GAY STOKE

Across six months in 2024, Potboiler have had the extraordinary privilege to be part of GAY STOKE.

Funded by Historic England’s Everyday Heritage grant programme designed to platform working class histories, GAY STOKE was born from our 2020 project The Secret City and our awareness of the major gaps in the stories and voices that project shared.

Inspired by Kat B’s family history too, we brought together a group of incredible older LGBTQ+ people from Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire to invite them to explore with us our personal histories of gay identity and begin to build a history of gay life in Stoke-on-Trent.

Working closely with the North Midlands LGBT Older Peoples Group, across an inspiring 6 months and through a series of workshops from photography to singing to ceramics, the group explored and voiced their experiences. From the beautifully joyous to the poignant, from laugh out loud moments to those that shaped lives, the members connected across themes of love, identity and belonging.

We discovered the experiences of different generations; the history of gay clubs in the city centre and what it was like to cross the threshold of the 141 Club for the first time. We heard about heroes like Keith Groom who helped steer the campaign for gay rights in the city. We read fabulous 1980s classified ads that led people to find their life long loves; we explored the different battles to overcome shame and the story of legends like Ruby and her diamonds. We deep dived into archive records and found evidence of queer experience in the Potteries from the 1840s onwards. We wrote poems to imagine the lives of those we read about who didn’t get to live freely. Together we began to add to history of our city.

This is just the start of the journey for telling the story of GAY STOKE.

Discover what the group have found so far in our Sharing Event GAY STOKE: Stories from the Heart taking place on Tuesday 1 October, 7pm at Fenton Town Hall. Learn more and book HERE.

And watch this space for the GAY STOKE Audio Stories.

A huge thank you to the North Midlands LGBT Older Peoples Group. Also thank you to creative collaborators Kidda Kinsey, Emma Hobbs, Dave Cullings and Jenny Harper.

GAY STOKE is funded by Historic England’s Everyday Heritage grant programme, celebrating working class histories. Images courtesy of Jenny Harper Photography.