1995 – The MESMEN Project
Staffordshire Buddies set up the Mesmen Project in Lichfield to provide HIV Prevention and Sexual Health Promotion to gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men in South Staffordshire. The project ran for over twenty years helping create social opportunities for LGBT+ people while striving to improve their health.
1973 – Stoke’s First Listing in Gay News
The first issue of Gay News was published in May 1972. Over the following year an information page evolved with listings for areas outside London. Stoke’s first listing of pubs and clubs appeared in issue 27 published July 1973.
The Origins of Our Gay Scene
The earliest reference to gay friendly venues comes from oral history passed down within our community. It is said that as early as the 1920s The Unicorn Inn was used a meeting place for men and that during the second world war The Antelope and The Stage Door were well known as gay friendly pubs.
1977 – Tom Robinson Band Plays in Stoke and Stafford
The Tom Robinson Band were a British rock band, established in 1976. Their song “Glad to Be Gay” is considered a British national gay anthem. In 1977 they played venues in the midlands including Stoke and Stafford.
1918 – Maud Allan Libel Case
In the spring of 1918, famous Canadian dancer and actress, Maud Allan pursued a libel case against right wing MP Noel Pemberton-Billing. The case revolved around an article published in his newspaper “The Vigilante” which was headlined “The Cult of the Clitoris”
1982 – Latecomer – A Gay Play
In October 1982 the Potteries Gay Community Association applied to stage a gay themed play, “Latecomer” by Eric Presland. After a private council debate two thirds of the committee agreed to the play being presented and it was subsequently staged at the Newcastle Guildhall on Nov 9th.
2005 – Civil Partnerships Begin
The Civil Partnership Act gave legal recognition to a relationship between two people of the same sex. The Sentinel, published articles about the first local Civil Partnerships in 2006.
1984 – Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners
Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) supported the National Union of Mineworkers during the year-long strike of 1984–1985. One of the two founder members was Mike Jackson who graduated from Keele University in 1980
The Wombourne 12
In December 1986 the Conservative leader of South Staffordshire Council, William Brownhill, made headline news by suggesting at a Council meeting that 90% of homosexuals should be gassed to halt the spread of AIDS. Labour Councillor, Jack Greenaway, agreed with him…
1928 – “The Well of Loneliness” A Lesbian Novel is banned
“The Well of Loneliness” is a novel by British author Radclyffe Hall first published in 1928. Shortly after the book’s publication, a British court judged it obscene because it defended “unnatural practices between women”
