The Evening Mail was outraged !
1985
“We opened the Lesbian and Gay Community Centre in 1985, once we secured the building and started decorating, some money was secured from the West Midlands County Council – a small grant which paid for some equipment, £500 for some second hand sinks and a cooker and another £250 for furniture, but the major funding came from ourselves. The County Council’s donation created sensational headlines in the press in early 1985. We had two further grants, towards the end of 85/early 86 which paid for a full time and part time worker, amounting to around £10K which also created consternation. The Evening Mail was outraged, a lot of people said it was morally wrong that any money should go to a lesbian or gay organisation, that we were not a community that was deprived in any way and that this was discriminatory because money was not given to heterosexuals. Also homosexuality was morally wrong therefore the Council was supporting immorality. The opinion and letters columns were amazing – ‘even dogs in the street don’t do what homosexuals do’. We were just filthy disgusting perverts out to corrupt their children. There were some letters of support and columnists like Maureen Messents were supportive and came down to the Centre and wrote a supportive piece, but three quarters of the letters were foaming at the mouth!”
Contributed by: Lyn David Thomas, 47