Sunday 9 June 2024

April Ashley Exhibition

 Hay Castle has a new exhibition in their art gallery, celebrating the life of April Ashley.  She lived in Hay for several years during the 1980s and was a friend of Richard Booth.

She was also a campaigner for trans rights in her later life.

Apparently, when she left Hendre in Bear Street, where she had been living, she left a lot of stuff behind - some of that, including fabulous clothing and a pink wardrobe, forms part of the exhibition.  There's also a giant mirror in the shape of her face, and a timeline of her life, including a TV clip talking about the gender reassignment surgery she had - I think she was only the ninth patient of the surgeon she went to.

Outside the main gallery there are also some photos of Boo La Croux, the local Herefordshire drag queen who organises Hereford and Hay Pride celebrations (otherwise known as farmer Dean Goodwin-Evans), taken by local photographer Billie Charity.

There are also some LGBT+ themed books for sale - I picked up a copy of A Little Gay History of Wales, which looks interesting.

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