LGBT+ History Month - Science and Innovation

Proud, the self-organising voice of LGBT+ members in PCS, sends solidarity to all members this LGBT+ History Month. The 2026 theme, Science and Innovation, highlights overlooked LGBT+ figures, including Barbara Burford, a medical researcher who helped establish NHS equality and diversity guidelines; Elke Mackenzie, a trans botanist whose research focused on Antarctic lichens; and Jemma Redmond, an intersex biotechnologist who developed 3D bioprinting technologies for tissues and organs. Proud will host a series of events throughout February and encourages all PCS members to attend to learn more about LGBT+ history and its relevance to ongoing activism.

Monday 2 February 2026 – 12-1pm: “LGBT+ Scientists through history” 
To launch LGBT+ History Month, Liat Norris (PCS Proud secretary) will lead a session on influential LGBT+ scientists throughout history. The session will address the persistent erasure of LGBT+ people and the ways in which the state has historically downplayed the contributions of LGBT+ and other queer individuals.

Friday 6 February 2026 – 12-1pm: “Race Equality Week”
Join Evgeny Loskutov (PCS Proud Black rep), TUC race equality lead Michelle Codrington-Rogers and national Black members' committee vice-chair Tracey Hylton to mark Race Equality Week during LGBT+ History Month. Despite the working class’s diversity, it is united by shared exploitation under capitalism, with so-called culture wars used to foster division - highlighting the potential for collective organisation to challenge capitalist policies.

Thursday 12 February 2026 – 6-7pm: “Magnus Hirschfeld and the Institute for Sexual Science  
Eilonwy Awen (PCS Proud campaigns & communications officer) will deliver a session on the history and impact of the Institute for Sexual Science. Founded in 1919 by Jewish physician and sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld, the Institute was an international centre for research on sexuality and gender and an early provider of gender-affirming care, before its destruction by the Nazi Party as part of a wider attack on emancipatory knowledge and non-hegemonic identities.

Wednesday 18 February 2026 – 1-2pm: “Advancements in HIV science”
AIDS disproportionately affected groups marginalised under capitalism, with stigma leading governments to delay funding, research, and public health responses. In this session, Liam McClelland (PCS Proud learning and events officer) and Quinn Roach TUC LGBT+ officer (tbc) will examine how the AIDS crisis exposed a hierarchy of human worth and highlight the scientific advances that have since enabled queer and working-class communities to survive and thrive despite systemic failure.

Thursday 26 February 2026 - 6-7pm: IVF and LGBT+ Reproductive Health
Historically, and often still, IVF access has been structured around the heterosexual nuclear family and is disproportionately available to wealthier, white, middle-class communities. However, as costs fall and access improves, IVF is increasingly supporting LGBT+ families. Natalie Nixon (PCS Proud women's rep) and Jemma Garvey (PCS Proud Bi+ rep) will lead this LGBT+ History Month discussion on LGBT+ reproductive health and how scientific advances have enabled LGBT+ people to become parents. The Zoom link will be circulated to registered members.