Thank you Sue! That means so much coming from you 💗 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ the fight continues ✊

Section 28 is an incredibly shameful part of our recent history, and yet, 25 years after its repeal we are seeing its harmful rhetoric being employed again.

These two releases are as much a warning as they are a celebration of progress, and the people who make that progress happen. 🏳️‍🌈

‘Songs From the Back of the Bus’ was originally commissioned by ⁠Shaper/Caper⁠ for their 2024 'Queer & Now' exhibition with support from @ourstoryscotland.bsky.social. It is a reworking of Brian Souter’s 'Keep the Clause' campaign billboards, which promoted his privately-funded 2000 referendum.

I created the video for ‘Dìlse’ using archival footage, which I got with kind permission from Jim Hubbard (co-founder of the ACT UP Oral History Project) and commissioned animation by Sam Myers.

(We had to wait for this wonderful piece of work to premier at a drag show in Cambridge at the weekend before sharing it - difficult!)

Voices:
Alex Heatherington
Sue John
Val McDermid
Jim Mearns
Edwin Morgan
Martin Thain
Louise Welsh
Jim Whannel
Ross Whyte

Archival recordings of interviews with Val McDermid, Edwin Morgan, and Louise Welsh used with kind permission by OurStory Scotland.

An original ambient score accompanies the testimonies of those who lived through & campaigned for the repeal of the discriminatory #Section28.

The interviewees reflect on this significant period of recent LGBTQ+ Scottish history & discuss their concerns for what may yet lie ahead.

Your work shows the power of oral histories and you deserve to feel such pride 💗 Many of us find ourselves in the archive