Hello Sailor!

• Exhibition homepage
  • The gateway to freedom
  • Backstage in staff quarters
  • Frontstage with passengers
  • Gay port cities
  • The secret language of polari
  • Books and websites
  • Transcripts of audio interviews

Exhibition returning from 16 May to 23 August 2009. Originally shown 25 August 2006 to 25 March 2007.

Hello Sailor!

Gay life on the ocean wave

16 May to 23 August 2009

Originally shown 25 August 2006 to 25 March 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, before going on tour to 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 15 January 2009
• Discovery Museum, Tyne and Wear, 28 January to 19 April 2009
• Merseyside Maritime Museum, 16 May to 23 August 2009