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Listen to excerpts from OurStory Scotland's extensive oral history archive which reflect on the experience of HIV and AIDS in Scotland. These first-hand testimonies have been diligently compiled by OurStory Scotland volunteers, and exist nowhere else. The excerpts are accompanied by a soundscape recording and music, both created by composer and sound artist Ross Whyte.

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Originally commissioned by for their 2024 'Queer & Now' exhibition, Songs From the Back of the Bus by Ross Whyte is a reworking of Brian Souter’s ‘Keep the Clause’ campaign billboards, which promoted his privately-funded 2000 referendum. The visual “noise” of that campaign is contrasted with LGBTQ+ voices.

An original score accompanies the testimonies of those who lived through and campaigned for the repeal of Section 28 (or Clause 2A, as it was known in Scotland).

The interviewees reflect on this significant period of recent Scottish history and discuss their concerns for what may yet lie ahead.

Voices:

Alex Heatherington

Sue John

Val McDermid

Jim Mearns

Edwin Morgan

Martin Thain

Louise Welsh

Jim Whannel

Ross Whyte

This podcast episode marks the 25-year anniversary of the repeal of Section 28 in Scotland.

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An OurStory Scotland podcast with members of SheBoom, a Glasgow based women's drumming band and collective. SheBoom members talk about drumming at inspiring gigs, collective working and how being in SheBoom has affected their identities and relationships.

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Childhoods is a series of podcast episodes devised and produced by OurStory Scotland in partnership with Children’s Parliament as part of the Year of Childhood, a year-long celebration of childhood running throughout 2021. During the Year of Childhood, Children’s Parliament are exploring childhood through the lens of children’s human rights, creating opportunities to share rights-based practice in an atmosphere of optimism and confidence.

As part of Year of Childhood, Children's Parliament has been collecting stories to capture the variety of experiences we have in childhood, and how they impact us in adulthood. Children's Parliament have been hosting discussions and dialogues about the importance of upholding children's rights, with the aim of using these stories to highlight what happens when we get it right, and what can happen when we get it wrong.

The partnership of OurStory Scotland and Children’s Parliament enables us to share stories and experiences of childhood recounted by the LGBTQ+ community in Scotland to ensure the collection of stories reflects and represents the collective experience of Scotland.

The title ‘Childhoods’ was chosen to reflect the wide range of childhood experiences evidenced by the LGBTQ+ community in Scotland. It was decided to put together three episodes, though more may be added in the future. The three episodes are modelled partly on one of the great autobiographical achievements in the history of cinema, the famous trilogy by the Scottish filmmaker Bill Douglas: My Childhood, My Ain Folk, My Way Home.

The three episodes in the OurStory Scotland podcast series focus on Families, Schools and Communities, and Reflections and Repercussions in later life. Each episode draws on a wide range of extracts from LGBTQ+ oral history recordings made by OurStory Scotland for archive at the National Library of Scotland. The lives narrated through these oral histories range from growing up in the 1920s and 1930s (Edwin Morgan) to the 2010s, encompassing almost a century of childhoods.

The music for Childhoods was specially recorded by The National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music, situated in Plockton on the West Coast of Scotland, who generously donated their beautiful renditions of three songs of Scottish childhood:

For episode 1 on Families – An Coineachan, in English The Fairy Lullaby: this is a lullaby, but slightly macabre in that it tells of a baby being kidnapped by the fairies.

For episode 2 on Schools and Communities – Babbity Bowster: this is a kids’ circle game, but has a wee bit of a challenge in it in the ‘wha learned ye tae dance?’ question. The options of whether to kiss a wee lassie or a wee laddie could be viewed through a prism of sexual orientation.

For episode 3 on Reflections and Repercussions – Nuair Bha Mi Og, in English When I Was Young: this is a song of emigration, or maybe banishment, in which the singer looks back fondly at the country of their youth.

The oral history extracts you will hear in these episodes give evidence of a great diversity of childhoods, with accounts that may be happy or sad, uplifting or deeply painful. Some of the experiences shared through these recordings are disturbing, and may trigger difficult memories. In every case, those who tell these tales are heroic, for coming through tough times and for sharing their stories with us all.

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

Childhoods is a series of podcast episodes devised and produced by OurStory Scotland in partnership with Children’s Parliament as part of the Year of Childhood, a year-long celebration of childhood running throughout 2021. During the Year of Childhood, Children’s Parliament are exploring childhood through the lens of children’s human rights, creating opportunities to share rights-based practice in an atmosphere of optimism and confidence.

As part of Year of Childhood, Children's Parliament has been collecting stories to capture the variety of experiences we have in childhood, and how they impact us in adulthood. Children's Parliament have been hosting discussions and dialogues about the importance of upholding children's rights, with the aim of using these stories to highlight what happens when we get it right, and what can happen when we get it wrong.

The partnership of OurStory Scotland and Children’s Parliament enables us to share stories and experiences of childhood recounted by the LGBTQ+ community in Scotland to ensure the collection of stories reflects and represents the collective experience of Scotland.

The title 'Childhoods' was chosen to reflect the wide range of childhood experiences evidenced by the LGBTQ+ community in Scotland. It was decided to put together three episodes, though more may be added in the future. The three episodes are modelled partly on one of the great autobiographical achievements in the history of cinema, the famous trilogy by the Scottish filmmaker Bill Douglas: My Childhood, My Ain Folk, My Way Home.

The three episodes in the OurStory Scotland podcast series focus on Families, Schools and Communities, and Reflections and Repercussions in later life. Each episode draws on a wide range of extracts from LGBTQ+ oral history recordings made by OurStory Scotland for archive at the National Library of Scotland. The lives narrated through these oral histories range from growing up in the 1920s and 1930s (Edwin Morgan) to the 2010s, encompassing almost a century of childhoods.

The music for Childhoods was specially recorded by The National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music, situated in Plockton on the West Coast of Scotland, who generously donated their beautiful renditions of three songs of Scottish childhood:

For episode 1 on Families – An Coineachan, in English The Fairy Lullaby: this is a lullaby, but slightly macabre in that it tells of a baby being kidnapped by the fairies.

For episode 2 on Schools and Communities – Babbity Bowster: this is a kids’ circle game, but has a wee bit of a challenge in it in the 'wha learned ye tae dance?' question. The options of whether to kiss a wee lassie or a wee laddie could be viewed through a prism of sexual orientation.

For episode 3 on Reflections and Repercussions – Nuair Bha Mi Og, in English When I Was Young: this is a song of emigration, or maybe banishment, in which the singer looks back fondly at the country of their youth.

The oral history extracts you will hear in these episodes give evidence of a great diversity of childhoods, with accounts that may be happy or sad, uplifting or deeply painful. Some of the experiences shared through these recordings are disturbing, and may trigger difficult memories. In every case, those who tell these tales are heroic, for coming through tough times and for sharing their stories with us all.