And the rest is history...

Liverpool’s rich heritage expands far beyond The Beatles, Shipping and Cotton – in fact our gay history is full of laughter, fond memories and sadly hard times with a ‘them and us’ culture at some points.

Whatever the facts though, it’s all important for us to remember and vital to educate today’s young people. With this in mind, First Take Training and Productions based in Liverpool have gained funding for a project called Pink, Past Present. Producer of the project Stephen Barr says: “I’ve had the idea to create a film for some time now – and in August last year I got together a steer group to talk about it further. Lots of people got involved, and we met to talk about Liverpool’s past and mapped out a timeline. “From there we have been conducting interviews collating people’s memories of nightlife, day life and some bigger issues, such as when the law was changed in 1967 and when Aids was first spoken about and people in the city were scared – some memories of these times are very powerful and sometimes even shocking.”

Stephen says that the Facebook page he created has helped greatly with the project: “The response has been amazing – there are more than 650 people who like the page online and I have received so many messages and photographs this way – the archives we have are expanding all the time. “Everybody who have been involved has been amazing – giving so much time and contributing their thoughts, opinions and memories of our city’s history. We are still working on the final part of the project, and can’t wait to show it.”

For more about the film and the memories of the people involved, don’t miss Issue 2 of Seen Magazine out on November 1.

Pink Past and Present will be shown at Fact in Liverpool on November 7 2010 as part of the Homotopia Festival. http://www.fact.co.uk

For more information visit Pink Past and Present on Facebook.
Pink: Past & Present's Facebook Page