A local and national LGBT Timeline from 2026 onwards
QUEER NOTTINGHAM 1990-2019
In February 2026, the second of CJ Debarra's books about Nottingham's queer history was published, covering the period from 1990 to 2019.
A third book going back from the 1950s to the 1700s(!) is in progress.
The books go along with the progress of the Notts Queer History Archive, which at the moment includes nearly 200 recorded interviews and nearly 2000 objects, documents and items of memorabilia.
CELEBRATION AND AWARDS EVENING FEBRUARY 2026
This annual event is a collaboration between Nottinghamshire's Rainbow Heritage and Nottinghamshire Pride.
This year Rainbow Heritage presented three awards and Pride presented two.
The Nottinghamshire's Rainbow Heritage first award went to CJ DeBarra for their work on queer Nottingham's history. The second award went to Shell and Lucy Buckle for organising LGBT+ swimming and founding the East Midlands Non-binary Association (Shell) and for running the annual Queer History Walk and events such as "Gays in the Garden" (Lucy). The third award went to Nottingham Front Runners for not only promoting fitness, but providing a warm social environment and also campaigning against issues such as transphobia.
The first award from Notts Pride went to the Pastel Project. The project has pioneered the Your Space Too initiative partnering with local venues to highlight the shining stars in our community who are providing safe spaces for trans customers. The project has also been leading the development of the Rainbow Quarter to be launched in May.
The final award went to Sladen Estates for their continuing support for Pride. The representative from Sladen wasn’t able to attend and the award was accepted on their behalf by Pride Chairperson Leigh Ellis.
NOTTS PRIDE COMMUNITY HUB
In Spring 2026, Notts Pride announced that they had established a Community Hub where the spaces are available for free community hire. The Hub is well-equipped and suitable for…Coffee Mornings, Crafting Sessions, Co-Working, Meetings, Rehearsals, Social Groups, Workshops.
The Hub has various features, including… Car Park outside (NCP), Computer Access, Free WiFi, Fridge, Gender Neutral toilet, Projector & Speakers, Kettle & Coffee machine, Wheelchair Access. Photos from some of the rooms are shown below.
NOTTINGHAM'S RAINBOW QUARTER IS LAUNCHED
On June 17th, a large crowd assembled on Broad Street to celebrate the official opening of Nottingham’s Rainbow Quarter which centres around the Broad Street, Heathcoat Street and Carlton Street areas of Hockley. The ceremonial ribbon was held by Marilyn Sane (left) and Nana Arthole (right) from Gladrags. The ribbon was cut by Emma Duncan, David Edgley, Liv and Jess Hunt.
The ribbon cutting ceremony was preceded by speeches from Marilyn and Nana and then Leigh Ellis (chair of Notts Pride), CJ DeBarra of Notts Queer Archive and Sam Harvey - Chair of the Pastel Project, which has spearheaded the development of the Rainbow Quarter
By becoming the city's LGBTQ+ district, the area could see new road signs, maps updated to reflect the district's new title, colourful murals, heritage plaques and a collective image for businesses.
Sam Harvey remarked "I think it comes at such an important time because, as we've seen in the news, Pride events across the country are losing funding and being closed down," he said. This is a statement to essentially say Nottingham isn't like that and that we're doing something different and we will not go away. We will be visible and proud. ""It's going to benefit businesses, it's going to benefit the city centre and it's going to benefit the community,"
NOTTS TRANS PRIDE 2026
