Nixon in China
It is 50 years since US President Richard Nixon's historic visit to China in February 1972. The visit - which included a meeting with Chairman Mao - normalised relations between the two countries for the first time in a quarter of a century. American diplomat Winston Lord was there when the two leaders came face-to-face. He spoke to Lucy Williamson for Witness History in 2009.PHOTO: President Nixon during his visit to China (Getty Images)
22 Feb 20228min
The first sex worker strike
In 1975 hundreds of French sex workers took refuge in churches across France to protest against police harassment, in their first ever collective action. The strike began at Saint Nizier church in Lyon but spread to other cities, including Paris, where it was reported that all sex workers were on strike. In Lyon police had begun systematically issuing fines in a crackdown on the women who found customers on the streets. Those who couldn't pay were often imprisoned for days at a time and separated from their children. Claire Bowes has been speaking to Pere Christian Delorme who helped the women and stayed with them at Saint Nizier church till police forced the women to leave after ten days protest.Photo: June 1975, Lyon, a hundred women prostitutes occupy the church of Saint-Nizier (Alain Nogues/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images)
21 Feb 20229min
The world's first civil union
In 1989, Denmark became the first country to celebrate same-sex civil unions. In 2014, Farhana Haider spoke to Ivan Larsen and Ove Carlsen, who were one of the first couples to sign on the dotted line
18 Feb 20229min
Bollywood's pioneering lesbian drama
The Bollywood film "Fire" was the first in Indian history to depict a lesbian relationship. Released in 1998, the movie sparked a row over censorship and then a wider debate about LGBT rights in a country where homosexuality was then illegal. In 2015, Lucy Burns met Bollywood superstar, Shabana Azmi, who played a lesbian in "Fire".PHOTO: Shabana Azmi (AFP)
17 Feb 20229min
The Berlin Patient
In the 1990s, doctors in Berlin began a cutting-edge treatment programme that led to a patient being cured of HIV/AIDS. The so-called "Berlin patient" was Timothy Ray Brown: he was suffering from leukemia as well as HIV/AIDS, and was given a bone marrow transplant from a donor with a rare genetic mutation which killed off the HIV virus. Timothy Ray Brown was a campaigner for AIDS research until his death, from leukemia, in 2020. Ashley Byrne speaks to his partner, Tim Hoeffgen. PHOTO: Timothy Ray Brown in 2012 (Getty Images)
16 Feb 20228min
"Don't ask, don't tell" in the US Armed Forces
LGBT servicemen and women in the US armed forces had to keep their sexuality secret until the 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy was repealed in 2011. Lieutenant Colonel Heather Mack served under the policy for most of her military career. She spoke to Rachael Gillman about her experiences. This programme is a rebroadcast.Photo: Lieutenant Colonel Heather Mack (l) with her wife Ashley (r) and their two children. (Courtesy of Heather Mack)
15 Feb 20229min
The first LGBT film in war-torn Yugoslavia
How the ground-breaking film "Marble Ass" was made amid the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. Petra Zivic talks to acclaimed Serbian director Zelimir Zilnik about his film which played a role in the struggle for greater recognition and rights for the LGBT community in the war-torn country.Photo: The Serbian trans star Merlinka with Nenad Rackovic as Johnny in the Serbian film "Marble Ass" in 1994 (Credit: Zelimir Zilnik)
14 Feb 20229min
The 1972 mass killings in Burundi
In late April 1972, Hutu rebels launched an insurgency in the south of Burundi with the aim of overthrowing the Tutsi led government. They brutally murdered government officials and civilians, targeting mostly Tutsi. Estimates from the time suggest at least a thousand people were killed. The army quickly contained the insurgency but then began reprisals against Hutu civilians. Hutu elites in particular were targeted – those with education or with government jobs. The killing lasted for more than 3 months. Human Rights Watch estimates as many as 200,000 were killed. Rob Walker speaks to Jeanine Ntihirageza who was an 11-year-old schoolgirl at the time and whose father went missing at the start of the reprisals.(Photo: National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation officials inspect remains of people at a mass grave existing from 1972 in Mwaro, Burundi. Credit: Renovat Ndabashinze/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
11 Feb 202213min
