From the Scottish Minorities Group in the 1970s to the legalisation of same sex marriage in 2013 - a new digital exhibition is sharing milestones in Scotland's LGBTQ+ history.
PhD candidate Rowan Rush-Morgan has spearheaded a project with Museums & Galleries Edinburgh to share the capital's unique stories of fighting for LGBTQ+ rights with digital and real-life visitors.
Working with curators, the collaboration has seen objects digitally recorded and displayed online to preserve the collection and make it more accessible for audiences.
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The exhibition - Our Rainbow Past: LGBTQ+ objects from Edinburgh – has been launched on the Our Town Stories platform.
The project, hosted by Museums & Galleries Edinburgh, and funded by the Scottish Graduate School of Arts & Humanities, focuses on the Remember When? Project, which collected objects from 2004 to 2006.
Mr Rush-Morgan, the project lead, said: "The Remember When? Project was groundbreaking at the time, bringing together objects, archives, and interviews to give a complete picture of LGBTQ+ life in Edinburgh.
"My placement was designed to make sure the collections database uses the correct terminology to allow researchers and the public to search for the stories from the collection important to them. "We also wanted to highlight some of the star objects in an online exhibition, which was great fun to put together."
The collection includes posters, magazines, t-shirts, badges, and larger items including the distinctive hand painted sign of Lavender Menace, the first LGBT bookshop in Scotland.
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Stored at the Museum Collections Centre in Broughton, the collection includes a plaque from the Lesbian and Gay Information Centre on Broughton Street from 1995.
Virtual visitors can also see Lavender Menace shop sign from 1983 before the famous book store changed its name to West & Wilde Bookshop with a move to a street front premises on Dundas Street.
Culture and Communities Convener Val Walker said: "Museums & Galleries Edinburgh is proud to reflect our diverse communities in our venues, events, and exhibitions.
"Partnership projects like Rowan’s enable us to access expertise which helps us and our visitors to see our collections in a new light.
"The important contribution of the LGBTQ+ community to Edinburgh is showcased brilliantly in the new digital exhibition."
A sticker from the ‘Time to Take Care’ AIDS awareness campaign in 1989 is included, as is a t-shirt from the Edinburgh Bisexual Conference of 1990.
Ms Walker added: "We plan to keep collecting objects which tell the story of LGBTQ+ Edinburgh, and to keep sharing them with our visitors.
"We’re so excited to be able to share some of the most iconic objects from our LGBTQ+ collection online.
"New photography has really brought the objects to life, while Rowan’s research has added depth to the stories.
"Anyone with an interest in the LGBTQ+ life of Edinburgh and how far we’ve come in the journey towards equality and inclusion will love the exhibition."
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