On show in the Queer the Pier exhibition (2020 - 2022) at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery. Excerpt from 'Brighton Head and Freak' magazine (Issue 3, published 1968/9). Cover features a printed illustration by John Upton. Inside back cover features a poem about cottaging by Bill Butler. Ref: Royal Pavilion & Museums BH703003 Daren Kay, Community Curator: Before the internet, bookshops provided spaces where LGBTIQ+ people could meet and find out about people like themselves. One such queer friendly space was Unicorn Bookshop at 51 Gloucester Road, Brighton that was open from 1966 to 1973. It was owned by openly gay poet and writer, Bill Butler (1937-1977). A poet in his own right, Butler often published homoerotic poems in the shop’s publications such as this one, which is probably about ‘cottaging’– the practise of men looking for sex with other men in public toilets.     John Upton, who designed the cover of this issue of the 'Brighton Head and Freak' magazine, also painted the original mural on the outside of the Unicorn Bookshop.

The following items were donated to the archive by Dave Dale in 2022. The collection of 9 photos, taken by Dave Dale, depict a variety of marchers, musicians, artists and creatives walking along East Street in 1994. They were submitted via the Queer Heritage South website, with the following comment attached to each individual photo: "In 1994, the Pride march came along East Street, heading south. I owned a couple of bookshops in East Street ('Read All About It', at Nos 69 and 10), and we were about to move them into one bigger unit at No. 68. As the procession passed the shops, I took a few photos, as I had my camera with me, taking photos of the new shop's fitting-out. It was a wonderful day, with colour, laughter, noise and celebration filling the air. A day I've never forgotten." Context: Though originally described as a Pride march, these images are likely to depict the Children's Parade. The parade theme in 1994 was "Ship of Fools" If you recognise the parade and have any further details, please get in contact with us.