Queer History Club: Memory and Liberation in Argentina and South Africa

Let it go? Queer histories, memory and liberation in Argentina and South Africa.

What does it mean to be told to move on from a history that is still shaping your life?

This workshop brings together histories and archival materials of travestis in Argentina and drag queens in South Africa - communities that survived dictatorship and apartheid, only to find that promises of liberation left many forms of violence intact.

Through their histories and memories, we explore how queer and trans people in both contexts have refused to simply let go of the past, instead building creative, collective ways of remembering, resisting and healing.

Through a hands-on archiving exercise, participants will explore how the same history can be told differently depending on audience, and how the language of rights and freedoms shapes, and sometimes distorts, what gets remembered, and for whom.

Patricio Simonetto and Megan Robertson both research and teach in the School of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Leeds. Their work focuses on gender and sexuality in Global South contexts, and they jointly co-direct the Centre for Interdisciplinary Gender Studies.

Kit Heyam is a Leeds-based heritage practitioner, trans awareness trainer, academic and author of Before We Were Trans.

Date: Wednesday 6th May 2026
Time: 7-9pm
Venue: The Bookish Type, 77a Great George Street, LS1 3BR

Tickets are free!

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Access Info

The shop has an 8cm step but we have a ramp we can put in place if required.
There is a downstairs bathroom with toilet and hand basin.
There is a range of seating including chairs that are armless with padded seats and backs, armless sofa, bench with cushions.
Face masks are encouraged but not required; an H13 HEPA  air purifier will be in use.
On street parking available (charges may apply).
Please email in advance if you have any specific access needs: [email protected]