In collaboration with Leeds Irish Health & Homes.

Across the generations, Irish LGBTQ+ people have emigrated and found opportunities to live and love openly. Yet this journey was rarely a simple transition from an oppressive island to a liberal wider world. Irish LGBTQ+ emigrants often faced prejudice abroad. The island of Ireland, once a place of shame and silence, could also become a welcoming site of return. This exhibition, on loan from the Irish Embassy in London, highlights twelve stories from the largely untold history of Ireland’s LGBTQ+ diaspora.

EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum, in partnership with the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, are proud to have played a pivotal role in illuminating this hidden history of Irish emigration.

Across six themes – exclusion, community, love, defiance, solidarity and return- the exhibition also features an artwork by award winning Irish designer and multi-disciplinary artist Richard Malone.

The exhibition will be open to the public at Left Bank Leeds from Wednesday 4th June until Thursday 10^th July.