Why Do We Need Queer History? SPQP Lecture

Members of various minorities share a common heritage of major historical events, yet their collective identity is shaped by personalities and events that never made it into history textbooks. Awareness of community history matters because it shows that non-heterosexual people have always been here, and sites of collective memory remind us they were everywhere. Attempts to ignore, suppress, or outright erase their experiences are also part of that history.

This lecture will present several stories from the past of gay, lesbian, and transgender figures and how these narratives are woven into Prague's topography. We'll discuss Jiří Karáskek ze Lvovic, Jan Zrzavý, Toyen, drag performer Otto Tasinatov, athlete Zdeněk Koubek, and painter Toni Ebel, as well as isolated monuments and meeting places.

Admission is voluntary. The event is part of the Open Meeting for Queer People 30+.

Speaker: PhDr. Ladislav Jackson, Ph.D. – art and architecture historian, chair of the board of the Society for Queer Memory. He works as a senior research assistant at the Faculty of Fine Arts at BUT in Brno. He focuses on queer art and spatiality; in 2024 he published the edited volume Images of Other Desire: Queer Art and Visuality in Czech Lands. He contributed to the books Homosexuality in the History of Czech Culture and Warm Prague and is the author of numerous exhibitions and publications on queer history, including the Queer Heritage Walk series – guided tours through Prague's queer history.