A 'love letter' spired by Bristol's Lbian and Gay Swchboard

Contents:

• LONDON LBIAN & GAY SWCHBOARD
• ABOUT THE CENTERSCE 1983 THE CENTER HAS BEEN SUPPORTG, FOSTERG AND CELEBRATG THE LGBT MUNY OF NEW YORK CY. FD MORE RMATN ON AND OUR WORK ABOUT THE CENTER. VIS ABOUT THE CENTEROUR MISSNCYBER CENTERCENTER HISTORYRACE EQUYMEDIA CENTERLEARSHIP & STAFFEMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNICORPORATE PARTNERSHIPSANNUAL REPORTS & FANCIAL INFORMATNCONTACT USHOURS & LOTNSEMAPSUPPORT THE CENTER
• GAY & LBIAN SWCHBOARD OF NEW YORK
• BRISTOL LBIAN AND GAY SWCHBOARD: ALMOST 40 YEARS OF LGBTQ+ MUNY
• BRISTOL LBIAN AND GAY SWCHBOARD
• A ‘LOVE LETTER’ SPIRED BY BRISTOL’S LBIAN AND GAY SWCHBOARD
• LONDON LBIAN AND GAY SWCHBOARD

LONDON LBIAN & GAY SWCHBOARD

Swchboard provis peer-driven support servic for lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and genr diverse, tersex, queer and asexual (LGBTIQA+) people, their fai, alli and muni. Swchboard’s Out & About programme is a ee service for olr lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, or tersex (LGBTI) people. About this ArchiveAdmistrative/bgraphil historySwchboard -the LGBT+ Helple, was tablished 1974 as 'London Gay Swchboard', takg s first ll on 4 March.

ABOUT THE CENTERSCE 1983 THE CENTER HAS BEEN SUPPORTG, FOSTERG AND CELEBRATG THE LGBT MUNY OF NEW YORK CY. FD MORE RMATN ON AND OUR WORK ABOUT THE CENTER. VIS ABOUT THE CENTEROUR MISSNCYBER CENTERCENTER HISTORYRACE EQUYMEDIA CENTERLEARSHIP & STAFFEMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNICORPORATE PARTNERSHIPSANNUAL REPORTS & FANCIAL INFORMATNCONTACT USHOURS & LOTNSEMAPSUPPORT THE CENTER

The purpose of the anisatn was to provi rmatn and advice for the gay and lbian muny.

All telephonists were volunteers who self-intified as lbian, gay or bisexual. 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.

TextureConnectg you to LGBTQ SupportSwchboard is a chary that has been listeng to, supportg and nnectg lbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer muni sce 1975. Swchboard is a chary that has been listeng to, supportg and nnectg lbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer muni sce 1975. Rabow DoorRabow Door is a ee specialist LGBTIQA+ (Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgenr and Genr Diverse, Intersex, Queer, Asexual, BrotherBoys, SisterGirls) helple providg Informatn, support, and referral to all LGBTIQA+ Victorians, their iends and fay durg and after COVID 19.

GAY & LBIAN SWCHBOARD OF NEW YORK

RFV supports and promot equaly for ‘rabow’ fai (parents, rers and prospective parents who intify as lbian, gay, bi, transgenr, genr diverse or tersex) cludg our children. Black RabowBlack Rabow supports the strong & fabulo Aborigal & Torr Stra Islanr lbian, gay, bisexual, sistergirl & brotherboy & queer. Funrs of Lbian, Gay and Bisexual Programs, A Directory for Grantseekers, September 1993.

Use RtrictnsNo nam may be published unls they are publicly known to be gay, or their permissn has been obtaed, or they are ceased. When that buildg unrwent renovatns October 1987, the Swchboard moved to the Lbian & Gay Communy Servic Center (now Lbian Gay Bisexual and Transgenr Communy Center) where remaed until the Swchboard closed December 1997.

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.

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

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. 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. "The unnecsary stultifitn of people's liv, people who were jt too sred to tell people they were 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.

BRISTOL LBIAN AND GAY SWCHBOARD

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. 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. "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.

A ‘LOVE LETTER’ SPIRED BY BRISTOL’S LBIAN AND GAY SWCHBOARD

Sex and sexualy were still very much mixed, not only the average straight person's md, but those of the gay muny as well.

LONDON LBIAN AND GAY SWCHBOARD

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.

As Gay Swchboard the helple started off based at 5 Caledonian Road, Kg's Cross the London Borough of Islgton. 1974 dis for Gay Swchboard held at the Prce Albert (om issue 45 Gay News April 1974).