2017 Berkshire Conference on the History of Women, Genders and Sexualities

June 01 - 04, 2017

The spatial turn in history has produced significant analyses of the role of place–particularly specific cities–in creating lesbian and gay sub-cultures. It has also raised questions of mobility between places. While several LGBT scholars have taken up the “new mobilities paradigm” to consider patterns of migration and movement, this work is rarely historical and does not critically consider the importance of gender in defining the experience of lesbians differently from those of gay men. The role of transnational movement and connections in transmitting ideas around lesbian identity and politics has only just begun to be explored, and that research still focuses primarily on the urban (very often the metropole). Oral histories and archival research suggests that the reciprocal influences of the rural, regional, provincial, and British Commonwealth were significant.

Alison Oram’s paper compares the migration patterns of lesbians within and between four UK cities 1965-2013, challenging existing models of LGBT migration and suggesting new paradigms. Rebecca Jennings’ paper traces the transnational connections between Women’s Lands in Australia, Wales and Denmark in the 1970s, exploring the impact of individual women’s travel patterns on the transmission of ideas and cultural practices between these communities. Liz Millward’s paper situates Canadian Women’s Lands in their broader North American context and examines the circuits of mobility which made it possible for lesbians to share, adapt, or reject lesbian-separatist praxis.  The panel will be Chaired by Shirleene Robinson, whose current research examines the history of Australian LGBTI Military Service.