LGBTQ+ History – Queer Possibilities at Our Palaces

2025-06-19

LGBTQ+ people have always existed in the history of our palaces, yet the stories of this community have often been obscured or misunderstood. When we explore queer histories, we gain a much fuller picture of societies in the past, from when our palaces were first built, right on through to their more recent history. In this week’s episode, Curator Matthew Storey is joined by Assistant Research Curator Holly Marsden, and Dr Kit Heyam, to discuss some queer stories connected to our palaces, and how best to un...

LGBTQ+ people have always existed in the history of our palaces, yet the stories of this community have often been obscured or misunderstood.

When we explore queer histories, we gain a much fuller picture of societies in the past, from when our palaces were first built, right on through to their more recent history.

In this week’s episode, Curator Matthew Storey is joined by Assistant Research Curator Holly Marsden, and Dr Kit Heyam, to discuss some queer stories connected to our palaces, and how best to understand them in their historic context.

Explore more LGBTQ+ histories from our palaces on our website.

Read Matthew’s article about Kathleen Woodhouse.

Read Molly McClain's article on Stuart women.

Find Kit Heyam’s books on their website.

In this episode we use a range of different gender pronouns to discuss historical people, including those used in the original sources and those used by historians today.

Content warnings:

Homophobia, including the murder of queer people

Transphobia

Non-consensual medical examination

Suicide

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