This shows two reviews, from The Stage and The Scotsman of Siren’s Play ‘Mama’s Gone A’Hunting”. The Stage review was completed at The Marlborough in Brighton and the Scotsman at University Chaplaincy Centre in Edinburgh. The Stage reviewer queried the choice of the name Siren, saying it seems odd for a company ‘promoting the feminist cause’. Given that the origin of Siren in Greek mythology was a creature (part woman, part bird) who lured sailors to destruction by the sweetness of her song, the company felt that this was a very appropriate name for the company, which combined feminism and music to make their radical points!

This black and white photo shows Jane Boston, Jude Winter, Tash Fairbanks and Deb Trethewey checking the map before heading off somewhere for a performance. This photo was taken in front of Siren’s ancient touring van. On one tour, Siren went from venue to venue on the back of an AA van, due to constant breakdown problems with the vehicle.

Social and peer support group, Sister Act, produced a monthly newsletter in the 1990s and early 2000s for and by lesbians in Cambridge and East Anglia, and this is a scan of one edition. It was a lifeline for a circulation list of 150-200 women of all ages, helping to create a genuine community for closeted gay women and out-and-proud dykes alike, at a time when their lives and concerns were much debated in parliament and the media. I was editor for a while, and lived from one women's disco to the next, meeting partners and friends who would remain in my life for decades. Nowadays I'm experiencing deja vu having to navigate the pros and cons of coming out all over again and finding a new community as a trans man, now living near Brighton.

Image set depicting the South East Gay Students Protest in London (1979).

Two reviews about the play ‘Curfew’ when it opened at the Oval House Theatre, London. The review at the top of the image is from 'Spare Rib', published in March 1982. It features a photo of Jane Boston as Calamity Jane. The review at the bottom of the photo is from 'The Stage', published in February 1982.

Digital reproduction of the cover of Spare Rib, and the review of Siren’s show ‘From the Divine’. The reviewer, Liz Horsfield, writes that Lily is far more interested in Ruby [or}“is it me being a lesbian that makes me think so?” No matter how ‘out’ Siren was as a company, it perhaps wasn’t always obvious to the audience or reviewers.

The play opened at the Drill Hall in London for 2 weeks in 1985 and was sold out every night. It returned to the Drill Hall in January 1986,. Manny describes Pulp as "a feminist play par excellence, brilliantly acted, refreshing, hilariously entertaining".

Flyer for Brighton's sexy sauna all-nighter - women only. The Amsterdam, 11-12 Marine Parade, Brighton. Friday 28th October 2005. £10 advance or £12 on the night.

I met Stephen in a Kemp Town gym, and we became better acquainted in the jacuzzi. His partner was Omar, known to his friends as O. They became good friends of mine, and their large flat on Preston Park was always open to me and other friends. They both had a good eye for interior design and enjoyed a comfortable life. Stephen and I used to go swimming regularly at the Eastbourne leisure centre, stopping off at my house near Lewes on the way back. Somehow, I lost track of Stephen and O for a couple of years, but we reforged our friendships, stronger than ever, after we all were living with HIV. They separated at the start of the 1990’s, and Stephen died from Pneumocystis Pneumonia (PCP) in Ward 6 of Hove General Hospital in 1994.

Flyer for Submission the 6th birthday party. A showcase of fetish, fashion, style & erotica. Thursday 30th November 1995. Strict dress code: fetish, fantasy, rubber, leather, PVC, cross-dress, lingerie & uniform Held in London, at Bagley's Warehouse, Kings Cross, N1

Sussex AIDS Centre “We held the first Brighton and Hove public meeting on AIDS in 1984 at offices in Lansdowne Place, Hove. Graham Wilkinson and I split the small cost of hiring the room and invited someone from the recently formed THT to come along and explain what they were doing in London. Both Graham and I had joined THTs small Social Work group which met at their original tiny offices in London – at that time only consisting of a couple of rooms. So, it was at this first public meeting that a handful of us volunteered to set up the Sussex AIDS Helpline.    We knew the person who at the time managed the Well-Women Clinic above a shop on the corner of Western Road and Waterloo Street in Hove. They very kindly agreed to let us use their offices in the evening when they were closed and allowed us to use a telephone line for free.    Graham and I both worked together as Social Workers in the Hanover Team based opposite St Peters Church, and we managed to get permission to use our offices in the evening for training and support groups. As professional social workers we were able to put together a training programme for the early volunteers to help handle phone calls. Graham or I would either take the calls ourselves, or be there as support for the other volunteers.    For the first 2 years Sussex AIDS Helpline got no official funding. We managed to get by with volunteer time and effort, meeting in each other’s homes, raising awareness in pubs and clubs, and by borrowing facilities and resources from the Well Women's Clinic and Social Services Hanover Team. A couple of years later we became the Sussex AIDS Centre and Helpline.” Clive Stevens

Sussex branch of GLF commemorating LGBTIQ+ people who died for their country. The campaign is documented in minutes kept at the Keep

Sussex Lancers Open Door appeal 1990. Father Marcus Rigg’s partner Keith Simmans was a member of the Sussex Lancers, a gay men’s motorcycle club. The appeal is dated 1990. The photograph of 35 Camelford Street , the former location of Open Door, was taken by Harry Hillery in 2021.

This top was released by Topshop and Topman in collaboration with Calm (Campaign Against Living Miserably) for World Mental Health Day 2019. The front of the T-shirt crosses out the word 'Collected' and writes above it 'Connected'. On the back of the t-shirt, it has instructions on 'how to handle with care', in the format of typical washing instructions. The instructions include information about how to access the CALM helpline. This t-shirt has been a great conversation starter over the years and led to some really important conversations within the community about mental health and access.

Blair Imani Ali is writer, mental health advocate and historian living at the intersections of Black, Queer and Muslim. She sold this t-shirt in 2021 based on a the post she made on Instagram in August 2020. I have been a long-time follower of Blair Imani Ali, as someone who is a LGBTQ+ British Indian who was brought up Catholic