Skip to player
Skip to main content
Skip to footer
Search
Connect
Watch fullscreen
Like
Comments
Bookmark
Share
Add to Playlist
Report
Exploring the personal stories of Chichester's LGBTQ+ community and beyond
SussexWorld
Follow
29/01/2025
A landmark exhibition at Chichester’s Novium Museum – Out & Proud in Chichester, opening on Saturday, February 1 and running until the autumn – doesn’t just tell the story of Chichester Pride and the local LGBTQ+ community.
Category
🗞
News
Transcript
Display full video transcript
00:00
Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Always a
00:06
huge pleasure to speak to Stuart Burrows. Now Stuart, something very significant happening
00:10
in Chichester, it's Out and Proud, a new exhibition at the Novium, running through until the autumn.
00:17
It really is a landmark moment, isn't it? We were saying you are Chairman of Chichester
00:22
Pride, this matters, doesn't it?
00:25
I am now Chair of Chichester Pride and it feels like a big moment for us as an organisation.
00:32
It is part of our objective to raise the visibility of the LGBTQ plus community within Chichester
00:38
and the surrounding areas. I think we have become more visible within the city, not only
00:44
with our annual festival, Saturday 24th of May this year, but also of course last year
00:51
we had our first Pride parade through the city, which was a huge success, and rainbow
00:56
flags throughout the city, which was again a landmark moment for us. But this is an exhibition
01:02
that is running for nearly eight months in Chichester's Novium Museum. They very kindly
01:10
came to us and offered us a space in their community exhibition space and it is free
01:17
to go and visit.
01:19
It sounds like there's a very nice balancing act between telling the general story but
01:24
also personalising it with the individual stories, and yours is a particularly interesting
01:29
one. Would you ever have thought your coming out letter, 30 odd years ago, would become
01:35
a museum piece?
01:36
Yeah, that's a really, that's a great question. No, in short, to give that some context, I
01:45
came out to my parents by letter 30 years ago, a time when there was a lot more prejudice
01:51
within the UK about gay men and the LGBTQ plus community, probably coming out of the
01:58
AIDS crisis, and it felt like that would always be a private letter between myself and my
02:03
parents. My mum passed away about 18 months ago, and when I was going through her effects,
02:12
she'd kept it very safe in its original envelope, kept it very closed.
02:18
That says a lot.
02:19
It does. I think it felt to her like a big moment in all of our lives as a family, and
02:25
so I re-read that letter about 18 months ago, and I was very proud of how articulate it
02:31
sounded. And then when the museum suggested that we include in the exhibition personal
02:38
items from the community, which would talk a little bit about people's lives and people's
02:45
experiences, my first thought was to offer this letter, so now people that visit can
02:52
read that letter, along with probably about 12 other exhibits, personal exhibits, all
02:59
of which have a label attached, about 50 words, describing how important that particular item
03:06
is, and that's just one strand of an exhibition that looks both at the history of the country.
03:10
And you were saying the loveliest thing about your letter, obviously 30 years ago, a very
03:13
different world, things had changed so much, but you were saying you would not change a
03:17
word of that letter. That's remarkable, isn't it?
03:21
Yeah, I mean, I think you look at it as a moment in time, and it's very weird reading
03:27
something that you wrote 30 years ago, at a very different age, probably about mid-20s,
03:34
thinking, gosh, how was I? Because people don't write letters anymore, we've kind of
03:40
come out of that habit. So when I donated it, I really wanted to reread it a couple
03:45
of times to make sure, because it's going on public display, but I wouldn't change a
03:49
word of it. It was as I was at the time, and it was as I felt at the time, and it's a very
03:55
honest record of how I was feeling about the importance of coming out to my parents, and
04:02
telling them who I was, and who I wanted to love in my life. And they fully accepted that,
04:09
and were very happy with my decision.
04:13
That's a lovely piece to be able to include in the exhibition. Stuart, really good to
04:17
speak to you again. Congratulations on the exhibition.
04:20
Yes, I hope everybody comes to see it.
04:23
Thank you so much. All the best.
04:24
My pleasure. Thanks as ever, Phil.
Recommended
3:33
|
Up next
Landmark exhibition celebrates LGBTQ+ voices in Chichester
SussexWorld
01/04/2025
1:00
The history of Pride in Manchester
National World - LocalTV
20/08/2024
10:59
Manchester Pride Parade
ManchesterWorld
28/08/2023
5:40
Chichester Pride promises seven-hour family extravaganza
SussexWorld
10/05/2025
1:00
People on the street: What makes Manchester Pride special?
National World - LocalTV
24/08/2024
3:40
Chichester Pride offers Summer Late at Pallant House Gallery
SussexWorld
20/06/2024
1:00
A guide to events at Pride this weekend
National World - LocalTV
21/08/2024
0:42
Watch as the Chichester city centre prepares for pride celebrations this weekend
SussexWorld
23/05/2025
4:13
Chichester Pride promises seven hours of fun and frolics
SussexWorld
09/05/2024
2:20
Celebrating 50 years of the Chichester Society
SussexWorld
23/06/2023
4:51
Chichester Singers open the Festival of Chichester
SussexWorld
29/05/2024
0:55
Manchester Headlines 25 August: Manchester Pride Festival kicks off the bank holiday weekend
National World - LocalTV
25/08/2023
4:43
Chichester Gala returns to Priory Park for day of community fun
SussexWorld
19/06/2023
3:05
Manchester Pride Festival 2023: We take a look at the Gay Village as it prepares for the city’s famous Pride Parade and celebrations of the LGBTQ+ community
National World - LocalTV
25/08/2023
3:24
Potted Pride and Prejudice comes to the Chichester Fringe
SussexWorld
25/05/2025
2:00
A quick look at Manchester Pride
National World - LocalTV
24/08/2024
2:35
The Lord-Lieutenant of West Sussex, Lady Emma Barnard, hosts a Restorative Action Ceremony for LGBT veterans in Chichester
SussexWorld
30/01/2025
2:43
Festival of Chichester offers huge thanks to Chichester City Council
SussexWorld
16/06/2025
1:00
What’s on Guide for Manchester 21 February: Pretty Woman: The Musical coming to Manchester Opera House
National World - LocalTV
21/02/2024
0:55
Manchester Headlines 1 November: New Zoo could open in Greater Manchester
National World - LocalTV
01/11/2022
2:00
'Be Heard' - Thousands turn out for March with Pride in Liverpool 2024
National World - LocalTV
27/07/2024
3:05
Five Manchester news headlines you might have missed this week: 19-23 September
National World - LocalTV
23/09/2022
0:31
Chichester Pride 2025
SussexWorld
24/05/2025
5:15
The Chichester Singers celebrate their 70th anniversary
SussexWorld
03/06/2023
0:38
The Festival of Chichester is declared open!
SussexWorld
15/06/2024