Before there was LGBT Health and Wellbeing’s Helpline, there was Switchboard (which had several name changes over the years) and before Switchboard, there was the Edinburgh Befriending Service. In a series of articles, I will explore the beginnings of the service and follow the near 50-year journey of what has been a constant presence for the LGBT+ community in Edinburgh and Scotland as a whole.
Cecil Sinclair, founding volunteer with the Edinburgh Befriending Service
In 2022 the LGBT+ community has access to a range of services, delivered by many and varied organisations across Scotland including LGBT Health and Wellbeing. There is, certainly in the cities, a commercial scene of venues and spaces. This summer there are Pride marches taking place across the country, including for the first time in Shetland, there is much more positive representation in the mainstream media with series like It’s A Sin, Love,Victor and Channel 4’s Big Boys. There is a devolved Parliament and a Scottish Government that is broadly supportive of the community and our rights. The situation, particularly for trans people, is nowhere near ideal, but 50 odd years ago Scotland offered a very different picture.
Homosexuality was still illegal. There were no services available, no switchboards or helplines or charities reaching out to LGBT+ people. In Edinburgh, in the late 60’s and early 70’s, there were, for some gay men, house parties, which people got to know about by word of mouth. One former Switchboard volunteer remembers “that board games were set up all around the house when a party was happening so that if raided by the police, we could claim it was a games night”. Or in some cases a pile of bibles was formed so that the participants could claim that they were taking part in a religious gathering. Another community member recalls gatherings in Crawford’s Lite Bite café off Princes Street. There were bars that people met in but generally furtively and with none of the visibility that commercial premises have these days.
Iona McGregor, campaigner, author and a founding volunteer with the Edinburgh Befriending ServiceNicholas Atkinson, whose flat was the base for the Edinburgh Befriending Service in 1974
Against that background, particularly the fact that in terms of the legal situation, Scotland had been left behind, activist Ian Dunn convened a meeting in January 1969 with half a dozen others in the sitting room of his parents’ home in Glasgow. A few months later the Scottish Minorities Group (SMG) was formed to campaign for decriminalisation.
The group held meetings in The Chaplaincy Centre at Edinburgh University, where an enlightened priest, Father Anthony Ross, offered his support. SMG continued to meet to pursue it’s political aims however there was a feeling from some members of the group that they needed to provide more support for people, who were at the start of their coming out journey.
In Edinburgh, in January, 1974 a group of 7 men and women formed the Edinburgh Befriending Service. Founding member Cecil Sinclair recalled some years later that the aim of the service was “so that anyone who wanted to discuss or ask about any matter relating to homosexuality could ring in complete confidence”. The initial group also included Nicholas Atkinson, Jim Halcrow and Iona McGregor, the eminent author.
If this piece spurs any memories of volunteering or contacting the Edinburgh Befriending Service or Switchboard or if you knew any of the people mentioned in the article, it would be good to hear from you.
Iona McGregor (1929-2021) was one of Edinburgh’s first lesbian novelists. Well-known for her YA historical fiction in the 1960s and 70s, she was warned by her publisher never to include queer characters. In 1989 she was finally able to publish a lesbian mystery, set in Edinburgh in 1860 – Death Wore A Diadem.
Recently discovered letters to her editor show how hard she worked to create vivid lesbian characters and portray the city of Edibnburgh, where she lived much of her life. She was also an activist who risked losing her job as a teacher in order to support LGBT people. She sadly died last year, aged 92.
On 25th February, Lavender Menace teamed up up with LGBT Health and Wellbeing, to celebrate her life and work for LGBT History Month, during an online discussion with contributions from lesbian novelist Ellen Galford, Iona’s editor Jen Green, and other friends and readers.
As I prepare to step down as Chief Executive of LGBT Health and Wellbeing, I’ve been asked to share a bit of my reflections about my journey with the organisation, and some of the challenges and achievements. As it’s LGBT History Month, it seems appropriate to try to capture some of the history of my early rather pioneering days with the organisation, and some of how we got to where we are today
My journey with the LGBT Centre for Health and Wellbeing -as it was then called- started in 2008 when I applied for the post of Manager. The post was advertised as temporary, a five-month contract, something which, whilst not unusual in the voluntary sector in general, is more so for a leadership position. What I did not however realise is that the Centre had in fact shut its doors some months previously, making all the staff redundant. And that the staff in the organigram provided as part of the application pack were in fact, at this stage, merely aspirational. That all became clear at interview, and when I met the last member of staff standing, the Manager who too would soon be departing.
How had it come to this? Like other Healthy Living Centres set up right across the UK to address health inequalities in disadvantaged communities, the organisation had launched in Edinburgh in 2003 with 5 years of Lottery funding. That Lottery funding had come to an end and the organisation was being wrapped up. However, at the eleventh hour, there was the chance of a reprieve, with an invitation to apply to the Scottish Government for some transitional funding. Thus, at the time of my interview the future of the organisation hung in the balance, as an application had been submitted -the outcome of which was not yet known.
In short, accepting the job was a very big gamble. It’s a gamble I would not have taken without the strong drive I had to make a difference to the LGBT community. A drive which had earlier led me to work in the lesbian and gay bookshop West and Wilde for a number of years, as well as volunteer with Lesbian and Gay Switchboard, and campaign against Section 28. It is also a gamble I could not have taken without the unwavering support of my partner, Kate Fearnley, also a longstanding community activist.
Organisers of Anti Section 28 Demo Edinburgh 1987 (Maruska: right hand side)
So my time with the organisation had quite a desultory start. I found myself in an empty privately rented 3-storey building on Howe Street (that came with the financial challenge of its eye-watering New Town rent), with as yet no colleagues and the monumental challenge of turning the fortunes of the organisation around, with possibly no more than 5 months to do so.
As it turned out, happily the gamble paid off! The relatively modest short term funding from the Scottish Government came through, just enough to recruit a small team and get the wheels in motion. A few months later, in October 2008, we relaunched with a programme of community activities, and have not looked back. Gradually I was able to start securing further funding. The first multi-year funding came from NHS Lothian to support our community programme. Later on, funding came from the Scottish Government for our mental health programme, and I was able to identify trusts and foundations willing to support our work with older people, and our trans programme. In time, we took over what had been the volunteer-run Lothian Gay and Lesbian Switchboard when after 35 years it faltered. It was a much valued long-running community self-help initiative which, like so many others over the years, I’d volunteered with -so to ensure the survival of the service felt especially fitting.
Not just Switchboard, but many of the areas of work we focused on drew on my previous work and volunteering experiences and contacts. For example, the early focus on older people was driven by my many years of working in the dementia field, and awareness of the lack of LGBT visibility and inclusion in mainstream older peoples’ services. And equally other staff within our small team brought their own experience, interests and contacts, which proved instrumental in enabling us to develop initiatives around arts, physical activity and LGBT parenting.
Lothian Gay & Lesbian Switchboard
However, there was surprisingly little community engagement and service delivery to build on from the earlier phase of the organisation. Work seemed to largely have been focused on improving LGBT inclusion and raising awareness of the issues within mainstream services, such as the NHS. There had been relatively limited community-facing work, other than short-term programmes. Valuable work had however been started in relation to trans people, with initiatives like T time and trans swimming, initiatives we were determined to try to continue.
This lack of community-facing work meant two things. Firstly, that the organisation had a very low profile within the LGBT community, and there was therefore a great deal of publicity and community outreach work needed. And secondly, that there simply wasn’t a track record to evidence need. This was especially challenging when approaching funders, given that the general awareness around LGBT issues, health inequalities and needs was so much lower than it is now, and we were often having to make the case not just for the organisation and the value of our work, but also for the very need for any of it.
Howe Street: Head Office until 2020
It was however very evident there was lots of work to do! The LGBT community has historically been significantly under-served in terms of support organisations, with most initiatives being led by the community itself and reliant on the time, energy and resources of often just a few individuals, making them precarious and sadly frequently short-lived. Where funding had been available, it had by and large been HIV related and focused on the sexual health of gay and bisexual men. We were therefore keen to not duplicate work being done with that arena, and instead looked to focus on more under-represented groups and issues. This meant an early emphasis on improving mental and emotional health, as well as a weighting of our work towards trans wellbeing and older people.
The work in Edinburgh developed quite rapidly over those first few years, and as I succeeded in securing funding for new areas of work the team, and the programmes we were able to deliver, grew. But growth wasn’t always linear and, in spite of best efforts, some important areas of work and pilot initiatives simply could not be sustained, such as our exploratory work focused on drug and alcohol issues, and our pilot project supporting LGBT people with learning difficulties.
However, having the experience of building up our services from ground zero in Edinburgh meant we had a lot of valuable learning to hand when it came to establishing the organisation in Glasgow. This geographical expansion had never previously been part of the plan, but over the years we’d become increasingly aware of the dearth of service provision for LGBT adults in Glasgow.
Our involvement in trying to support others to re-establish an LGBT Centre in Glasgow, after its demise in 2009, brought us closer to the issues and the need that clearly existed in Scotland’s largest city. This sense was strongly confirmed when, in 2012, as part of our first Scotland-wide project, we started to provide support for trans people in Glasgow.
A couple of years later we had the chance to extend our work with older people beyond Edinburgh, and decided to use this as an opportunity to get more of a foothold in the city and for the first time base a small staff team in Glasgow. And the rest as they say is history.
LGBT Age launch in 2014
The work of the new Glasgow team grew rapidly from supporting older community members to a much wider offering to the community. The community itself very much welcomed our services, and we saw engagement grow rapidly. Our experience of developing and delivering community services in Edinburgh provided an invaluable roadmap, but we also wanted to make sure our programmes were shaped in a way that responded to local need, and to that aim consulted widely. So for example, our increasing engagement with asylum seekers and refugees led over the course of a few years to establishing a key distinct new strand of work focused specifically on this section of our community.
Other things about the local context proved very different too, not least the challenge of securing statutory funding for our work. Relationships with statutory partners have taken time to develop. In Glasgow we didn’t have the strong links with the NHS that had been made in the earlier phase of the organisation’s history, and these connections were sorely missed. And more generally we realised there were simply a huge number of new relationships we needed to forge at all levels and across so many of the thematic areas our work spans, and we successfully managed to do that, to ensure the organisation was well networked and able to effectively collaborate with key partners.
Through the years, what I’ve set out to do is to shape an organisation that is very much about community, and that operates from within the community it serves. For me it has never been about big personalities, but about creating an organisation where LGBT+ people from all walks of life can feel recognised, represented, supported and included.
Glasgow Pride 2019
A big part of that community development approach has been finding ways to harness the tremendous skills, energy and talent within that community by providing opportunities for individuals to volunteer with an organisation that promotes their interests. And it’s been great to see more of those volunteers and community leaders have now also joined our staff team.
It’s of course a huge privilege to have the opportunity to do what I’ve done, to rebuild and shape an organisation from the ground up. And to have been able to do this in an area I’m so passionate about. But to be honest, without the huge passion I felt and still feel for the importance of supporting our community, and the ambition, drive, determination and resilience it has required to take the organisation from that one member of staff to the robust organisation it is today, it would simply not have been possible. That passion drove me to take on the challenge in the first place, and it is what has motivated me to continue driving the organisation forward for nearly 14 years, to enable us to achieve what we’ve managed collectively to achieve.
Edinburgh Pride 2019
Heading up the organisation has undoubtedly been massively rewarding, but the challenges have also been monumental, and have at times felt pretty insurmountable. And even when surrounded by such a fantastic team, being at the top can at times be a very lonely place to be!
So it’s definitely been a pretty action-packed adventure; and a journey bookended by two major global events. At the start, taking over the charity at the time of the 2008 financial crisis, when its survival looked exceedingly doubtful. And more recently, ensuring that, as a by now well-established charity, we have been able to successfully navigate the impact of the pandemic.
Both these momentous global events have had their impact. Trying to ensure the very survival of the organisation, at a time when public finances were being so dramatically impacted on, undoubtedly added to the challenge of achieving financial sustainability. And of course it made the effort needed to both sustain good work, and secure funding to continue to develop, that bit more difficult. But having climbed what at times felt like an unclimbable mountain in those early years certainly made the struggle to get our Glasgow services and team established feel, if still quite a daunting challenge, at least a bit more possible. And having got as far as we’d got, in early 2020 there was a real collective determination to continue to deliver the support the LGBT+ community so clearly needed. I’m very proud that we immediately switched to remote working and delivery, with no hiatus in service. No-one was furloughed, and I was able bring in short-term Covid-related funding to allow us to further develop our services to reach people isolated by the pandemic, including extending the Helpline and developing the Telefriending Service, as well as work to address the digital exclusion and hardship faced by asylum seekers and refugees.
The organisation is now widely known and highly respected, both for the quality of services we deliver and for the credible way we represent the voices, needs and interests of our community. As part of our local and national policy and influencing work, we’ve been able to position the organisation as a strong advocate and a reliable source of expertise. This has encompassed my work to get LGBT needs included in national policy in relation to mental health and older people.
Our integrity has always been critical to that recognition. I’m proud that we’ve consistently set out to be very transparent about what we do, and that in our reporting we’ve showcased our work truthfully and with integrity.
Looking back over the years, I’m truly astonished at the pace of change and at everything we’ve managed to achieve. What I discovered along the way is that I have a really strong entrepreneurial spirit, which has enabled the organisation to proactively seek new horizons, maximise opportunities, develop and innovate. The pace of change in the organisation has been a huge strength, and it undoubtedly really helped us weather the pandemic.
The other thing I discovered along the way is how unexpectedly good I am at raising money. It’s unusual in an organisation our size for fundraising to remain entirely within the brief for the CEO. However, in this case, given the consistently phenomenally high success rate of our bids, it made complete sense. The organisation is now in a stronger financial position than it has ever been, and its income is now more than 5 times what it was that initial year when I took over the organisation. It’s quite an achievement to have secured over £8 million in contracts, grants and awards over my time with the organisation, particularly when I think back to how hard it has often been to argue the case for funding for LGBT-focused work.
Maruska at Edinburgh Pride 2017
Whilst I’ve focused here on my journey with the organisation, that journey has of course been one that many people have over the years contributed to. It has been a real pleasure to work with such a driven and committed staff and volunteer team. Again and again, I have been delighted and impressed by the calibre of people who want to work with the organisation, and the commitment, creativity and energy they each bring to our collective endeavour. They should be rightfully proud of what we have built together, and the difference the organisation makes to the LGBT+ community.
There are so many reasons to be proud of what the organisation has achieved over the years, and continues to achieve, and I’m delighted to have played such a pivotal role in its journey. The decision to step back has needless to say been a huge wrench – there is undoubtedly so much I’ll miss about being part of LGBT Health and Wellbeing!
However, it does very much feels like the right time, both for me personally, and indeed for the organisation. And I very much look forward to witnessing what the next chapter will look like for this fantastic organisation, and hope to see it very much continue to develop and flourish.
I was deeply saddened by the news that the truly iconic, pioneer, trailblazing beautiful transwoman April Ashley had died on the 27th December 2021-at her home in London aged 86. A friend of April’s, Tim Brunsden confirmed April’s passing however, he wasn’t able to specify the cause of death-but was able to add that April had been in failing health. In all probability the entire trans-community, especially the British community will be saddened by the loss of such a significant and amazing individual as April Ashley.
For those of you who have read and hopefully enjoyed reading my articles-some of you of course might have realised that I have already written a previous article on April Ashley. However, in my defence that article was written quite a while ago-was very short-and as April has only very recently passed away-I thought that this wonderful and important transwoman was definitely writing more about, and I also felt that this would be my own personal way of paying my respects too.
April Ashley has been described as epitomising the hedonism of the swinging 1960’s, especially the cool scene that was just beginning to emerge in the London society of the time. During this era she partied with members of the 60’s rock hierarchy-elite, such as John Lennon and Mick Jagger. However, she also moved in high profile circles of the European ‘chic-set’ and as she found that she had a talent for moving in such privileged company and cultivated a number of wealthy friends, she often found that she didn’t have to work.
As such, I personally think that not only should the elegant April be seen and remembered as a trailblazing pioneer Transgender Woman -being historically the second British person to undergo gender reassignment surgery – but should also be remembered simply as an iconic beautiful woman of the 1960’s in the same way as, for example that of Twiggy, Audrey Hepburn and Jean Shrimpton are.
It was while performing at the Le Carrousel night club in Paris, which was renowned for its drag acts, that April saved the money that she needed for her gender reassignment operation. As this procedure was illegal in Britain at the time she had to go to Casablanca, Morocco. However, despite the obvious physical pain, April stated that becoming a woman in 1960 had been the happiest day of her life.
Ms Ashley was (or believed to be) the second person to have undergone gender reassignment surgery in Britain. She was also ‘desperately ill’ after the procedure-in the early days of recovery. In fact, during this era-the operation was still considered dangerous, April had been given a 50-50 chance of survival. However, many years later April, reflecting on this, told an interviewer that she hardly cared stating that, “I would prefer to have died than not have the operation.”
After her gender reassignment procedure April returned to London where to support and establish her ‘new’ identity obtained a passport and driving licence which identified her as female. Furthermore, from the time April arrived in London she began to rise in popularity. This of course was the era of the swinging 60’s and in reference to this early point in her life. April has been described as an ‘elegant fixture’ of the London society of the time. Her new-found fame was no doubt due to her ‘doe-eyed’ stunning good looks and her statuesque-slender beauty. She was also always ‘immaculately dressed’, often wearing a glamorous pearl necklace and ‘Balmain suit or fur coat’. As such she attracted the attention of and was photographed by David Bailey and Terence Donovan.
This of course was a very exciting and creative part of April’s life and not just because she was in the first flush of youth. In other words, this was the beginning of what looked like being a highly successful career. Whilst in London April, with her striking good looks, was able to work as a model, perhaps being the first trans-woman, certainly in Britain, to work as a model, and was photographed for Vogue magazine. Ms Ashley also had the beginnings of a potential career as a film actress as she played a role opposite Joan Collins in the film ‘Road to Hong Kong’.
However, after Ms Ashley had undergone her gender confirmation procedure (before and after), the movement for transgender rights was as one writer described it still ‘in its infancy’. As such, April was living as a woman ‘by stealth’-in other words the fact that she was transgender wasn’t public knowledge, and her early career as a model and potential screen career came to an end, after she was outed in 1961 by the Sunday People newspaper.
Despite this setback April, it would seem, remained as popular as ever and even and inevitably attracted the attention of some very famous men. A few very interesting examples I think should suffice here. Ms Ashley was at one point apparently approached by none other than Elvis Presley himself, who tried his best to woe her. Her unique looks and fame also attracted the attention of the famous surreal artist Salvador Dali who wanted to paint Ms Ashley in the nude -however, she declined.
In a subsequent work on her life story -written by April herself as a memoir called ‘The First Lady’ 2006 with Douglas Thompson, which was in fact being considered as a potential film-with Catherine Zeta Jones playing the part of April. However, when it came to light that April had used large sections from her previous autobiography 1982s ‘April Ashley’s Odyssey’, not only were copies of this new book scrapped but the movie plans were also ditched as well. However, it appeared that this misadventure didn’t bother April.
In 2012 April was named to the ‘Order of the British Empire’ for her ‘Service to transgender equality’. In Liverpool she was named as a ‘citizen of honour’ in acknowledgement of her accomplishments.
On 31st January, with colleagues at Stonewall Scotland, LGBT Youth Scotland, Scottish Trans Alliance and Equality Network, we wrote to the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government -Shona Robison MSP- about the letter she received last week from the Equality and Human Rights Commission about Gender Recognition Act reform.
We are writing to you in response to the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s recent letter to you on gender recognition reform.
We are aware that the EHRC have called for “more detailed consideration” on a range of issues before proceeding with reform.
This position is incoherent, considering reforms to the Act are one of the most consulted on policies in the Scottish Parliament’s history. In the last five years, there has been two high-profile public consultations on reform, including on a draft Bill. When a Bill is introduced to the Scottish Parliament this year, there will be a lengthy period of detailed scrutiny of its provisions through the parliamentary process, allowing for the more detailed consideration the EHRC have called for.
We would note that EHRC Scotland responded to both of those previous consultations, supporting reform, and identified the simplification of the gender recognition process as one of their key policy priorities going into the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.
Several of the issues they have raised requiring “more detailed consideration” they have previously spoken directly to, asserting that they do not present barriers to reform, and in fact advancing the exact opposite assertion. For example, in their response to the UK Government’s consultation on reforming the Gender Recognition Act, they said that:
“The process for seeking legal gender recognition should not perpetuate the false assumption that being trans is a mental illness, and should therefore not rely on any medical diagnosis or intervention.”
We would also highlight that whilst their letter states that they look forward to “working with you and others” on improvements to gender identity services in Scotland, the significant change in their position on gender recognition reform has been reached without any direct consultation with trans people in Scotland, or organisations advocating for their equality and human rights.
We think that this lack of direct consultation with trans people is a central reason that they have been able to come to a position so far removed from previously publically stated ones, in line with well-established international human rights principles. We regret that this change in position would seem to fundamentally undermine their role to uphold and protect the equality and human rights of all people with protected characteristics, and has understandably seriously damaged the confidence that many LGBT+ people, particularly trans people, have in the Commission to do so.
We would welcome assurances that the Scottish Government still intends to progress with legislation to reform the Gender Recognition Act in this first year of the parliamentary session, and that this will not be subject to any unnecessary delays.
Hey everyone! I am Rebecca (she/her) and I have just started this month my new role here at LGBT Health and Wellbeing, as Policy and Research Officer. My role will largely involve supporting the development of equitable and inclusive policy here in Scotland, informed and shaped by the experiences of LGBTQ+ folks. This means I will be engaging with colleagues, those who access services and many, many others I am sure.
It was my passion for our LGBTQ+ community which led me to the role here at LGBT Health. With a background in policy and research, as well as humanitarian aid and community development, I am committed to human rights and ensuring access to human rights for all, particularly those most marginalised and/or bypassed by systems.
I am originally from Fife, but have lived in Ontario, Canada and Cordoba, Spain. I also did a stint in Glasgow when completing my Masters degree, how I love Dear Green coffee.
In my free time I enjoy reading, my favourite book last year was probably On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong. I have upped my reading challenge this year, so if you have any good recommendations do let me know! I also volunteer with my local community-funded foodbank in Kirkcaldy and place value on community engagement and people to people solidarity. I am also a keen baker and love to try my hand at veganizing all the things I loved pre-vegan.
I am so excited to be here with you all at LGBT Health and Wellbeing and am looking forward to getting to know you all more as I settle into my role. I am very keen to engage with our community here and would encourage anyone to reach out if they wish to know a bit more about my role, or if they would like to discuss anything policy related. You can reach me here: rebecca@lgbthealth.org.uk
A fantastic and rare opportunity to lead LGBT Health and Wellbeing by becoming its next Chief Executive
You need not necessarily be an existing Lead Officer but will need to have senior leadership experience in a service delivery / community support organisation.
We are interested in hearing from candidates out with the third sector, but you must have an understanding of it and the unique funding environment in which it operates as income generation is a key requirement of this role.
In addition, you will need a deep knowledge, if not lived experience, of the LGBT community and the multiple and complex issues our communities face.
If you have fierce determination to improve their lives, tenacity, resilience, and the strategic acumen to take this organisation to the next level, we want to hear from you.
More information and how to apply for the role here
We are looking for Guests Hosts to entertain quizzers at our monthly online Big Queer Quiz meetup
Are you running an LGBTQ+ focused or LGBTQ+ inclusive, community group or organisation? Would you like to connect with an LGBTQ+ audience, raise awareness about your organisation AND have some fun?
Come and Guest Host one of our online Big Queer Quizzes and use the platform to create a shared learning experience for everyone.
No quiz hosting experience necessary, just a willingness to create some questions and give it a go! You can shape the questions around themes linking to your organisation and we just ask that you ensure at least one round is centralising a queer topic e.g. Famous queer writers
If you’re interested, please contact Jules (she/her) for a Guest Host Guidance Sheet, via jules@lgbthealth.org.uk
Susan Grace Calman is a Scottish all-round celebrity. She is a Television presenter, comedian, and writer. Many of us will be familiar with Calman from her recent amusing and quirky performances in the Bank of Scotland adverts. She’s also been a panellist on the comedy quiz shows ‘QI’ and ‘Mock the Week’, amongst others. Susan Calman is gay and has talked about how after coming out as a lesbian at the age of just 19 in 1993 how difficult it was growing up with a different orientation in Glasgow commenting that at the time there was one lesbian bar- “But there was no internet, there was no way of finding out about other people”.
Susan Calman’s father is Sir Kenneth Calman who was the former Chief Medical Officer of Scotland. Her mother, Lady Anne became Chair of NHS county Durham. Calman was born to these distinguished parents on the 6th November 1974 in Glasgow. Calman started her education in an ‘independent school’, the High School of Glasgow. She won the Judge Brennen scholarship after studying law at the University of Glasgow. With this scholarship came the chance to work with criminals on Death Row in North Carolina for 3 months.
Calman had a difficult time growing up in Glasgow. She was extremely unhappy as a teenager, self-harmed and through desperation, attempted suicide. In retrospect she opened up about these difficult experiences of depression, discussing this not only in her books, but also in interviews. Calman commented to ‘Digital Spy’ whilst looking back at her radical stand campaigning for LGBT rights how she encountered ‘horrific bigotry’ over a number of years. She revealed: “I have protested. I have picketed. I have been spat on. I have been punched.”
It was in 2006 that Calman, at the age of 30 and having worked as a lawyer for 7 years, decided to change from what was obviously a brilliant career in law to the potentially more risky one of being a comedian. Anyone who would be willing to give up a legal career to start out in comedy, something she knew nothing about at the time, must be either very brave or an eternal optimist. Yet, it turns out that the opposite is true as she is ‘always waiting for bad things to happen’. It is in fact Calman’s wife Lee who is responsible for helping her to perceive things/life from a positive perspective. At a very early stage in her work life Calman had worked at an electrical superstore being in charge of vacuum cleaners and microwaves. From such humble beginnings-during Calman’s eventual career as a corporate lawyer had, as already mentioned above, worked on Death Row in America and at one point had even worked at the United Nations in Geneva.
After deciding to switch to a career in comedy, Calman made it to the semi-finals of the ‘BBC New Comedy Awards’. Calman was also a finalist in the 2006 ‘Funny Women’ competition-both achievements have obviously boosted her confidence as she hasn’t looked back since. In 2007 Calman was cast in a sketch show at the Edinburgh Festival called ‘Ugly Kid’ which was a sell out and as such won ‘critical acclaim’. The show was renamed as ‘Blow Out’ after being commissioned for a pilot for Channel 4.
Calman has also become known as a contender on the highly popular show ‘Strictly Come Dancing’. Interestingly enough Calman found herself within the firing line of criticism due to not insisting on a same sex partner on the show. Calman saw the comments as unfair stating: “No one is holding me hostage in this room, making me wear a dress and dance with a man. I want to learn to dance.”
Calman further stated in response to this specific criticism, ‘It’s making this about my sexuality, instead of a woman wanting to learn how to dance.”
Calman met her partner Lee in 2002. After dating for 10 years they made it official by having a Civil Partnership ceremony in 2012 and in 2016 they got married choosing the Fruitmarket in Glasgow as the venue for this important occasion in their lives. Lee also used to be a lawyer by profession. Calman stated that she doesn’t really like it when people question the validity of marriage-claiming it’s just a bit of paper-adding, ‘And anyway, it’s something gay people fought for over many years’.
Calman and her wife Lee have is a mutual love of cats as they have 5 rescue cats-whose names are so wonderfully creative and quirky that I thought it was worthwhile listing them: Thus we have Pickle, Daisy Fay Harper, Olivia Pope, Dr Abigail Bartlet and DCI Jane Tennison.
One of the most interesting TV shows that Calman has hosted, in my personal opinion, is ‘Secret Scotland’. In this she travels around her native homeland on a ‘light hearted jaunt’-which is nevertheless a voyage of discovery. Here Calman visits what have been described as ‘iconic destinations’ such as Loch Ness, the mysterious Roslyn Chapel and not forgetting of course our very own Edinburgh Castle.
Susan Calman has been described as a ‘feisty’ Glaswegian comedian whose skill-set includes legal expertise, quick fire caustic wit and ‘infectious bubbly manner’ which have proved to be an intoxicating recipe that has insured her success. This combination of talent has given her a flare for writing after dinner speeches for some of ‘the most prestigious organisations’. As such she continues to be in demand with ‘high profile’ clients. She has worked most recently with such clients as ‘Famous Grouse, Halifax Bank of Scotland, Women in Industry and Law Society Scotland’.
Amongst Calman’s other media credits is the fact that she is also known as a regular guest on Radio 4 appearing on shows such as ‘The News Quiz’, ‘Now Show’ and also ‘So Wrong It’s Right’. In fact Calman’s work in Radio includes having hosted her own Radio Series ‘Susan Calman is convicted’ which won an award. Calman has also presented her own TV Shows, apart from the already mentioned ‘Secret Scotland’, her most recent programme has been on Channel 5 ‘Susan Calman’s Grand Week by the Sea, hurtling along the coastline in her campervan called ‘Helen Mirren’.
At LGBT Health and Wellbeing, we put our community at the centre of our services and so we want to know what you think about our support and social programmes.
Our community feedback survey is key in evaluating our services and further developing them with the needs of LGBT+ communities and people in mind. If you use our services or come to our events, please take the time to complete our survey and help shape the future LGBT+ services in your community.
The survey will close on Friday 17th December, 5pm.
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It’s slow at first, subtle, the spider web crack of the ice creaking under your foot. Like in the winter, when
you think the river is safe to cross and then you hear it:
Crack, crack, crack.
And you think, it’s fine, I can keep going, it’s only a few little cracks – but you haven’t realised the pressure
that’s already been put upon it and it’s really not fine at all.
Your soul will break first at the edges, it’ll get worn away and jagged and cracked, and maybe you won’t realise at first because your soul is like glass, but not everything is a hammer. Sometimes, it’s the words that get you first, words from the people closest to you, the ones that mean well, but then they tell you, oh so casual: you are going to hell. But they don’t mean you, of course, they mean “those people”. You know those people – and they don’t realise that those people are your people, and those people’s souls sing a song that
resonates with yours and maybe you don’t even realise what its called yet.
But it calls to you in a secret language that you have never learned, but somehow you have known since before you were born – and it calls to you in a voice so so old, and they’ll tell you that it’s new and it’s not. And they’ll tell you it’s a phase, and it’s not. What in life is permanent anyway?
This, this is a song that you know, even when it’s quiet, even when you have to hide it – Your song will always sing true through you – don’t shut it out, let it ring through your voice – be loud! – Let it call out to others, and it won’t ever break you. Because it’s you, it’s you and its okay.
A soul is fragile, sheet glass, ice with a thousand little cracks, but it’ll always hold true for you. Embrace your edges, those broken pieces, see them and hold them until they don’t hurt you anymore – because every crack is you that was, a you that could have been, and a you that is – a million versions of you, all perfect, because you are perfect.
At my edges, in those cracks, there was a me once who cried and didn’t understand what the song that their soul was singing, and there was a me once that was a she and I don’t know her anymore but I grieve for her. And there was a me once that turned 18 and thought my god, this is as far as my dreams went, and didn’t realise we could make it this far – but now I’m 10 years on, and what am I doing? I’m standing here, talking to all of you, and hoping you understand the song that my soul is trying to sing out today.
It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay. Take your time, take a breath, pick up your broken pieces. And I’ll help you handle them with care, we’ve all got repair work to do.
Ari Bone is an NB poet and writer, and part-time nature photographer, living in Edinburgh. Growing up on the west coast of Scotland, a passionate interest in high-fantasy novels and linguistics led them down a path into Diversity and Inclusion in their professional life. They spend a large amount of their time constructing new worlds and languages for future novels, as well as learning as many real-world languages as they can. Their writing is inspired predominantly by the works of JRR Tolkien, but also their own intersections of queerness, ADHD and aphantasia, and seeing representations of queerness and disability in fantasy worlds.
With support from the Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership in September 2021, we hosted a safe and collaborative discussion space for any LGBTQ+ people (16+) living in or around Edinburgh, to explore what wellbeing currently means for them, both as an individual and for us, as a community.
On Wednesday 29th September, we hosted the online event ‘You, Me & Us’, creating a supportive and validating framework to hold discussions with the wider community, with respect to all LGBTQ+ identities and experiences. The discussions took place in break-out rooms and the main space and included guided prompts to explore the theme of ‘Wellbeing’ and what people’s current needs are.
With the help of guest collaborators, we have been able to collate these contributions and are delighted to be able to capture discussions in both a community poem, curated by Gray Crosbie, and a graphic illustration by Madeleine Leisk.
We are delighted to introduce you to the artworks below which will be soon available in print.
From Here
by Gray Crosbie, and the LGBTQ+ community of Edinburgh
Where do we go from here?
After all these months and that endless year
locked down, pandemic stuck.
Now we’re ready ……excited, nervous, desperate
to be together.
For new friends and familiar faces,
safe spaces to take it slow,
or to jump back in,
to jog, run, box, swim,
dance and sing our way back to ourselves.
To share the ways we endured the days
the discovery that flower-picking and photography
can be survival skills.
Our new favourite movies,
the best forests and hills.
To tell of the things piano keys can unlock
and talk about how it’s not only time
that’s been lost.
Now we’re ready to be with our people,
to laugh and worry over a shared apple crumble
and tangle ourselves in cuddle-pile jumbles.
To relearn the energy of bodies,
to remember how company in itself …………………………………………can be a cure.
We need music to close the meters
activities to ease anxieties.
We need journeys that are worth the three buses.
To buy tickets, hold programmes and run fingers
over plans for the future, to embrace our city
in a big queer takeover and have parties in the street.
We need the calm of nature,
and a good night’s sleep.
And some of us, we need
to know we won’t now find ourselves alone.
That the virtual rooms where we found connection,
that sparked with joy
won’t go dark and empty.
And some of us, we need for things to be different,
better, fairer.
Back to normal isn’t as exciting
when “normal” wasn’t always inclusive.
We need the same changes we did before:
affordable childcare, help with the bus fare,
spaces to be social while sober
places without prices, where it’s only time that is spent.
We need wait lists to be smaller and bigger funds
counselling, assistants, interpreters,
to be around people who’re like us.
Accessibility,
comfort,
safety—
Our needs are varied
but that’s the beauty of diversity.
Lately, we’ve been looking forward again.
Because after all those months and that endlessly long year,
if nothing else, we’ve learned the importance of togetherness.
Where do we go from here?
It has recently come to my attention that regular readers of my articles have been asking if I could write an article, or a number of articles on gay women, and thus I have decided to write this article on Sue Perkins. Sue Elizabeth Perkins is a famous celebrity who is a comedian, actress, TV presenter, writer and broadcaster. She is also gay, which I will discuss later in the article. Perkins is also a talented musician having studied music to a serious level of comprehension and has reached ‘grade 8’ on her instrument of choice, the Piano. She is in all probability most famous as part of a comedy duo with Mel and Sue. She has most recently won recognition presenting the ‘Great British Bake Off’.
The eldest of three siblings, Perkins was born in East Dulwich, Croydon London, where she grew up together with her parents. Her Mother Ann worked as a secretary, while her Father Burt was employed by a local car dealer. Perkins was educated at the independent school for girls in South Croydon-Croham Hurst School.
Sue Perkins has in fact been described as one of the UK’s ‘best loved’ TV presenters, and has made a successful career not only in television but also as a radio broadcaster amongst other creative endeavours. However, despite apparently being a very shy child it would appear that even from a young age Perkins has been a high achiever. It was while studying English at the University of Cambridge at New Hall, now renamed Murray Edwards College, that she first met Mel Giedroyc. A meeting that perhaps sealed their fate towards a career in the media in the and fame. Mel and Sue have in fact been friends for 27 years. Mel Giedroyc is in fact, through her father Michal, a descendant of Lithuanian Royalty that resided in Poland until 1939.
Having met at University in the 1980’s (and graduated), Perkins and Mel Giedroyc started writing material that they intended to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. This is precisely what they went on to do and they were in fact short-listed for the Daily Express ‘Best Newcomers’ award at the Festival in 1993. Also, I should briefly mention here that ‘Mel and Sue’, as a famous comedy double act was actually taken on tour for many years. After this they initially spent a few years writing for comedy household names ‘French and Saunders’, even making the occasional appearance in the TV Show. After this, they appeared and Co-Hosted the Channel 4 lunchtime show called ‘Light Lunch’ and also ‘Late Lunch’, which was an evening version in the late 1990’s.
As already mentioned Perkins is also a writer. In October 2015, she published her ‘memoir’ ‘Spectacles’. She is also the Author of an ‘autobiographical travel book ‘East of Croydon: Blunderings through India and South East Asia’. Perkins as such has been acknowledged as an accomplished author. Not only has her travel book been shortlisted in the ‘Autobiography of the Year category’ at the 2018 National Book Awards, Perkins has also acted in the capacity of Judge for the 2009 Man Booker Prize.
In 2010, Sue Perkins and Giles Cohen, who had previously appeared together on the BBC2 series ‘The Super-sizers Go and the Super-sizers Eat’ were commissioned by the BBC2 to emulate ‘Tom’ and ‘Barbara’s’ self-sufficient lifestyle in the brilliant and hilarious classic sitcom ‘The Good Life’, in a show entitled ‘Giles and Sue live the Good Life’.
Here I would like to mention the fact that Perkins has actually appeared in August 2012’s ‘Tatler’s’-‘list of high profile lesbians in London’. Perkins is currently, to the best of my knowledge, in a relationship with Anna Richardson, who is also a TV Presenter. Perkins was actually outed as a lesbian in 2002 by ex-girlfriend Rhona Cameron. In fact, Cameron revealed that Perkins was Gay during her appearance on ITV’s ‘I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here’, probably one of the worst TV shows ever created in my opinion. However, Perkins obviously having a great and philosophical sense of humour remarked in response to this:
“Being a lesbian is only about the 47th most interesting thing about me.”
As already mentioned, Perkins has been in a relationship with TV Presenter Anna Richardson, who is known from presenting the TV Show ‘Naked Attraction’. Richardson talking about her relationship with Perkins told Lorraine Kelly, ‘We met at a party and I was recently single and we just……all I can say, there was an understanding and for me the planets aligned’, furthermore, she described Perkins as ‘absolutely extraordinary’.
Perkins, in her turn, speaking to the Guardian about her relationship stated that Richardson:
“Has done quite a lot to still the gyroscope of my whirring brain.”
Whilst doing research for this article, I was interested to find out if Perkins had ever talked about what it was like when she realised that she was Gay. Interestingly enough Perkins has talked about the fascinating fact that when she was much younger, both she and her boyfriend at the time were going through a ‘confusing time’, as both were struggling with ‘similar problems’ with their sexuality (her boyfriend was Gay as well).
In an interview with Desert Island Discs in which she talked about her own sexual orientation, Perkins courageously revealed that when she first realised that she was Gay, she had the ‘violent reaction’ of just wanting to ‘throw up’, further explaining that this was ‘so far from my frame of reference’ (this can be understood as the ‘frame’ of heteronormativity or the heteronormative binary). However, I’m glad to say Perkins obviously came to terms with her own sexuality, being intelligent and mature enough to be true to herself.
Perkins has also unfortunately been the victim of showbiz gossip or more accurately online harassment. However, Perkins claimed that the rumours in question were ‘fabricated’. This specific rumour, which was started on Twitter, was that Perkins was the favourite to become the new presenter for the TV Show ‘Top Gear’, after the departure of Jeremy Clarkson had made a vacancy available. As a result of this, Perkins temporarily quit the Twitter media site but decided to return in August 2015.
Turning now to a more positive story, Mel and Sue were revealed to be the new hosts of the very popular classic quiz show ‘The Generation Game’ in an announcement on July 2017. The BBC Show was scheduled to air the first episode in Easter 2018. Unfortunately, the show initially suffered from bad ratings; however, I’m glad to say that the Mel and Sue ‘reboot’ of the household quiz show will be given another run in the future.
In 2017, Mel and Sue’s rise to comedy fame was documented and broadcast by Channel 5’s ‘Sue Perkins Comedy Greats: The Entertainers and Funny Women: The Mel and Sue Story’. Finally, I would like to simply say that I’ve always personally found Mel and Sue very entertaining, and I hope that they both continue to be successful as a double act, and in their respective solo careers.
LGBT Health and Wellbeing is relocating its Glasgow based team to the Adelphi Centre. The Adelphi Centre offers a range of office, meeting, training and support accommodation for a wide variety of third sector and other businesses. Situated next to the River Clyde and a stone throw away from the heart of Glasgow, there is a number of specialised conference rooms. Upon entering the building you will be met by their friendly reception staff.
Managed by City Property, the centre’s facilities also include a reception area, café (currently closed but will hopefully be opening again soon) and childcare nursery. In addition, two monitored car parks are available free of charge for staff and visitors to the building (on a first-come-first-served basis)
We are delighted that our space will offer us accessible offices that will provide a base for our staff team as well as affording us the opportunity to host small scale events and 1:1 meetings.
As some of you may recall, LGBT Health and Wellbeing started its life in Howe Street (Edinburgh) back in 2003. Our services have developed over the years and our initial home in Glasgow was at Robertson House prior to our move into Queens Crescent. Whilst Queen’s Crescent has served us over recent years it is no long fit for purpose and we hope that our new home will better meet the needs of all of our diverse community and the requirements of our organisation.
Our team have been busy packing up Queens Crescent and ensuring that the new office is both a welcoming and affirmative space.
We are really excited about this new chapter in the organisation’s history and very much look forward to welcoming you to this new office in due course.
You can continue to keep up to date with regard to our services via our newsletters and social media so follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
David Hockney has been described as one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. He is a painter, an illustrator, a photographer, a printmaker, stage set designer and draftsman. He is also gay which I will talk about slightly later in the article. Hockney is perhaps best known for a series of paintings of swimming pools rendered in striking colours using the relatively new medium, at the time, of acrylic, which were composed after he had moved to Los Angeles in 1964. However, it has been said that there is a lot more to David Hockney than just swimming pools. For example, these paintings reflect his sunny Californian lifestyle whereas when residing in England he likes to paint the seasons.
His preoccupation with light and its effects was apparently derived and inspired by the intense Californian light in L.A which became a major influence on his work. However, although his compositions have made use of vibrant colours, his paintings have also been described as having a preoccupation with ‘mundane realism’, which has derived inspiration partially from Pop art and photography.
David Hockney was the fourth child of five and was born in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire in 1937, his parents being Laura and Kenneth Hockney. His artwork featured in the exhibition Young Contemporaries at the Royal College of Art together with famous British Pop Artist Peter Blake. In fact, this exhibition heralded the beginnings and arrival of British Pop art. The genre of Pop art was a movement that involved many young artists, and can thus probably be seen in the wider context of the youth movement at the time, who felt that a lot of the artwork on show in galleries was a bit boring. As such Hockney has been associated with this artistic genre-movement.
From 1953 to 57, Hockney was a student at the Bradford College of Art and studied in London from 1959 to 62 at the Royal College of Art. He went to the U.S.A for the first time in 1961. Hockney also worked in America as a teacher at the Universities of Iowa, California and Colorado from the years 1964 to 67. From this point onwards, he was a regular visitor to the States-commuting back and forth from England-before he decided to permanently settle in Los Angeles in 1978.
Returning to the subject of his artwork, Hockney is known for using ‘autobiographical’ subject matter for his compositions of ‘incidental scenes’, referencing friends and his living quarters. Often there is a confident ‘elegance’ and a summery tranquillity to the scenes portrayed. A well-known painting in this style is ‘Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)’ (1972).
This painting actually sold at Christies Auction House (New York) for 90 million dollars (70 million pounds), on 15 November 2018. At the time, this was the most expensive piece of artwork sold at auction ‘by a living Artist’ and broke the previous record held by Jeff Koons from 2013. Jeff Koons went on to reclaim the record in 2019 when his ‘Rabbit’ sold for 91 million dollars at Christies.
Hockney (R), Peter Schlesinger (L)
As mentioned above Hockney is also gay, which he has understandably explored as a subject matter in his artwork. For example, the theme of gay love is referenced in his work ‘We Two Boys Together Clinging’ (1961), specifically named after a poem by Walt Whitman. Another portraiture work that visually explores love between men is the painting ‘Domestic Scene, Los-Angeles’ (1963), which depicts one man showering whilst another washes his back.
Hockney met Peter Schlesinger, an Art student, in 1966 with whom he became romantically involved. He met Schlesinger while teaching at the UCLA; Schlesinger had been modelling for paintings and drawings at the time.
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, Hockney has also explored the medium of photography, most notably in the 1980’s, and is also known for his photo collages. A good example of this artistic endeavour being photo collage ‘Pear-blossom Hwy’ (1986), which is in fact one of a number of collages that have been described as ‘ambitious’.
Also, as previously mentioned Hockney has artistically expressed himself as a stage-set designer, specifically for the Opera and Ballet for which he is described as having ‘achieved international prominence’.
If the above list of artistic achievements were not already impressive, Hockney has also tried his hand at working as an illustrator, his illustrations having been published in ‘several series of graphic works in book form’. These illustrations include, ‘Six Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm’, 1970 and ‘The Blue Guitar’, 1977.
Domestic Scene, Los Angeles, 1963
David Hockney has also embraced the new technology available for artists in the latter years of his life, specifically the Brushes App. With this, he has apparently produced still life compositions, landscapes and portraits. Hockney stated, ‘When I began drawing on an I-pad I loved it’. According to Artnet-which interviewed Hockney-he stated,
‘I thought it was a terrific medium. Everything is at your fingertips, there’s no cleaning up. I realised I could just reach for my I-phone and draw, even in the dark.’
Hockney has used a hearing aid since 1979 and has ‘Synaesthetic associations’-‘between’ sound and colour. Interestingly I have come across this ‘phenomena’ before, but in a completely different context; Synaesthesia can be a state of consciousness induced by drugs or states of deep meditation in which a person can ‘hear’ colours and ‘see’ sounds. I should think that with an artist of Hockney’s creative genius, this could be of benefit to his creative process.
This seems to be the case, as synaesthesia reportedly affects Hockney by allowing him to see colours as a result of ‘musical stimuli’. This has inspired the creative process of his set designs for the Ballet and Opera as he often designs his sets in colours ‘matched’ to the musical pieces that are to be performed.
David Hockney has had a sixty-year career as an artist. Ironically, considering the fact that he is famous for his artistic renditions of swimming pools, he actually keeps fit by swimming for half an hour each morning. This regime has obviously been working, as he is able to stand at his easel for six hours.
I’m Sophie (she/her) and I’ve just started at LGBT Health and Wellbeing in Glasgow as the new Development Worker for the Mental Wellbeing Project, taking over from the wonderful Benn. I will be overseeing the running of wellbeing events alongside the awesome sessional staff and volunteers. Additionally, I will be collaborating with See Me Scotland, supporting our See Me Proud Champions and new volunteers with their amazing work sharing their experiences with mental health.
I am so excited to have joined such a caring and energetic team doing awesome work in the community. Prior to joining the team I had been following the events run by LGBT Health and Wellbeing so when the job came up, I went for it!
I am passionate about making support systems as accessible as possible to folks who need them, which has lead me to work in a range of different third sector groups, including LGBTQIA+ and Homelessness Support organisations.
I have recently moved to Glasgow from Aotearoa/New Zealand with my partner, Rose. We met while she was travelling in NZ, and she decided it was time for her to come back home to bonnie wee Scotland to see her family! Glasgow is an awesome city and I’ve been having a great time exploring and getting to be part of Glasgow life as things start to open back up again post-lockdown. I really enjoy anything arty, and am currently spending time trying to get better at watercolour painting.
We’ll be starting to trial in-person events a bit more over the coming months, and will be holding a feedback evening where you can share your thoughts and tell us what you would like to see being run. More details will be posted in the next few weeks!
I’m really looking forward to getting to know you as I settle into the role.
The colourful and flamboyant figure of Marsha P. Johnson was an iconic African-American Gay Liberation activist who self-identified as a drag queen. Despite the fact that during my research for this article I discovered some conflicting evidence for how Johnson specifically identified, as concerns her gender identity there is nevertheless a strong possibility that she was in fact a transgender woman, which is why I have decided to describe her as such in the title.
Marsha was born on the 24 August 1945 in Elizabeth, New Jersey. She had a strict Christian upbringing, attending Mount Teman African Episcopal Church, making for what has been described as a difficult childhood. After graduating from high school, she eventually moved to Greenwich Village in New York City, unfortunately at the time being very poor and homeless with apparently only fifteen dollars and a bag of clothes to her name. Desperate to survive Martha became a sex worker, which she claimed to have been arrested for over 100 times.
Regarding Marsha’s contribution to LGBT history, and in the wake of the global Black Lives Matter antiracism protest, the significance of Marsha P. Johnson is considerable. She is in fact famous for having been a pioneer figure-‘outspoken advocate’ of the early Gay Liberation Movement that actively sought to establish gay rights. As such she is regarded as a ‘prominent figure’, amongst others, of the Stonewall riots of 1969. However, Johnson despite having been credited with having inaugurated the riots has maintained that she wasn’t actually present at the very beginning of the uprising.
It is at this juncture that I would like to return to the subject of Marsha’s gender identity. Due to the obvious prejudice of the heteronormative culture in America during this era ‘Drag Queens’ and ‘Street Queens’ were also referred to as ‘Female impersonators’. Johnson was a flamboyant character who dressed ‘extravagantly’ and as such has been described as a ‘Drag Artist’. Furthermore, Marsha claimed that the ‘P’ in her name came about as a reaction to negative comments made by people about their appearance and life style-‘life choices’-and meant ‘Pay it no mind’.
According to one source of research I discovered, Johnson apparently never in fact self-identified with the specific term transgender, however this term wasn’t part of the cultural lingua franca at the time but the term transsexual was. Johnson actually identified in numerous ways such as gay, transvestite and as a Queen, which can obviously be understood as a ‘Drag Queen’ or ‘Street Queen’. Johnson’s gender identity or gender expression according to ‘Professor of Human Gender and Sexuality Studies’ Susan Stryker of the University of Arizona could best be described as ‘gender non-conforming’.
However, as previously mentioned, during my research I found conflicting evidence as regards Marsha’s specific gender identity. Thus in complete contra-distinction to the above, the most compelling evidence that she was in fact a transgender woman was that apparently she stated that she knew from a young age that she identified as female and despite being brought up in a strict family began to dress in female attire. Furthermore, according to friends she always referred to herself with She/Her pronouns.
Returning to the subject of the Stonewall ‘uprising’ I think we should briefly mention the general cultural climate of the time. As such, America during the late 1960’s was a very homophobic environment, with homosexuality being considered at the time a form of mental illness. Hence, perhaps it should come as no surprise that the gay community was often the victim of police brutality.
Marsha was only 23 years old in June 1969, when police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City. Over 200 people were forced out of the bar and onto the streets by the police and then subjected to a violent attack that has been described as ‘excessive’.
Johnson, as already mentioned has been described as one of the ‘key figures’ who made a stand against the NYPD. She has also in fact become known as one of the ‘instigators’ and recognized as such-also as the ‘vanguard’ of the Gay Liberation Movement in the U.S.A-that the Stonewall uprising acted as a catalyst to inaugurate. At the time of the riots not only did Johnson resist arrest, but also in the aftermath organized a number of protest marches with the purpose of obtaining equal rights for gay people.
These events became an inspirational catalyst for a truly ‘pivotal moment’ in LGBT history. News of these protests had spread like wildfire around the world and inspired increasing numbers to join protest groups. Thus it was a mere month after the initial protests that the first openly gay march took place in New York.
Marsha however, is not only famous for these truly significant events. Hence if we return to the more personal biographical details of her life we can remind ourselves that when Marsha first arrived in New York she was very poor. Despite this Marsha found her true calling in the colourful, flamboyant life of a Drag Queen, becoming known for her outlandish hats and glamorous jewellery and becoming a well-known recognised figure in the ‘eccentric nightlife’ of Christopher Street. As regards this Marsha stated, ‘I was no one, nobody, from nowheresville until I became a Drag Queen’.
This new life also made Marsha so enthusiastic that it brought out her creative side, as she selected appropriate items from thrift shops and began designing her own costumes. From small beginnings Marsha became a rising star in the nightlife of Drag, eventually becoming a respected ‘Drag Mother’ to the up and coming youth looking to make a name for themselves on the drag scene. Marsha’s efforts eventually blossomed into a successful career when she ended up touring with the Drag Group ‘Hot Peaches’, who not only performed in London but in fact went on a global tour.
Returning to the depressing subject of the excessive police violence which was the catalyst that led to the Stonewall Uprising, I thought it was important to mention towards the end of the article that although it was a long time coming, an official apology was issued by the head of New York’s Police Department in 2019 stating, ‘The actions taken by the NYPD were wrong’.
Sadly, Marsha died tragically at only 46 in mysterious circumstances in 1992. She had been missing for six days when her body was found in the Hudson River. The initial ruling for the probable cause of death was suicide. However, Marsha’s close friends weren’t convinced claiming that Marsha hadn’t really shown any suicidal tendencies. Through years of constant demands to reopen the investigation, in 2012 the case was finally reopened, the verdict for her death being “undetermined”.
Despite the fact that Marsha P. Johnson has gone, her memory and legacy lives on in the shining example of the Marsha P. Johnson Institute, which states that it ‘protects the rights of Black Transgender people’.
Our new research highlights work barriers for trans people in Scotland.
Here at LGBT Health and Wellbeing we are passionate about promoting the health, wellbeing and equality of LGBT adults in Scotland. We know trans (including non-binary) people experience specific barriers when looking for and staying in work. We wanted to understand more about these barriers in a Scottish context, and how they can be challenged.
Our recent Trans People and Work research is the first major Scottish research on the experiences of trans people at work and when looking for work.
The research highlights the many challenges and barriers trans people can face in relation to employment and makes recommendations for government, for equality bodies, and for employers.
The report findings point to a strong need for better policies, awareness raising, education, guidance and training, alongside greater positive visibility of trans people.
Maruska Greenwood, our Chief Executive, said: “Although there are positive experiences and examples of good practice, the overall picture points to many people experiencing acute disadvantage due to their trans identity. These include negative effects on job prospects, workplaces not being trans inclusive, harassment and unfair treatment at work and mental health impact.”
Less than half of survey respondents felt their workplace was trans inclusive, and less than a quarter felt that the policies and strategies in their workplace go far enough to ensure work equality for trans people. Over half had experienced harassment at work, and most did not report it: most felt managers in their workplace were not adequately equipped to deal with transphobic harassment or bullying.
We hope the report findings and recommendations will act as a catalyst for change, help inform progress towards greater work equality and, ultimately, the economic advancement and social inclusion of trans people in Scotland.
