FEBRUARY is LGBT History Month, and residents are being invited to attend a series of celebrations taking place in the borough.

On 28 February the Town Hall will host an LGBT Lifestyles event, featuring music, a healing tent, crèche, food, and information on services, and Elly Barnes, a Stoke Newington School music teacher, will talk of her work promoting LGBT awareness in her school and others in Hackney.

Later on during the 11am-5pm event, some of her pupils will perform songs they have worked on to mark LGBT History Month.

Hackney Museum’s latest community exhibition also features a brief history of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender population through the ages.

The display features a timeline of LGBT events and people dating from the era of Egyptian mythology through to the present day, ending with an image of the first Civil Partnership at Hackney Town Hall.

There will also be a performance by lesbian hip hop artist Ms Fontaine on 28 February.

A workshop for school-aged children only on gender and trans awareness will take place at the Hackney Museum on 19 February from 1pm-3pm.

A gala night is also set to take place at the Joiners Arms pub, Hackney Road, on 29 February featuring cabaret and information from LGBT organisations, open to over-18s only.

LGBT History Month is being organised this year by Hackney Council, The Green Door (Hackney’s LGBT youth project), Hackney Museum, the Community Safety Team, Gendered Intelligence, and Hackney’s LGBT Police Liaison Officers.

For more information, contact 020 8356 4464.