Events tagged with "Friend"
Gay Community Centre Bordesley Street
The Gay Community Centre opened in mid 1976 in a row of Victorian shops at the junction of Allison Street and Bordesley Street in Digbeth. The building consisted of three large four storey Victorian shop premises, all interconnected. The main entran...
Lesbian and Gay Community Centres
In February 1976 a group of about a dozen people began regular meetings to discuss and plan the setting up of a gay community centre in Birmingham. They were drawn from all the gay groups operating in the city and from the commercial gay scene.A buil...
Nightingale Thorp Street
A two storey building on Thorp Street at the side of the Hippodrome Theatre, previously the Birmingham Anglers Club. The entrance was simply a door on the street with a small viewing hatch. You walked down a short corridor and entered a spacious indo...
Memories tagged with "Friend"
80s and early 90s publications
"There were no other commercial or non commercial publications in Birmingham in the mid 1980s although the The Pink Paper started shortly after. Birmingham Friend and CHE had each produced newsletters as had the Metropolitan Community Church but thes...
All happening at the Gay Centre, Digbeth, 1977
The Gay Community Centre in Bordesley Street was set up not long after the time that Gill and Betty moved to Birmingham (1975) Gill: “Somebody secured the premises on the corner of Bordesley Street and Allison Street and people put a lot of effort i...
Contrasting attitudes of Friend counsellors 1992
“I had spoken to a Friend counselor in a face-to face situation and he was very supportive. He just said 'Be careful because of your age.' I was nineteen, twenty at the time. 'Good Luck. I think you'll be alright.' He wasn't looking to sexually ex...
Friend socials at the Matador from 1988
“I came out to a social with Birmingham Friend that used to be held at a pub at the Holloway Head (The Matador) which was a straight pub but the landlord was gay-friendly. He let a room out of a Friday night. I was quite shocked and a little naive...
Gay Centre discos at the Matador
“Prior to the Nightingale moving into town (Thorp St) in 1981 there was nothing in the city centre other than the original Gay Community Centre discos in Allison Street, bring your own booze, and 25p for a baked potato, that sort of fund-raising. So ...
Gettting conditioned to the gay scene
Because being gay in the police force wasn’t really acceptable, Bernard initially met the Friend group in a pub in Holloway Head (probably the Greyhound). “It was run by these older gay guys, the idea was to introduce you to the gay scene...
Nightingale charges Switchboard peppercorn rent
“When the Nightingale opened in Thorp Street (in 1981) Switchboard was invited along with Friend to take rooms there for a peppercorn rent for something like £100 a year. There was a stretch for about 3 years when the Nightingale declined to ask for ...
Phoning Birmingham Friend in 1991
“When I was about nineteen I contacted Birmingham Friend after seeing an advertisement that used to be on after ITV Central News at about 10.35 pm 'Are you gay or lesbian?', pretending I was not taking any notice but then took down the number. I w...
Picketing Jill Knights office
“People involved in the Lesbian and Gay Community Centre Aston also became involved with the Anti Section 28 campaign for lesbian and gay rights. It has been said that the Birmingham LGB community was three people and a set of mirrors and it certainl...
Super Pricks 88
The following article from 'In the Pink' July 1998 talks about the planned Super Pricks '88 event.HOT AND HEALTHYSUPER PRICKS 88At The Powerhouse on Thursday 25th August, just before the Birmingham Super Prix, the Gay Men's Health Group has arranged ...