If you identify as a member of the LGBTQ community, you may have felt more excluded from society. There are far fewer socializing opportunities for gay, lesbian, bi or trans individuals. But that has all changed with the advent of online dating services. Anyone seeking to develop relationships, whether that’s friendship, casual flings or long-term partnerships, can interact with kindred spirits. As well as offering a platform for finding matches, joining a gay dating site can offer so much insight into LGBTQ-related topics. For instance, if you’d like to find information about what architecture reveals about the history of this community, you’ll find everything you need to know at your fingertips. Let’s delve a little deeper into what buildings tell us about being gay.

The first leading lesbian

The chances are you won’t have heard of Anne Lister, a noted diarist who was born in Halifax, in Yorkshire, England in the late 17^th-century. But she has gone down in history for carrying the torch for same-sex orientated women all those years ago. She gained a reputation for being proud of her inner feelings, rather than keeping them repressed as was by far the more prevalent notion back then. From her younger days onwards, she indulged in lesbian relationships, at home and during lengthy foreign excursions. Known for her muscular appearance, this highly-educated lesbian was referred to as Gentleman Jack by the more ignorant members of English society. She became a champion of her community after death: her diaries were discovered to contain code alluding to her graphic lesbian sex life.

Two of Lister’s long-term lovers, Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, later fled to North Wales, setting up home in a small cottage, crammed with Gothic pieces, a well-stocked library and scenic gardens. Lister herself commissioned a tower to be added, and this property came to be known as Shibden Hall. This is now widely seen as a wonderful expression of LGBTQ heritage and is now a Grade II listed museum.

Sexual liberation in Victorian times

Another key figure in LGBTQ history is the Sussex-born poet and philosopher Edward Carpenter. Brought up in the Victorian south of England, at a time when homosexuality was illegal, and the British Empire was at its peak, Carpenter was an early champion of gay rights. He gained fame, and a degree of notoriety, when he published a book called Civilisation: Its Cause and Cure, arguing that civilisations over the centuries have been almost like a disease breeding intolerance, with societies merely moving through them. His work has a profound influence on English literary giants EM Forster and DH Lawrence, who were to court their own controversies with much of their published output centering on the imbalance between human nature and societal oppression. Carpenter’s philosophies also inspired close friend Sir Raymond Unwin, an architect who believed in improving the living conditions for England’s impoverished working classes. The legacy of Carpenter and Unwin’s social enterprises can be seen today. Hampstead Garden Suburb, in London, and Letchworth Garden City, in Hertfordshire, attract thousands of visitors. The latter was the first example of its kind.

The modern impact of pride in architecture

The 18^th and 19^th centuries represented a period when the Western world was flexing its creative muscles, with new inventions and innovations being introduced at a phenomenal rate. Sadly, levels of tolerance were to lag for many decades to come. But the influence of LGBTQ-rights advocates can be seen in today’s far more inclusive societies, where architects and employers are dedicated to providing buildings and workplaces where everyone is made to feel welcome, regardless of their sexuality.