Cruising London
Secret codes, hiding in plain sight and salacious interactions tell us not only about a history of pleasure and transgression, but also a history of criminalization, blackmail and frustrated need for sex and human contact. It also tells a fascinating tale about the relation between public and private space and how spaces have been made between them.
Focusing on historical London spaces such as Molly Houses, bath houses, public toilets and sex and fetish clubs, we will unearth forgotten histories of lesbian cruising, illicit cross-class contact, inept policing and damaging criminalization. We also will look at the role gentrification and the financialisaton of housing have played in shifting queer desires, cruising grounds and queer pleasure.
Ultimately we will ask why cruising still matters and what barriers it faces in our changing world.
Need to Know
Meet the Tutors
Dr Peter Ely
Dr Peter Ely is a lecturer and researcher in English literature with an emphasis on Black and Asian British writing, contemporary fiction and the history of London. He has published a number of articles and chapters, and is the editor of ‘Community in Contemporary British Fiction: From Blair to Brexit’.
Dr Isabell Dahms
Dr Isabell Dahms is a lecturer in Queer History at Goldsmiths University and researches the intersection of the histories of philosophy, gynaecology and feminist health movements. She completed a PhD at Kingston University London on notions of speculation and performativity in philosophy and gender studies.
Dates and Times
Cruising London
, 6:01 - 8:01
