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Title
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Queer Constellations: The Histories of Rural Gay Men
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Description
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Criminal archives are the most common source of gay histories, as male homosexuality was illegal until 1967. Through searching assize records on Ancestry, and investigating court reports via the British Newspaper Archive, we identified rural occupations for some of the men placed on trial. By comparing these occupations to objects in our collection, we aim to show that these men were more than just a conviction. They were ordinary people living ordinary lives.
An online exhibition inspired by the 2021 physical exhibition, 'Queer Constellations: Artistic Trespass and Rural Gay Histories'. 'Queer Constellations' posed the question as to whether there is queerness in rural life. It brought together artists from around the UK and Ireland, including Epha J Roe, James Aldridge, Emma Plover, Gemma Dagger, Eimear Walshe, Claye Bowler and Daniel Baker, to delight in the strangeness of rural life and to feel its enough-ness. The MERL invited users to trespass the space, explore the margins, and to join us in queering the countryside.
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Type
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Online Exhibition
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Date
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2025
The Museum of English Rural Life
