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“We have always been here. And we always will be.”

Ash seeing the exhibition for the first time – Image courtesy of the author.
In this post, Ash Scholz reflects on their Student Partnership Agreement-funded project: creating a database of student LGBTQ+ sources in the University archive, as well as hosting a portfolio of events during LGBTQ+ History Month. Ash is a fourth-Year History and Politics student, and is in their second term as LGBTQ+ Liberation Officer for the Edinburgh University Students’ Association. This post belongs to the Student Partnership Agreement 2024 series.
“Hello Kate! (….) For LGBTQ+ History Month, I would be really interested in collaborating with HCA and plan a bigger series of talks and maybe even an exhibition, highlighting research into LGBTQ+ history and celebrating history as a form of liberation for the LGBTQ+ community. I was wondering whether you would be interested? (…)”
This is the first e-mail that I sent to Kate Davison, Lecturer for History of Sexuality, back in June 2023. Ever since arriving at the University, I had observed that, while there were so many welcoming people, queer events, and LGBTQ+ societies and groups in Edinburgh, the queer life and activism on campus was severely lacking the representation that it deserved. I was convinced that there must be an untold history of queer students at the University of Edinburgh and I wanted to shine light on this during LGBTQ+ History Month. After a few emails between Julie Gibbings (Head of EDI in the School of History, Classics, and Archaeology), Rachel Hosker (Archivist at the Centre for Research Collections), and Wannes Dupont and Kate Davison (Lecturers in History of Sexuality), I assembled a small group of student volunteers. Over the past year, we have been creating a database of student LGBTQ+ sources in the University archive. We have been identifying themes that have emerged from this research, for example queer student, life, activism, queer societies, and connecting the dots between them. Our work has been a mix of remote and in-person, given that some of the archives we use are digitised and accessible, and others are only available physically.
A photo of Hannah, one of the volunteers, researching in the Centre for Research Collections.
Hannah, one of the volunteers, researching in the Centre for Research Collections – Image courtesy of the author.
Our research showed that queer life was not always present in the form we recognise it today. We found the establishment of the Gay Society in 1973 but also occasional reports on gay life through the 1970s, 80s and 90s. There are a lot of silences that we are facing, for example, the exclusion of trans and racially minoritised members of the community. And what started as a passion project of mine snowballed into a much bigger project. We soon realised that completing our work by February was a bit of a monumental task. Together with EUSA, Gender.ED and the School of History, Classics, and Archaeology, though, we were still able to run some very impactful events during LGBTQ+ History Month, which would have not been possible without the SPA funding. Some of them included:
  • A Queer History Walking Tour of Edinburgh.
  • An undergraduate seminar on Queer History with presentations from students on their own research, in collaboration with the History Society.
  • A film screening of “Framing Agnes” (2022).
  • A community event for trans+ students and staff.
  • A panel event on the importance of archives for the queer community and the presentation of our archive research so far, in collaboration with Gender.ED.
Students presenting at the Queer History Seminar
Students presenting at the Queer History Seminar – Image courtesy of the author.
And the archive project? We received so much support and positive receptions for the research we’ve been doing, and we continued our work after February! When I got approached by the School about creating a physical exhibition of our findings, I was absolutely ecstatic! Over the summer, I worked together with the Marketing and Communications Team in the School, Julie Gibbings as the EDI Lead, and a wonderful designer at the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. The small exhibition is an accumulation of our work over the past year but is by no means exhaustive. It provides some glimpses into the incredible work of queer student activists and community members throughout a time of significant repression and discriminatory laws against queer life. Without the work of student activists in the past, these successes would have not been possible at all, and we found a sense of intergenerational solidarity with the queer students that came before us through our research. The exhibition wants to take up space for an underrepresented community, with queer students being able to manifest their belonging at the University through having a visual reminder of their historical presence.
Promotional Poster of the Exhibition - Image courtesy of the School of History, Classics, and Archaeology
Promotional Poster of the Exhibition – Image courtesy of HCA.
Three different topics are covered by wall panels, text and pictures of the archive material: The formation of Queer Societies on Campus, Queer Student Activism, and Student Life. You can now see the Exhibition in the William Robertson Wing of the Old Medical School (Doorway 5), on the Ground Floor. Thank you to everyone who was involved in making this project a reality, from the amazing volunteers who spent countless hours in the archive, Rachel Hosker who supported all the research, and Julie Gibbings, Kate Davison, Wannes Dupont, and Jannika Pott, Sarah Morrison, Ann Harrison for believing in me and offering us the tools and additional funding to actually make this happen. We are far from done, and we have some exciting plans for this year, and we would love for more people to join us! We have always been here. And we always will be.

Photograph of the authorAsh Scholz

Ash is a Fourth-Year History and Politics student, and a passionate campaigner for Human Rights and queer topics. This year is their second term as LGBTQ+ Liberation Officer for the Edinburgh University Students’ Association and they hope to facilitate an welcoming environment on campus for all students and bring about some much-needed change in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion matters at the University. They are also one of the founding members of Sex? On Campus!, a grassroots campaign for improved consent education at universities. When they aren’t spending countless hours in the library over assignments or campaigns, Ash is a Support Worker for people with disabilities, loves going bouldering and hiking, and is always up for a coffee in one of Edinburgh’s amazing coffee shops.