In Private: 60 years on from 1967, award-winning photographer wants to hear from those who were there

Photographer Chris Jepson is looking for LGBTQ+ people who were alive in 1967 to sit for a portrait and share their memories, for an exhibition in LGBT History Month, February 2027.

Next year marks 60 years since the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales. A new project from Proud Studios CIC, in association with Brighton & Hove Pride, Marlborough Productions and Pride Community Foundation, wants to record what that moment meant to the older LGBTQ+ people who lived through it, and to those who grew up in its shadow.

In Private is a collaborative portrait and testimony project led by Brighton photographer Chris Jepson. Each participant will be photographed and will answer a short set of questions in their own words. The title comes from the Sexual Offences Act 1967 itself, which applied to England and Wales only and covered men over 21 acting in private. It left a great deal of criminal law and social hostility in place. Women, trans people and those living elsewhere in the UK experienced the period differently, but many still felt its fallout and stigma.

Sixty years on, there are still many people who remember 1967 first-hand, and this anniversary is a chance to hear from them. Many were adults then and are now over 80. Many more were teenagers, growing up with the law's limits and silences. Their memories of what they read, what they were told and what changed in daily life are rarely recorded, and rarely recorded alongside the face of the person who remembers them.

“Sixty years is a long time, and 1967 is still living memory for many people,” says Jepson. “I want to honour our queer elders and their stories, and these portraits and testimonies give younger generations a chance to hear first hand what they went through, in their own words, and to learn from it.”

The finished work will be shown during LGBT History Month in February 2027.

Who can take part

Anyone who identifies as LGBTQ+ and was alive in 1967, whether you were an adult or a teenager. We want a real spread of lives: men, women, trans and non-binary people, bisexual people, people of colour, people who lived outside England and Wales, people who were married or not out, people who were threatened or arrested, and people who simply carried on. You do not need to have been an activist or to have a dramatic story.

Sessions will take place November to December 2026, at your home, in a community space or at the studio in Hove, whichever suits you. You can choose to be named, to use your first name only, or to remain anonymous.

To register your interest, fill in the sign-up form at Proud-Studios.co.uk/in-private. For questions, email hello@proud-studios.co.uk.