Our Queer Cultural Heritage

Thanks to European Heritage Days funding through the Council of Europe, we were able to deliver a project looking at Queer Cultural Heritage and its meaning to grassroots community organisations. Initially conceived as a follow-up from the successful lockdown challenge project as part of the 3-city partnership between LEAP Sports, LiGA in Ukraine and Munich Kyiv Queer in Germany, activities took place in Scotland and Ukraine.  

European Heritage Days are an opportunity to celebrate the shared cultural heritage of many different towns, regions, and people in Europe. European Heritage Days had the theme of Inclusive Heritage for 2021 which all participating countries were encouraged to incorporate for their events or programmes. We centred the project and each of our events around the Inclusive Heritage theme. When creating Queer Cultural Heritage events, we wanted to have an awareness of the diversity and intersectionality of the LGBTIQ+ communities we were working with nationally and internationally. We used the project to create heritage events for members of the Queer communities to celebrate and reflect on their own culture. Scotland used the theme of queer activism through sport and had a series of community events culminating in a roller derby event. Ukraine used the theme of queer activism through community development and had a series of history seminars to explore and capture hidden aspects of heritage.  

We have produced a full report which looks at the focus of the project. 

Click the Evaluation & Sustainability report above to read or download it.  

Our roller derby event led to a more localised project in Scotland focused on exploring some of the untold stories of LGBTIQ+ pioneers in Scottish sport. From this we created a new exhibition panel which will tour LEAP Sports events throughout 2022-23.  

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