LGBTQ History Tour in Brighton (semi-private)

In Brighton you’ll join a colourful walk along the beach and through the historic city centre that looks at the town from a lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer perspective. The tour is run as a small group (maximum 12) so you’ll have space to ask questions and engage with the stories.

As you move through more than 200 years of local history, you’ll hear about Regency dandies and the lives of lesbians and gay men in the 1950s, and about the political activism that has shaped the city. The guide will tell the story of Anne Lister’s trip to Brighton (the subject of the BBC/HBO series Gentleman Jack) alongside the lives and legacies of Lord Byron, Oscar Wilde and Dusty Springfield. You’ll also uncover lesser-known figures, including a pioneering doctor who lived as a man long before women were allowed to practise medicine, an Edwardian “drag king”, and what is recorded as a “same-sex” marriage in 1923.

Along the way the tour connects these people and events to Brighton’s streets and seafront, giving context to familiar places and sharing hidden stories that you might not hear on a conventional city walk.