Lady Malcolm’s Servants Balls began in the 1920s (a rare social opportunity for servants in London), quickly becoming a great success and moving to increasingly larger venues, even including the @RoyalAlbertHall. The events became controversial, attracting the gay scene. (1/3)

A 1936 Metropolitan Police report reads, "Officers have reported young men of the effeminate type in coloured silk blouses and tight-hipped trousers, their faces rouged and powdered, dancing in the most objectionable way". (2/3)

Against the organisers’ original intentions, the balls became a subversive space for working class LGBTQ+ people. In 1935, they actually took the step of issuing a warning on the ticket, declaring that “No Man Impersonating a Woman …… will be admitted”. #LGBTHM21 (3/3)