Michael Brown Papers

Collection

Holding institution:: LSE Library: The London School of Economics and Political Science

Holding institution (official language):: LSE Library: The London School of Economics and Political Science

Postal address:: 25 Southampton BuildingsLondonGreater LondonUnited KingdomWC2A 1PH

Scope and content:: Most of the collection consists of photographs.The collection comprises:*Campaigning and personal papers (in box HCA/BROWN/1)*Photographs (in boxes HCA/BROWN/2-5)*Slides (in box HCA/BROWN/6)*Audio Visual material (in box HCA/BROWN/6)*Ephemera (in box HCA/BROWN/6)

Administrative/biographical history:: Michael Brown (born Desmond Michael Brown), 1932 - 2013, was a pioneering LGBT activist from London. In 1954 he started campaigning by writing letters to broadsheets, signing under a false name to protect his identity. He joined the Homosexual Law Reform Society in 1957 and remained involved in it until partial decriminalisation in 1967. He then became one of the original members of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) and formed the first Jewish Gay Group.Brown campaigned at both a national and international level working with a number of organisations, such as the Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE) who awarded him the Derek Oyston Achievement Award, International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA), London Friend, Switchboard, and Age Concern's Gay Men's Group. In the 1980s he helped establish the all-Parliamentary Aids Committee and was involved with the Jewish Aids Trust.A lifelong activist, Brown continued to give talks and contribute to Gay History Month into his later years. He also wrote poetry and published a book of his collections in 1981.

Links to finding aids:: https://archives.lse.ac.uk/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=HCA%2fBROWN