Based on forgotten diaries, a new podcast titled Hidden Belfast, Forbidden Love explores the stories of queer people living in the city during the 1930s.

Released on BBC Sounds on September 7, Hidden Belfast, Forbidden Love is the latest offering from the Storytellers series. This five-part drama stars Northern Irish actors Desmond Eastwood (Normal People) and Jonathan Harden (Blue Lights).

The podcast is based on the forgotten diaries compiled by linen merchant David Strain, who recounted the secret stories of queer people living in Belfast in the 1930s. Written between 1920 and 1943, the secret diaries “provide the background to a journey from isolation and ignorance to a vibrant world of sexual desire, love and community,” reads a BBC press release.

In addition to his own feelings and thoughts about homosexuality, David Strain also recorded many conversations he had with other gay men in his diaries. The result is a remarkable picture of what queer life looked like in the Belfast of those years.

The diaries were discovered by historian Dr Tom Hulme, from Queen’s University, and Professor Leanne McCormick, from Ulster University. After Strain died of a stroke in 1969, his 38 diaries were deposited in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, together with other photo albums and letters. With support from Queen’s University and Ulster University, parts of the diaries have been dramatised to be included in the Hidden Belfast, Forbidden Love podcast series.

✨Hidden Belfast, Forbidden Love!!!✨

A BBC radio drama series based on my research of an almost entirely unknown gay diary begins airing this Saturday! Read on below to learn more about David Strain: a chronicler of everyday gay life in the 1930s…https://t.co/QD2GEMeVqa

— Tom Hulme (@TomHulme87) September 6, 2024

Speaking about the release of the series, Dr Hulme highlighted how Strain’s early diaries were fairly mundane. However, he then discovered a radical political bookshop in Belfast in the early 1930s, which marked a turning point in the writer’s life. From then on, he began to meet other gay men in the city.

“All too often we assume that gay life in Belfast can only have been difficult, especially in the decades before gay liberation,” Dr Hulme posted on X. “But right here, in black and white, was a culture that thrived in the city, and often with the knowledge and even acceptance of local communities.”

All episodes of Hidden Belfast, Forbidden Love are now available on BBC Sounds. For other podcasts exploring queer history, visit this link.