Twentieth-century Jewish LGBTQ London and the Rainbow Jews Heritage Project

Abstract

ABSTRACT:Exploring twentieth-century LGBTQ Jewish London, this article argues that the everyday places where intersectional, sexual and cultural, religious and spiritual identities were negotiated, experienced, explored and reconciled must be preserved in place. Adopting a historical method, it draws on the experiences and resources recorded by the community-led "Rainbow Jews" heritage project, 2012–15, including a new collection of 40 oral histories. Over the course of the twentieth century, the nexus of Jewish and LGBTQ lives, the places where people lived, rallied, played and prayed, the streets and parks, community halls and parks, shifted from the East End to the West End, from central to north London. This reflected broader urban, social and historical changes, overlapping with the evolving geographies of the broader LGBTQ and Jewish communities. Few of these places are significant for their architectural value or historical fabric, so evade conventional urban heritage practice. This article suggests that treating heritage as a social and historical and an urban and spatial process generates challenging yet surmountable demands for preserving heritage in place. It proposes that dynamic means are required to safeguard the legacy of valuable LGBTQ heritage projects such as "Rainbow Jews."