An exhibition with activist/protest ephemera and photographs drawn from the private collections donated by participants from this era exploring the archival and social history of Lesbian activism curated and researched by Han Tiernan, with research support from Dr Ger Moane and Cara Holmes.

Unshrinking Violets is the Age & Opportunity, Bealtaine Festival Commission for 2023 supported by the Arts Council and Dublin City Council. Curated & produced by artists Han Tiernan & Francis Fay with exhibition research advisors, filmmaker Cara Holmes and Dr Ger Moane. Curatorial support from Monica Flynn (Visual Art Curator, Bealtaine Festival).

In October 1973, ten men and women met in a room in Trinity College, Dublin to form the Sexual Liberation Movement (SLM) and further LGBTQ+ initiatives and organisations emerged as the decade unfolded. Bealtaine Festival 2023 will mark and celebrate this significant anniversary of LGBTQ+ activism with partners Outhouse and lesbian activists involved in earlier support organisations such as the SLM (Sexual Liberation Movement), LIL (Liberate Irish Lesbians), LOT (Lesbians Organising Together) and LINC (Lesbians in Cork).

Unshrinking Violets comprise a dedicated exhibition with activist/ protest ephemera and photographs; a film screening of Outitude (2018), directed by Sonya Mulligan and produced by Ger Moane; and a panel discussion on Lesbian and Queer Activism with invited key activists from the last five decades followed by an interactive audience long table.