London Lbian & Gay Swchboard turns 40 | London - ITV News

Contents:

• LONDON LBIAN & GAY SWCHBOARD
• LONDON LBIAN AND GAY SWCHBOARD
• LONDON LBIAN AND GAY SWCHBOARD
• DON’T BE AAID OF BEG GAY, ONE DIRECTN TELL FANS AS ZAYN MALIK, LOUIS TOMLSON AND NIALL HORAN REVEAL THEIR MAN CSH
• BRISTOL LBIAN AND GAY SWCHBOARD: ALMOST 40 YEARS OF LGBTQ+ MUNY
• GAY SWCHBOARD UNVEILS NEW ONLE SERVIC
• LONDON LBIAN AND GAY SWCHBOARD: 40TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATED
• NIALL HORAN, LOUIS TOMLSON REVEAL ‘GAY’ CSH: ONE REMBL ANOTHER ONE DIRECTN MEMBER
• LONDON LBIAN & GAY SWCHBOARD TURNS 40

LONDON LBIAN & GAY SWCHBOARD

About this ArchiveAdmistrative/bgraphil historySwchboard -the LGBT+ Helple, was tablished 1974 as 'London Gay Swchboard', takg s first ll on 4 March. Swchboard was a key source of advice for gay men who faced discrimatn all areas of life throughout the 1970s, as well as beg at the foreont of AIDS awarens mpaigns the January 1986 Swchboard volunteers voted to change the anisatn's name to 'London Lbian and Gay Swchboard' and ma ncerted attempts to attract more women to the anisatn. Photographs of Swchboard volunteers and events, releas, ternal and external newsletters, and histori of Swchboard, regardg partnerships and proposed partnerships between Swchboard and other anisatns, cuttgs regardg Swchboard the LGBT helple, of FROGS, Friends of Gay Swchboard, of Dudley Cave, a foundg member of Swchboard as well as the Lbian and Gay Bereavement Project, 1939-2010.

As Gay Swchboard the helple started off based at 5 Caledonian Road, Kg's Cross the London Borough of Islgton. All volunteers intify as lbian, gay or bisexual, so that the person answerg the telephone has an unrstandg of the ller's suatn. The Swchboard, origally known as Gay Swchboard and subsequently as London Lbian & Gay Swchboard (LLGS) changed s name to Swchboard - LGBT+ Helple June 2015.

An rmatn, support and referral service for lbians, gay men and bisexual and trans people – and anyone nsirg issu around their sexualy and/or genr inty. Summary LLGS provis an rmatn, support and referral service for lbians, gay men, bisexual, trans people and anyone who is qutng or needs to nsir issu around sexualy.

LONDON LBIAN AND GAY SWCHBOARD

To mark the 45th anniversary, people have been sharg memori of a chary that's helped lns across the Power ed to thk of herself as a supporter or ally of the gay muny, rather than a 1976 at a march Lanshire prottg agast an employee at a BHS partment store losg his job after g out as gay, Lisa "accintally" revealed herself as a loud and proud lbian. "The next thg I know there's a big photo the lol paper wh me rryg a plard sayg 'BHS unfair to gays'… oops! " After that Lisa thought she "might as well" go along wh her new 's been a sharp-tongued LGBT activist ever source, SwchboardImage ptn, Lisa Power (left) says Swchboard tght her to be "a much better activist"Image source, Jon PountneyImage ptn, Sce leavg Swchboard 1994 Lisa has bee a renowned mpaigner for sexual health and LGBT rightsLisa joed Swchboard 1979, as the gay liberatn movement ma wav across the world.

Although homosexualy was partly crimalised England and Wal 1967, Brish culture had not adapted fully to the ntued to face discrimatn at home, at work and a meetg a pub between several gay groups across London, Swchboard was set up to ter for the needs of people who need rmatn or an unrstandg, who now liv Cardiff, scrib the helple as beg "gay fishg school where you learned about everythg" ptn, Swchboard gaed tractn soon after lnchg 1974, and quickly beme a 24-hour serviceEach shift, volunteers answered lls varyg wildly subject matter and ller might want to know when certa gay club nights were maybe the ll had e om a gigglg group of teenagers, squished to a phone box, havg persuad each other a hoax ll would be a sometim, the ller would be on the brk of rponsibily Lisa had as a listener really h home while on holiday Greece wh her girliend.

LONDON LBIAN AND GAY SWCHBOARD

A woman who'd been stg near her on the beach me up to her to thank her for beg the first person she had ever spoken to about beg gay. "Media ptn, Mark Gatiss rells the first time he said 'I'm gay' to another person, on the phone to SwchboardHe cid to ll Swchboard after seeg a poster wh the number on the ITV s, hangg up on the volunteers several tim, he eventually said down the le: "Hello, I'm gay. "They often say you n probably unburn yourself more to a total stranger than to an old iend bee there's no eback, there's no judgement, " he source, LSE LibraryImage ptn, The 1970s marked the first official Gay Pri ralli the UKImage source, Robert WorkmanImage ptn, Volunteers say a certa "kudos" me wh beg a part of Swchboard the 1980s and 1990sIn the early days, Swchboard was a small anisatn, and volunteers had to adopt unrhand tactics to get the number out to as many people as of gay activists would sneak to librari across London and stick the Swchboard number "to any book they thought a young gay man or lbian might go to to read, " Lisa says - such as on to pag of the Bible exprsg anti-gay at the start of the 1980s, everythg changed.

Scientists began to notice a sister rise aths prevly healthy, young gay HIV epimic had reared s ugly source, Welle CollectnImage ptn, More than 35 ln people have died om Aids-related illns sce the start of the epimic, acrdg to UNAIDSGovernment-issued rmatn leaflets sent to every hoehold the UK had Swchboard's number prted on them - and mand for the helple soared.

Swchboard beme a val source of rmatn to help people avoid HIV this did not stop the vis om rippg through the gay muny, wh tragic nsequenc.

DON’T BE AAID OF BEG GAY, ONE DIRECTN TELL FANS AS ZAYN MALIK, LOUIS TOMLSON AND NIALL HORAN REVEAL THEIR MAN CSH

Lookg at a photo taken at a gay pub Islgton 1984, Lisa says: "It's very poignant as a shot of the brightt and bt of the London lbian and gay movement, as HIV was only jt begng to h .

"Image source, Gregg BlachfordImage ptn, Several Swchboard volunteers this shot, taken to celebrate the helple's 10th anniversary, would go on to die of AidsDiana Jam scrib this era as beg "a heartbreakg but also fantastic time to be LGBT" 60-year-old, who liv Cornwall, beme Swchboard's first transgenr volunteer when she joed was the same year Margaret Thatcher's ernment troduced the hugely ntroversial policy, nicknamed Sectn 28, to stop the "promotn" of homosexualy. Standg si a ty office above Homans bookshop Kg's Cross, om where she ed to s and answer phon, Diana remembers the homophobic prejudice she and her lleagu would face.

BRISTOL LBIAN AND GAY SWCHBOARD: ALMOST 40 YEARS OF LGBTQ+ MUNY

"Image ptn, Diana Jam was the first transgenr person to jo SwchboardFor Diana, the prejudice didn't always e om straight that time the helple was lled London Lbian and Gay Swchboard (havg rebrand om Gay Swchboard 1986), and some volunteers felt hostile to the ia of bisexual or trans people answerg the phon - even though many llers intified as bisexual or trans Power had argued vigoroly for Diana's recment, and she was only accepted on to the team bee she was a lbian, not bee she was trans. Sex and sexualy were still very much mixed, not only the average straight person's md, but those of the gay muny as well.

And was also the kudos of beg a Swchboard volunteer - I really wanted to do , " she source, SwchboardImage ptn, The helple is still very much mand and tak about 15, 000 lls a yearHomophobic legislatn, right-wg thugs and fear of Aids might feel like ancient history to young LGBT people many of the issu of the 1970s and 80s are still Hng, a microspe technician at UCL, believ she helps other volunteers to unrstand that many LGBT people still stggle to e out to their ptn, Ki Hng's mother tried to "exorcise" her when she first spected she might be bisexual"Bee I'm bisexual and I grew up Malaysia, which is a very nservative, heteronormative untry, I assumed I was straight, " Ki explas. ReimerImage ptn, Tash Walker has been studyg Swchboard's archiv at Bishopsgate Instute central LondonTash Walker, Swchboard's current -chair, has been studyg archived not about lls to the 's noticed people feelg isolated and unable to e out to their loved on has been a mon nversatn throughout Swchboard's 's therefore perhaps unsurprisg that one three LGBT teens England has a mental illns, while homophobic and transgenr hate crime have both risen the past few years.

GAY SWCHBOARD UNVEILS NEW ONLE SERVIC

Sce homosexual acts were illegal, Polari enabled folx to talk safely mixed pany and intify as queer. Tune to Ru Pl’s Drag Race UK or vis one of the cy’s gay barets, and you’ll hear remnants of old London’s unrground LGBTQ+ legacy.

It’s a straight-up dive that attracts artsy typ and gays lookg for a good al — a pt of beer is only $5 and change. Wh var annual events, you n see for yourself why the London Gay Men’s Chos has a world-famo reputatn. On the sandy shor of the English Channel, Brighton is to London, as Fire Island is to New York: It’s where the gays go when the sun out.

LGBTQ+ venu blanket this area, but virtually every place around here is gay-iendly at the very least. The act did not explicly target homosexual acts between men, as also applied to sodomy between men and women and a person wh an animal.

LONDON LBIAN AND GAY SWCHBOARD: 40TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATED

A mon punishment for homosexual men was to be placed the pillory, where they would be pelted wh excrement, bbish, rottg vegetabl, ston and even ad animals. Photograph: London Metropolan Archiv, Cy of LondonAlberte Wner, the first female puty chief medil officer at the Department of Health, wrote Homosexualy Women: “There are two tegori of female homosexuals … the woman who tends to prefer the society of women … and a much more dangero type, the promiscuo Lbian who … may e great harm and unhapps.

NIALL HORAN, LOUIS TOMLSON REVEAL ‘GAY’ CSH: ONE REMBL ANOTHER ONE DIRECTN MEMBER

Photograph: Mrice Ambler/Getty Imag1955: The Problem of HomosexualyThe Problem of Homosexualy report 1955. Photograph: London Metropolan Archiv, Cy of LondonClergy, doctors and lawyers led by the Rev Dr Derrick Sherw Bailey produced the privately prted The Problem of Homosexualy 1955. Addrsg the Church of England’s role law reform, regnised the state’s role regulatg society but acknowledged the vlatn of the rights of homosexual people.

It poted to evince of the suici of men who had been charged wh mtg homosexual acts wh an adult, sayg: “The sense of shame at public exposure appears to be a motive … if the law is unjt, then the longer remas rponsible for human tragedy, the more excable do s retentn bee. Photograph: The GuardianThe Wolfenn mtee remend that “homosexual behavur between nsentg adults private should no longer be a crimal offence”.

LONDON LBIAN & GAY SWCHBOARD TURNS 40

Photograph: London Metropolan Archiv, Cy of London Courty of Campaign for Homosexual EqualyThis poster was produced for the Campaign for Homosexual Equaly to highlight the equi faced by LGBT people, particularly the armed forc. Until 1994 homosexual nduct the forc remaed a crimal offence, and after 1994 homosexual nduct was no longer treated as crimal but would still lead to discharge. Photograph: London Metropolan Archiv, Cy of LondonThis law stated: “A homosexual act private shall not be an offence provid that the parti nsent thereto and have attaed the age of twenty-one years.

1977: Mary Whehoe v Gay NewsMembers of the Gay Liberatn Movement prottg outsi the Old Bailey over Mary Whehoe’s urt actn agast the Gay News Magaze, 4 July 1977.

Photograph: Mallm Clarke/Getty ImagMary Whehoe, founr of the Natnwi Ftival of Light and the Natnal Viewers’ and Listeners’ Associatn, took Gay News to trial for blasphemy, the first such se for 40 years.

Gay News had published a homoerotic poem about J by Jam Kirkup tled The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name. The issue lated to the hight levels of ernment and rulted Sectn 28 of the Lol Government Act 1988, unr which uncils were prohibed om tentnally promotg homosexualy – rultg fundg beg whdrawn om arts projects and tnal rourc.