Hello Sailor!

Gay life on the ocean wave

Merseyside Maritime Museum

Exhibition returns from 22 September 2007

Hello Sailor! looks at life on board passenger and merchant ships from the 1950s to 1980s, a time when homosexuality was illegal and for gay men there were few places to be safe.

Based on research carried out for the book 'Hello Sailor! The Hidden History of Gay Life at Sea' by Jo Stanley and Paul Baker, the exhibition reveals a little known aspect of the history of the merchant navy.

Video

Watch a short video of Jo Stanley talking about the exhibition on the Homotopia TV blog.

Exhibition themes

Follow the links below for further information about the key themes in the exhibition.

Tour information

The exhibition was originally shown at Merseyside Maritime Museum. It is now on tour and can be seen at the following venues

• Merseyside Maritime Museum, 25 August 2006 to 25 March 2007
• Maritime Museum in Southampton, 13 April to 9 September 2007
• Merseyside Maritime Museum, 22 September 2007 to summer 2008 (closing date to be confirmed)
• Discovery Museum, Tyne and Wear, in 2009 (dates to be confirmed)

Podcast

There are a number of audio excerpts from interviews with former gay seafarers on the exhibition webpages. If you prefer you can download all the excerpts from the exhibition website in a single podcast by clicking below.

Download a podcast of the audio interviews used on the Hello Sailor! webpages

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