Suburban England: a respectable enclave for the upwardly mobile replete with pebble-dashed walls, tightly cultivated lawns and two-point-four children; a place where heterosexuality is the ‘obviously’ dominant mode. But as social historian John Grindrod demonstrates, the real story of life behind the net curtains has always been one teeming with colour and queer narrative.

Drawing on extensive archive material and insightful oral history, Tales of the Suburbs patterns an entire palette of LGBTQ+ suburban life and culture, centring the stories–along with the challenges and hard-earned joys–of those who have lived and loved in these curious, sometimes closeted, spaces.

In conversation with Chair of Birmingham LGBT, Dr Steve Ball.

This event is sponsored by the University of Birmingham