Dianne Hayter was General Secretary of the Fabian Society for many years and Chair of the Fabian Society 1992-1993.
The Hall-Carpenter Archives, named in honour of the lesbian novelist Marguerite Radclyffe Hall and Edward Carpenter, the writer on social and sexual reform, exist to publicise and preserve the records and publications of gay organisations and individuals. The Hall-Carpenter Archives had their roots in the Gay Monitoring and Archive Project established by the Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE) in 1980 with the purpose of scrutinising the media for evidence of discrimination and caring for material deposited with CHE by earlier gay rights organisations. The Gay Monitoring and Archive Project later became separate from CHE, and spent some time in the care of one of its founders, Julian Meldrum, who was employed on a part-time basis by a Manpower Services Commission grant. It was incorporated in 1982 as a limited company under the name of the Hall-Carpenter Memorial Archive Ltd, with a remit of recording and documenting the history of gays and lesbians in Britain. The first Directors were either librarians and information scientists, journalists working for gay publications, or gay rights campaigners interested in maintaining a historical resource. Charitable status was granted in 1983. During this period the Archives were given office space at the National Council for Civil Liberties. From 1984 to 1989, the Hall-Carpenter Archives were housed in the London Lesbian and Gay Centre, and were staffed mainly by volunteers, who collected archives, journals and ephemera, indexed and sorted press cuttings, wrote publications and ran archival projects. Funding was provided by various grants, most notably from the Greater London Council. GLC funding was withdrawn in 1986, and despite approaches, no replacement funding was available, forcing the Archives to leave the LLGC. They were split into several parts, with the organisational archives, the journals and the ephemera being deposited in the British Library of Political and Economic Science in 1988. The Hall-Carpenter Archives Management Committee was in abeyance between 1989-1991. In 1991 Oliver Merrington took over as the Honorary Secretary and began to strengthen the management structure of the Archive, dissolving the Limited Company, arranging annual meetings, issuing occasional newsletters and drawing up formal agreements with the repositories which held its materials. The Hall-Carpenter Archives have continued to grow whilst at the British Library of Political and Economic Science, with new accessions every year.
Following an early career in corporate communications and marketing, Adam Christie began working in the field of HIV/AIDS in 1985 when he was invited to write a paper for a leading UK healthcare provider. Since then he has become a leading AIDS educator, advising the media, the Department of Health Education Authority and the American Medical Association, as well as participating in conferences and publishing several books on the subject. Christie is the founder and Director of Modus Operandi, a UK consultancy, training and publishing business set up to advise companies and organisations on the implications of health, corporate policy and procedures and professional development. In 1990, Modus Operandi launched The Employers' Advisory Service on Aids and HIV (EASAH). It also publishes four newsletters, edited by Christie: The Aids leader, The Aids informer, Infection safety, and Aids business. Publications: Working with AIDS: a guide for businesses and business people (Employers' Advisory Service on Aids & HIV, Bradford, 1995); HIV infection and AIDS: choosing and using resources and materials (Employers' Advisory Service on Aids & HIV, Bradford, 1990); The biological agents and progressive conditions guide 1999 (Modus Operandi Consulting, Leeds, 1998).
The Hall-Carpenter Archives were instituted as a registered charity in 1982.
The history of the Albany Trust is inextricably linked with that of the Homosexual Law Reform Society or HLRS. The HLRS was founded in June 1958 following the recommendation of the Wolfenden Report that homosexual behaviour between consenting adults in private should no longer be a criminal offence. Its first Chairman was Kenneth Walker (succeeded by Cecil Hewitt Rolph in 1964), and its first Secretary the Revd Andrew Hallidie Smith. The work of the HLRS was undertaken by a small working group liasing with an honorary committee. The first public meeting was held on 12 May 1960 at Caxton Hall, and culminated with a vote in favour of reform, resulting in a letter to the Home Office. This was closely followed by a parliamentary debate in June 1960. The Society was reconstituted in 1970 as the Sexual Law Reform Society in order to campaign for further legal changes, particularly relating to the age of consent.
The Albany Trust was founded as a registered charity in May 1958 as a complimentary organisation to the HLRS with a remit 'to promote psychological health in men by collecting data and conducting research: to publish the results thereof by writing, films, lectures and other media: to take suitable steps based thereon for the public benefit to improve the social and general conditions necessary for such healthy psychological development'. The founding Trustees were Anthony Edward Dyson, Jacquetta Hawkes, Kenneth Walker, Andrew Hallidie Smith, and Ambrose Appelbe. The Albany Trust developed into a pioneering counselling and investigating organisation for gay men, lesbians and sexual minorities. It published a journal Man and Society from 1961-1973, and a newsletter entitled Spectrum from 1963-1970, as well as a series of pamphlets. It also provided speakers for numerous organisations and established a network of counsellors. Antony Grey became the Acting Secretary of both HLRS and the Albany Trust in 1962. The funds raised and donated for the work of the Albany Trust allowed it to finance office space and staff. These same facilities were then available for the campaigning work of the Homosexual Law Reform Society (HLRS). Following the Sexual Offences Act of 1967, which decriminalised adult homosexual relationships, the Albany Trust became primarily an educational and counselling organisation. Due to an increasing volume of casework, a social caseworker was appointed in 1967, and the Trust was increasingly involved in the training of youth workers and the development of sex education. From 1976 to 1979 a full-time youth officer was employed. A field officer appointed from 1975 to 1980 investigated the Trust's links with social workers and counsellors throughout the country. The Albany Trust remains active today.
The Albany Society Ltd was founded in 1968 as a charitable limited company to deal with the commercial side of the Trust's operations. In 1988 it simplified its name to the Albany Society.
Robert Beach was a member of the Gay Liberation Front which held its first meeting on 13 October 1970 at the London School of Economics. It was the beginning of a three year period of great activity, with demonstrations, debates, street theatre, and the establishment of a new gay press. Although GLF began in London, local groups rapidly grew up.
Body Positive is an organisation formed in 1985 to provide support and information for individuals diagnosed as HIV positive, and to represent their views. The activities of the group included running a telephone counselling service, a hospital visiting group and a drop in centre, as well as organising training sessions and workshops for members and volunteer counsellors. Body Positive ceased to exist in 2000.
The Campaign for Homosexual Equality has its origins in the North-Western Committee of the Homosexual Law Reform Committee (NWHLRC), which was founded in Manchester by Alan Horsfall to support the campaign for the decriminalisation of homosexuality. The first meeting was held on 4 June 1964, but the formal launch took place with a semi-public meeting on 7 Oct of the same year. NWHLRC was renamed the Committee for Homosexual Equality in 1969, and became the Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE) in 1971. Throughout the 1970s, CHE was the main British homophile organisation, growing from 100 members in 1969 to 2, 800 members and 60 local groups by 1972. Its activities included canvassing for further law reforms, providing educational material for use in schools, and attempting to influence the provision of medical, psychiatric and social services.
The central body of the organisation was the Executive Committee, whose General Secretary maintained contact with local groups, individuals and other organisations. Local groups and members had input into CHE policy through the National Council, which met quarterly at different venues through the country, and was composed of CHE members elected by the whole membership. Annual conferences were also held. The CHE local groups were active throughout England and Wales, retaining a high level of autonomy and often producing regular newsletters giving details of social and campaigning activities. Following reorganisation in 1982, the short-lived Gay Community Organisation took control of these local groups. From 1969-1971, CHE produced a newsletter, which became the CHE Bulletin (1971-1974) and eventually the CHE Broadsheet (1975-1976). A newspaper known as Out was produced from 1976-1977. CHE set up a magazine working party in 1971, which produced the magazine Lunch from 1971-1974. It also created the counselling group Friend, which later became independent.
Formed c 1972, in abeyance 1998. No further information available at present.
John Chesterman was closely involved in the formation of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) in 1970, and the production of the Gay International News, which preceded Gay News. The GLF began life in a basement room at the London School of Economics on 13 October 1970. Though without a formal structure, the movement grew rapidly for the next few years and undertook a great number of consciousness-raising activities, such as demonstrations, debates and the establishment of a new gay press.
The Coleherne Patrons Committee was formed in 1978 to improve relations between the patrons of the Coleherne Pub, Earls Court, and the local residents, police and local authority.
The Conservative Group for Homosexual Equality was a voluntary organisation founded in 1976 to lobby Conservative Party opinion in favour of gay rights and to provide a political balance within the gay movement. The group was revived in 1980, and a constitution drawn up and adopted on 28 March 1981, establishing an elected Executive Committee to oversee the running of the Group. CGHE was succeeded by TORCHE (Tory Campaign for Homosexual Equality), which now has upwards of 400 members within the Conservative Party.
Martin Corbett was involved with the Gay Liberation Front in the 1970s and became a key GLF administrator and fundraiser. He helped to organises the 1972 Gay Pride march through London and was involved with Outrage! in the 1990s.
Born 7 March 1947; lifelong Labour activist; openly gay member of the Labour party at a young age; moved to Manchester in 1970s to attend the Polytechnic; during this time became local Councillor in Altrincham, Greater Manchester. Later moved to Islington, where he was elected Councillor in 1982; represented Highview, Gillespie and Highbury wards. As Councillor fought for development of better housing and local education services; represented Islington on Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) from 1983, serving as Chair of the Equal Opportunities Committee; Mayor of Islington 1986-1987. Leader in gay community; founder and Chairman of the Islington Lesbian and Gay Committee; fought against injustice and discrimination toward gay men and lesbians; during 1980s worked as equal opportunities advisor for Education Department of Haringey Council. Member of London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard, Gay Man Fighting Aids, National Aids Helpline, Food Chain, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (from 1960), Labour Movement Campaign for Palestine and National Anti-Racist Movement in Education (NAME); founder member of Gay Labour Group (later renamed the Labour Campaign for Lesbian and Gay Rights. Provided training for men on business and motivation; died 21 October 1996.
In 1957, the Wolfenden Report proposed that homosexual behaviour between consenting adults in private no longer be considered a criminal offence. On 7 March 1958, a letter, drafted by Anthony Edward Dyson and signed by a number of eminent individuals, appeared in The Times supporting the Wolfenden recommendation.
Dyson was instrumental in the creation of the Homosexual Law Reform Society in 1958, and became one of the original Trustees of the Albany Trust, a counselling and research service for the gay community, in the same year.
Ephemeral material relating to gay, lesbian and bisexual issues, has been collected by the Hall-Carpenter Archive since its inception in 1982.
Friend was set up in 1971 as a Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE) taskforce intended to become CHE's counselling arm. By the end of the year Friend had been relaunched, becoming a separate national counselling and befriending organisation. As the London-based organisation (often known as London Friend) began to spread to the provinces, and local groups grew up, the whole network began to be known as National Friend. It was incorporated as a limited company in 1987, under the name of National Friend Ltd.
National Friend became a network of groups whose volunteer members provided information, support and befriending to lesbian, gay and bisexual people. Local groups were affiliated to National Friend, though they remained autonomous within agreed guidelines, which included a constitution, code of ethics, code of practice, an equal opportunities programme and a complaints procedure. In 1995 there were 31 local groups using either the name Friend or Gay Switchboard.
National Friend worked through a National Committee/Council of Management, whose aim was to support the local groups, provide guidance, advertise the work of Friend to outside agencies and hold conferences on subjects of mutual interest. In 1998, a grant from the National Lottery Charities Board enabled the development of a Birmingham office base and the employment of two members of staff to deal with administration, publicity and fundraising.
The Gay Activists Alliance (GAA) grew out of the Gay News Defence Committee set up to support Gay News against a blasphemy charge and organise a large support demonstration on 11 Feb 1978. On 15 Feb, a special meeting agreed to form an umbrella organisation to monitor issues concerning gay people and generate and publicise action. GAA had no social function, but simply drew together individuals and groups concerned with gay issues. Regional groups were formed in Brighton, London, Oxford, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leicester, Coventry and Birmingham. A secretariat coordinating the work of these local groups rotated between them on a six-monthly basis. Local groups were autonomous and the secretariat had no decision-making powers. The GAA concerned itself with issues such as the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Scotland, the refusal of W H Smith's to stock Gay News, paedophilia, opposition to the National Festival of Light, the age of consent and police harassment.
The Gay Christian Movement (GCM) was founded in 1976 as an ecumenical organisation with the aim of encouraging fellowship, friendship and support amongst gay Christians, helping the Church to re-examine its understanding of human sexuality, encouraging the witness of Christian faith within the gay community and maintaining links with other gay Christian groups in Britain and elsewhere. Peter Ellers and Giles Hibbert were elected President and Vice-President, and by 1977 membership had reached 300. The first Bulletin of the Gay Christian Movement appeared in May 1976, and was renamed Gay Christian in 1977. The leadership of GCM was altered in 1977 following an extraordinary general meeting which criticised the input of GCM to a BBC programme entitled The Lord is my shepherd and he knows I am gay. Motions to replace the President with a Chairperson and to have collective leadership were defeated, but the meeting refused to elect another President. Several groups have been created within the GCM, including the Womens' Group (1978), the Evangelical Fellowship (1979) and a Young Gay Christian Group (1982). There are also a number of local GCM groups, some of which were established in the very first year of its existence. GCM has been active in commenting upon and providing information for reports by several denominations on human sexuality, and holds regular conferences and seminars. It became known as the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM) in 1987. In 1988, the LGCM set up a charitable arm known as the Institute for the Study of Christianity and Sexuality. A chronology of the first 10 years of the GCM can be found in Gay Christian, 39, Feb 1986.
The Gay Community Organisation was formed in 1982, following the establishment of a Special Commission investigating the future of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE), which recommended a restructuring. The minority report noted a failure to meet the needs of most gay people and suggested that CHE should become two interlinked organisations devoted to campaigning and social activities. A working party suggested the establishment of local gay co-operatives working under the Industrial and Providential Societies Act. These groups would organise local activities and support, and would in turn purchase shares in the national Gay Community Organisation, which would act as a central fund holder and co-ordinator. The decision to establish the Gay Community Organisation was taken in June 1982 at Hastings National Council, and the scheme was launched at the Sheffield Gayfest the same August. GCO officially came into existence on 1 September 1982, with a National Council and a General Management Committee at the centre and 24 groups throughout the country, mostly former CHE groups. By April 1983 it was clear that there were problems with the development of the local groups and their relation to the central organisation. The central body of the GCO ceased to exist in 1984, though some local groups continued an independent existence.
The first meeting of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) took place on 13 Oct 1970 in a basement classroom at the London School of Economics, and was instigated by Aubrey Walters and Bob Mellors, who had been influenced by the development of the GLF in the USA. It was the beginning of a three year period of great activity, including demonstrations, debates, street theatre, the establishment of a new gay press, and the establishment of communes. Local GLF groups were founded across the country, with Leeds and West Sussex being particularly active. The first ever public gay protest in Britain took place on 27th. November 1970, when approximately 80 GLF members gathered for a torchlight demonstration on Highbury Fields, Islington. In August 1971 the GLF organised a further public event when members marched along Islington's Upper Street back to Highbury Fields. This was an exclusively GLF event but led to the first real Pride in London in 1972. In the spring of 1973 the London GLF set up the support group Icebreakers. The first issue of Come Together, the journal of Gay Liberation was produced in 1971. By the mid-seventies, the influence of the GLF in the USA and elsewhere had begun to decline. Throughout its existence the GLF had no formal management structure. An account of the GLF entitled No bath but plenty of bubbles: an oral history of the Gay Liberation Front, 1970-1973 was written by Lisa Power.
The Greater London Council Gay Rights Working Party was formed in 1981 to investigate gay issues in the London area. Its work culminated in the publication of Changing the world: a London charter for gay and lesbian rights (GLC, London, 1985). The working party was particularly concerned with employment rights and police attitudes, and liaised with gay groups throughout the capital. It ceased to exist following the dissolution of the GLC in 1986.
The Gay Monitoring and Archive Project was established by the Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE) in 1980 with the purpose of scrutinising the media for evidence of discrimination and caring for material deposited with CHE by earlier gay rights organisations. The Gay Monitoring and Archive Project later became separate from CHE, and spent some time in the care of one of its founders, Julian Meldrum, who was employed on a part-time basis by a Manpower Services Commission grant. It was incorporated in 1982 as a limited company under the name of the Hall-Carpenter Memorial Archive Ltd, forming the basis for the Hall-Carpenter Archives
Antony Grey is the pseudonym of Anthony Edgar Gartside Wright. After taking a degree in history at Magdalene College, Cambridge (1945-1948), he worked as a journalist on The Yorkshire Post, Leeds, before moving to London in 1949 where he was employed in the Secretary's Department of the British Iron and Steel Federation and (from 1961) as a public relations executive with the London Press Exchange. One of the earliest voluntary helpers since 1958 of the newly-formed Homosexual Law Reform Society, he joined the Society's executive committee (using the name 'Antony Grey') as Honorary Treasurer in 1960 and became Secretary of the HLRS and also of its sister counselling and research charity, the Albany Trust, at the end of 1962, at first on a part-time basis and full-time from 1964. Grey campaigned tirelessly for the law reforms advocated by the Government-appointed Wolfenden Committee's report (1957), writing many articles, making numerous speeches to interested groups, lobbying MPs, and organising action to promote the passage of the (Arran/Abse) Sexual Offences Bill through Parliament until it became law in 1967. He resigned in 1970, but again became Secretary of the Sexual Law Reform Society - successor to the HLRS - and Director of the Albany Trust from 1971 to 1977, continuing to press for further liberalisation of the law and social attitudes. He was invited to become Chairman of the National Federation of Homophile Organisations (NFHO), 1971-72. Following his retirement from the Albany Trust in 1977, he was involved in counselling and training work and was for some years a member of the executive committee of the British Association for Counselling. In 1998 Antony Grey was awarded the Pink Paper Lifetime Achievement Award. He has published Quest for Justice: Towards Homosexual Emancipation (1992), Speaking of Sex (1993), and Speaking Out (1997)(Collected articles). Histories of the HLRS/SLRS and of the Albany Trust/Albany Society may be found in the description for the Albany Trust papers.
Stephen Jeffrey-Poulter was educated at St Albans Grammar School for Boys and atttended Southampton University. He worked in the media and regularly lectured and wrote on the British media. In 1991, Jeffrey-Poulter undertook a national lecture tour on the subject of the history of gay law reform. In July 1995 he presented Coming Together at the National Film Theatre for the British Film Institute's Out of the Archives season - a 90 minute talk featuring clips from archive television documentaries on gay issues from 1957 to 1973. At the Museum of the Moving Image in July 1996 he interviewed television playwright Howard Schuman (Rock Follies and Nervous Energy) about his 23-year career for the fifth Out of the Archives season.
He was the producer of the television documentary 'A Bill Called William' which was broadcast on Channel 4 television in July 1997.
The Joint Council for Gay teenagers was established in 1978, formed from groups which provided support for young gay people.
The Hall-Carpenter Archives were constituted as a registered charity in 1982.
Kenric was formed from the nucleus of the old Surrey and south-west London section of the Minorities Research Group, the name being an abbreviation of Kensington and Richmond. The aim of the association was to 'remedy the sense of isolation experienced by many lesbians, by arranging meetings, discussions and other activities' and 'to educate public opinion and improve knowledge on the subject of lesbianism'. It was established as a purely social group with no campaigning remit or political affiliations though charitable work for other gay organisations was to be occasionally undertaken. A management committee was formed by the first five members in November 1965 which set about drafting the application form, establishing the British Monomark address for receipt of correspondence and drawing up the Kenric constitution. By January 1966 when the first newsletter was issued and the first social event took place, membership had grown to 45. The monthly newsletter provided a calendar of social events open to members mainly consisting of debates and talks held in central London on subjects such as 'Is there any such a thing as a lesbian?' by Mary McIntosh in Kenric's first year and 'Writing 'The Microcosm'' by Maureen Duffy in 1967. A wide variety of activities were organised by Kenric included social evenings at members' homes and visits to theatres, art galleries, restaurants and the seaside, rambling, barbeques, bring-and-buy sales, camping trips and play readings. Regular Kenric socials were also held at the Gateways club in west London. A library of publications of interest to Kenric members was established. Membership in 1968 had increased to 223 and women were joining from as far afield as County Durham and Yorkshire, though the majority were from the Home Counties. Initially members had to be over 21 to join (though this was reduced to 18 in 1970 and to 16 in the 1999). In 1970, Kenric membership reached 508 after a year with no paid advertising at all and the chair reported that 'we have clearly established ourselves as the largest specifcally homosexual organisation in the United Kingdom'.
In 1984 the constitution was re-drafted as the organisation sought to change with the times, cater for the organisation's younger membership and encourage new women to join. As the organisation became truly national and with a wider age range, subgroups developed around commonalities of location, age and status (the Over 40s group, the Kenric Mothers' Group, Kent & District Subgroup) rather than shared hobbies, and the 1980s saw the demise of the literary, music and dramatic groups which had been so popular in Kenric's early days. In 1992 a charter for subgroups was drawn up and added to the Kenric constitution in order to ensure that subgroups complied with Kenric aims and objectives and to counter the risk that they might develop into separate organisations; in return for this loyalty subsidies were offered.
The late 1980s saw an increase in membership to over 1000 in 1989, over 2000 in 1993, dropping to around 1700 in 1995, a level which the committees sought to maintain for the rest of the decade. The 2000s saw membership fall to around 1300 members and as a result the decrease in revenues led the organisation to deregister for VAT in 2004. The organisation continues in its present structure with membership at around 1200.
Lewisham Friend was founded in 1976 as a voluntary organisation to run a telephone helpline providing in confidence information and advice to lesbian, gay and bisexual people on issues they may have in connection with their sexuality and others who may be worried about issues concerning the sexuality of a relative or friend. Lewisham Friend was affiliated to National Friend. The organisation folded in 2006.
The London Blues was a club for gay men founded in 1978. It met in several different venues in London throughout its history, including The Green Man, Heaven, the Laurel Tree and Central Station. The club was for gay men with an interest in uniforms and western/denim clothes (in practice it was mainly for those with military, naval, airforce, police and other uniform interests - whether as wearers or admirers). It had close links to the network of leather clubs in the UK and Europe (see items 22 and 23). For a history of the club and more information about its ethos and activities, see items 2 and 3. The London Blues was most active in the 1980s and early 1990s but went into decline towards the end of the 90s and was finally dissolved early in 2002.
No information available at present.
Robert (Bob) Mellors was born in 1950. He was a student at the London School of Economics, following which he travelled to New York, where he became involved with the Gay Liberation Front. On his return to London, Mellors became the co-founder of the British Gay Liberation Front in 1970. When the GLF foundered in 1974, Mellors helped in the formation of more specialised lesbian and gay community groups. He was killed in 1996. Publications: editor of An outline of human ethnology: extracts from an unpublished work by Charlotte Bach (London, 1981); We are all androgynous yellow (Another-Orbit Press, London, 1980); Clint Eastwood loves Jeff Bridges - true! 'homosexuality', androgyny & evolution : a simple introduction (Another Orbit Press, London, 1978). Charlotte/Carl Bach, a man who lived the second half of his life as a woman, developed a number of philosophical theories relating to gender and sexuality.
No information available at present.
No information available at present.
The National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL) was founded by journalist Ronald Kidd in 1934 to protect and promote civil liberties and human rights. NCCL's activity in the field of gay rights has been focussed on discrimination in the criminal law and employment rights. NCCL supported the implementation of the Wolfenden Committee's recommendation for the decriminalisation of homosexual activity, and developed links with the Homosexual Law Reform Society, the Albany Trust, and later the Campaign for Homosexual Equality. Gay issues were included in NCCL newsletters and conference resolutions, and a NCCL pamphlet, Privacy under attack, included a section on the private rights of individuals. Two surveys into discrimination in the workplace were undertaken in the 1970s, the first into the policies of London Education Authorities and the second into the attitudes of Social Services Committees, both of which revealed prejudice against gay staff. NCCL also submitted evidence to the criminal Law Reform Committee on Sexual Offences in 1976, and produced a pamphlet Homosexuality and the law in 1978. NCCL was relaunched as Liberty in 1989.
No further information available at present.
Robert Palmer was Treasurer, 1977-1978, and Chairperson, 1978-1980, of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE). He was actively involved in the activities of CHE at other times, and was a member of the Executive Committee until Sep 1980.
The 1967 Sexual Offences Act, which decriminalised adult homosexual relationships, did not apply in Scotland. The first meeting of the Scottish Minorities Group took place in Jan 1969 in the drawing room of Ian Dunn's parents house in Glasgow, and consisted of only 6 people. The group was officially founded on 9 May 1969 as a self-help organisation working for the rights of homosexual men and women which aimed to provide counselling, work for law reform and provide meeting places for lesbians and gay men. Meetings were initially held in Glasgow; they moved to Edinburgh in August 1969.
During the early 1970s, SMG began to develop its organisation with a central address, a monthly newsletter (SMG News, begun in 1971), an Annual General Meeting, and coordination of the whole by a National Executive Committee. It also organised annual conferences and regular national forums, and established local branches. SMG was involved in campaigning against legal and social discrimination, providing venues for social activities, and running a befriending service. Amongst other things the group organised the Cobweb disco, Scotland's first gay disco, set up the SMG Glasgow and Edinburgh Women's Groups, established the Edinburgh Gay Switchboard, and held the first International Gay Rights Congress in Edinburgh. In 1977 the Glasgow Gay Centre was opened (it closed in 1982).
In 1978 SMG changed its name to the Scottish Homosexual Rights Group, and the name of the newsletter was changed to Gay Scotland. In 1980, an amendment to the 1980 Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill partially decriminalised gay sex between men under 21. At its peak, SHRG had 1200 members. SHRG changed its name to Outright Scotland.
Simon Watney is an art historian and writer on health. He became involved with the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) in the winter of 1970, whilst studying at Sussex University, and helped to establish the Sussex GLF in Brighton the following year. Following four years as an art history lecturer at Brighton Polytechnic (1971-1974), Watney moved to London in 1975 and joined the Gay Left Collective two years later. They published his article 'The Ideology of GLF' in 1980. He worked as a Senior Lecturer in the history and theory of photography at the School of Communication, Polytechnic of Central London, from 1976-1986, and published several books on art history. He continues to write and lecture in his capacity as an art historian. He left the academic world in 1986 to concentrate on practical efforts in fighting AIDS, working on short contracts for several AIDS/HIV projects from 1986-1992, and undertaking voluntary sector work. Amongst other roles, Watney chaired the Policy Group and the Health Education Group of the Terrence Higgins Trust, and was a founder-Trustee of The National AIDS Manual and of Gay Men Fighting AIDS. In 1990 he was one of the founders of OutRage!. From 1988, he wrote a regular HIV/AIDS column in Gay Times, and was awarded the US Words Project for AIDS/Gregory Kolovakos award for his book Taking liberties: AIDS and cultural politics (Serpent's Tail in association with the ICA, London, 1989). Since 1992, Simon Watney has been the Director of the Red Hot AIDS Charitable Trust, an HIV/AIDS funding initiative supporting education around the world for those at demonstrably high risk from HIV. In 1995, The Independent described him as one of the forty most influential gay men in Britain. Publications: Imagine hope: AIDS and gay identity (Routledge, London, 2000); Policing desire: pornography, AIDS and the media (Methuen, London, 1987); Practices of freedom: selected writings on HIV/AIDS (Rivers Oram, London, 1994); The art of Duncan Grant (Murray, London, 1990); Taking liberties: AIDS and cultural politics (Serpent's Tail in association with the ICA, London, 1989); editor of Photography politics (Comedia, London, 1986); Fantastic painters (Thames and Hudson, London, 1977); English post-impressionism (Studio Vista, London, 1980).
Born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1952, Peter Tatchell emigrated to Britain in 1971 to avoid being drafted to the Vietnam War, which he had actively opposed. He worked freelance in design and display whilst studying for a BSc in Sociology at the Polytechnic of North London, 1974-1977. During this period, Tatchell attended meetings of the Gay Liberation Front and soon became actively involved in gay politics. He acted as the GLF delegate to the World Youth Festival in East Berlin in 1973. Following his graduation in 1977, Tatchell became a social worker with the North Lambeth housing agency in Waterloo. In 1978 he joined the Labour Party, standing as an unsuccessful candidate for the Bermondsey by-election in 1983. In 1987 Tatchell founded the UK Aids Vigil Organisation, the first group to campaign for the civil liberties of those with AIDS. This was followed in 1989 by his creation of the London Act Up (AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power). May 1990 saw the foundation of OutRage!, a direct action group, primarily focussed on the Church of England. In the year 2000, Peter Tatchell stood unsuccessfully as an Independent candidate for the new Greater London Assembly. Publications: We don't want to march straight: masculinity, queers and the military (Cassell, London, 1995); Safer sexy: the guide to gay sex safely (Freedom Editions, London, 1994); Europe in the pink (The Gay Men's Press, London, 1991); AIDS - a guide to survival (The Gay Men's Press, London, 1986); The battle for Bermondsey (Heretic, London, 1983).
No information available at present. Publications: State of the queer nation: a critique of gay and lesbian politics in 1990s Britain (Cassell, London, 1995).
Michael Hellman came to the UK from Austria in 1938. In 1950 he underwent a surgical procedure to cure a fissure and the resultant problems led to his referral to a psychiatrist and his sectioning and detention in Horton Hospital, Epsom in 1955. There he was treated for an alleged serious mental illness including the use of insulin comas and ECT. Michael Hellman was released from Horton Hospital in January 1956. In 1958 he applied for a copy of his certificate and reception order from Horton Hospital which confirmed that his original medical condition had been ignored by the Hospital. Hellman later attempted to bring his case to court and sue the doctor involved. However, having been refused legal aid and conducting his own case he was refused leave to bring proceedings. All subsequent attempts to have the case reviewed by the Department of Health were refused. In 1997, Glenda Jackson, MP for Hampstead, took up the case with the Ministry of Health, but to date no enquiry has ever been held.
Born 1900; educated at Mount School in York, and Bedford College, University of London, where she graduated in modern languages; prospective parliamentary candidate for St Albans, 1936-1941; admitted to the Inner Temple, 1941, and called to the Bar, 1943; practised as a barrister in London and on the Midland Circuit; during World war Two, lectured on current events to troops under the War Office Scheme for Education; stood as Liberal candidate for Barnet, 1945, Lincoln, 1950, and Luton, 1955; prospective parliamentary candidate for Watford, 1953; contested Hendon Borough Council elections (Garden Suburb Ward), 1949 and 1953; Honorary Secretary, Women's Liberal Federation, [1941-1949]; served on the Executive of the Liberal Candidates Association; President, Hampstead Garden Suburb Ward Liberal Association; independent member of five Industrial Wages Councils; Head of Chambers, 5 Pump Court, Temple, [1970-1979]; Member, Management Board, Gladstone Benevolent Fund for Liberal Agents, [1973-1988]; died 1997.
Hector Alastair Hetherington, 1919-1999, was educated at Gresham's School, Holt and Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He spent the second world war in the Royal Armoured Corps and in 1946 joined the editorial staff of the Glasgow Herald. He left in 1950 to join the Manchester Guardian where he was assistant editor and foreign editor 1953-1956 and editor 1956-1975. After he left the Guardian, he went into television, becoming controller of BBC Scotland 1975-1978 and manager of BBC Highland 1979-1980.
Hobson was a power station engineer and member of Amalgamated Engineering Union for 30 years. He was elected a member for Willesden Borough Council in 1931, later became Alderman. Hobson served as Labour MP for Wembley North, 1945-1950 and Keighley, 1950-September 1959. He was Assistant Postmaster-General, 1947-1951 and Vice-Chairman, Joint East Africa Board, 1955-1958, and 1964-1965.
Francis Horner, 1778-1817, studied at Edinburgh, was called to the Scottish Bar in 1800, and joined the English Bar in 1807. He was MP for St Ives in 1806, for Wendover in 1807, and was returned for St Mawes in 1813. As an MP he took part in debates on the Corn Law and slavery in 1813-1815, and proposed a measure to regulate the proceedings of the Irish grand juries in 1816. As chairman of the bullion committee in 1810, he recommended early resumption of cash payments. Francis Horner also translated Euler's Elements of Algebra in 1797 and published Short Account of a late Short Administration in 1807.
C J Hunt was successively Organising Secretary of the Economic Party (1929-1930), a member of the first Social Credit Party (dissolved in 1951) and of the Company of Free Men, a member and officer of the Social Credit Political League, and Treasurer of the Social Credit Political League. In 1965 the League formed itself into the second Social Credit Party, of which Hunt was Treasurer until its dissolution in 1978. Thereafter he was one of the trustees of the Douglas Literary Trust, the body formed to administer the residue of the Party's funds.
The IAI was founded in 1926 as the International Institute of African Languages and Cultures. It is governed by a council representing a balance between African and non African countries. The IAI's principle aim is "to promote the education of the public in the study of Africa and its languages and cultures". Its activities range from supporting seminars and other means of disseminating knowledge within and about Africa, to a range of publications, which include an international journal, monographs by distinguished authorities on African society and edited volumes. In recent years the Institute has extended its activities to encourage projects concerned with stimulating scholarship within Africa.
The Inflation Accounting Steering Group was a Committee of the Accounting Standards Committee, the governing bodies of which were the Institutes of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, of Scotland and in Ireland, the Association of Certified Accountants, the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants, and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy. The IASG developed a major document on inflation accounting (ED 18).
The Institute forContemporary British History was founded in 1986 by Professor Peter Hennessy and Dr Anthony Seldon out of a concern that the recent past was being neglected as a field of historical study in British schools and universities. The ICBH encourages research in British history, creates networks of collaboration for scholars and allows for the development of oral archives and resources, mainly through a system of organising seminars, annual conferences and witness seminars (oral history discussions which bring together key witnesses to past events). It runs the Centre for Scholarship for visiting scholars from the UK and abroad. The ICBH also publishes the Survey of current affairs, the Modern history review, and the electronic Journal of international history. The ICBH joined the Institute for Historical Research, University of London, in 1999.