The forgotten diaries of David Strain, a linen merchant who recorded the lives of gay people living in Belfast in the 1930s, have been adapted into a five-part BBC drama with the support of researchers at Ulster University and Queen’s University Belfast.
Starring Desmond Eastwood (Normal People) and Jonathan Harden (Blue Lights), the Storytellers series Hidden Belfast, Forbidden Love is based on diaries discovered and transcribed by Professor Leanne McCormick, Professor of Modern History at Ulster University and Dr Tom Hulme, Historian at Queen’s University Belfast, who supported their adaptation into a five-part drama on BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Ulster.
David Strain’s secret diaries, compiled between 1920 and 1943, provide the background to a journey from isolation and ignorance to a vibrant world of sexual desire, love and community. He was fastidious about recording not just his own feelings and thoughts about homosexuality, but also the many conversations he had with other gay men. The survival of these diaries thus gives a remarkable window into a world that would otherwise be almost entirely invisible.
Professor Leanne McCormick, Professor of Modern History at Ulster University said:
“These diaries are a fabulous insight into a world that was largely unknown – the world of a gay man living and loving in Belfast in the first half of the twentieth century. We assume this is a history of intolerance and punishment, but David Strain’s story reveals the communities and networks that existed and transforms our assumptions. The diaries are a real treasure trove and tell a remarkable story that has been a joy to work on. It is really exciting to see it being brought to life and re-imagined, opening up new aspects of history to the public.”
When David died of a stroke in 1969, his diaries – some 38 volumes and well over a million words – were deposited in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland along with his photo albums, newspaper scrapbooks and letters.
The discovery came as part of a wider research project, Queer NI, which examines all aspects of LGBTQ+ or queer history from the late 19th century to the 1970s. Queer NI is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and based at Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University.
Listen to all episodes of Storytellers: Hidden Belfast, Forbidden Love from Saturday 7 September on BBC Sounds.