in war and conflict from the First World War to the present day, reflecting the Museum's focus on how war has shaped and continues to shape peoples lives.

The Imperial War Museum is the national museum of the experiences of people who have lived, fought and died in conflicts involving Britain and the Commonwealth since 1914. The Museum continues to gather the testimony of those whose lives have been shaped by war. The Imperial War Museum is the museum of everyone's story: the history of modern war and people's experience of war and wartime life in Britain and the Commonwealth. It is an educational and historical institution responsible for archives, collections and sites of outstanding national importance.

The Museum's five branches include Imperial War Museum London which houses the award-winning Holocaust Exhibition; the Second World War cruiser HMS Belfast; the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms, housed in Churchill's secret headquarters below Whitehall; Imperial War Museum Duxford, a world-renowned aviation and heritage complex, and Imperial War Museum North, one of the most talked-about new Museums in the UK. -- www.iwm.org.uk