Abbie Silk has been exploring the Norfolk Heritage Centre’s LGBTQ+ Ephemera Archive, and has written this blog to highlight how grassroots publications became lifelines for queer communities during the 1980s.
Whilst trawling through the Queer Norfolk archives, I came across a copy of the Out! Newsletter written by the Norwich Centre Group – “one of Britain’s Oldest Gay Groups.”(1) The newsletter was published in 1984 – a decade defined by the rule of Thatcher. During this time, gay* people were systemically prejudiced against, with fatal consequences as the HIV/AIDs pandemic grew.
Despite the first cases of HIV/AIDs being recorded in 1981, it wasn’t until 1986 that the government published scientific research.(2) During these ‘limbo’ years, the gay community faced waves of misinformation from the media, with headlines from The Mail on Sunday naming HIV/AIDS a ‘gay virus plague.”
As argued by Colin Clews, of “Gay in the 80s,” regional newsletters played an important role in fighting misinformation during the 1980s.(3) These publications not only filled gaps left by national institutions, but connected a gay readership disregarded by the nation at large. Individuals could interact with this gay community at varied levels; as readers, writers and participants in events advertised.
The Readers
For those who engaged with the Norwich Centre Group as readers, there was plenty of educational content written for the gay community. The newsletter sees a visit from the Gay Medical Association, who oppose ‘scaremongering’ tactics used by the mainstream media, and instead provide research on HIV/AIDS.(4) Published in 1984, this newsletter informs the reader of safe prevention practice, two years before the first national advert from the government.(5) As such, the breadth of informative material at this “early” stage is indicative of the pioneering educational role such local publications played.
As argued by Colin Clews, local gay publications are neglected in studies of the spread of HIV/AIDS in the early 1980s. With more recorded archival content, national organisations dominate research, often discrediting the important grassroots role of smaller charities or groups.(6)
The Writers
For many gay people in Norfolk, the ‘personal experience’ section of the Centre Group newsletter may have been an opportunity to share experiences they usually couldn’t.
One such story, of a David Smith, tells with a young boy who asks Smith if he is gay during assembly, taunting ‘it’s nothing to be ashamed of!’(7) David talks of the desire to have screamed ‘yes!’ but deciding against it – knowing the consequences it would entail.
David’s writing ends on a powerful note:
“By the way, I don’t like the word gay. Gay is transient, being queer is here to stay…So the word is homosexual is it?- NO! What do you call me then? Try David.”(8)
Especially in rural areas, gay lives were often characterised by a sense of invisibility.(9) In this context, these newsletters may have filled a gap in national representation, sharing varied rural gay testimonies over vast geographical areas.
The Attendees
In the midst of campaigns of homophobic disinformation, the Norwich Centre Group continued to host a variety of events for those wishing to connect with gay people in Norfolk.
There are advertisements for almost weekly meetings held by the UEA Gay Soc, including everything from film screenings to a ‘Gay Week of Action.’(10) This is followed by a list of gay-friendly nightclubs, pubs, alongside counselling and social groups. Research from Bell and Valentine says rural individuals felt excluded from public spaces for fear of homophobic treatment.(11) Therefore, such advertisements for gay-friendly spaces may have been a lifeline of information for individuals in more isolated areas.
All in all, not only does the Out! newsletter provide educational healthcare resources, it actively fills gaps left by mainstream institutions. It is apparent this newsletter sought to tell the people of Norfolk – we see you.
References
(1) Norwich Centre Group, Out! The Newsletter for Norwich Centre Group. Issue 2, February 1984
(2) David Miller, Jenny Kitzinger, Kevin Williams and Peter Beharrell. “The Circuit of Mass Communication: Media Strategies, Representation and Audience Reception in the AIDS Crisis.” Sage Publications: London, 1998: 1.
(3) Colin Clews, “1980s. Media: Regional gay publications.” Gay in the 80s, 31st December 2012. [https://www.gayinthe80s.com/2012/12/1980s-media-regional-gay-publications/ ]
(4) Norwich Centre Group, Out!
(5) Kevin Alcorn, Roger Peabody, “HIV in the UK – Then and Now,” Aids Map. October 2023: https://www.aidsmap.com
(6) Clews, “1980s. Media: Regional gay publications.”
(7) Norwich Centre Group, Out!
(8) Norwich Centre Group, Out!
(9) David Bell and Gill Valentine, “Queer Country: Rural Lesbian and Gay Lives,” Journal of Rural Studies, 11 (2) (1995): 116.
(10) Norwich Centre Group, Out!
(11) Bell and Valentine, “Queer Country,” 117.
*At this time, gay was a catch-all term as well as a term for the LGBT+ community while also relating specifically to gay men.
Abbie Silk is a graduate in History and Politics with a focus on queer oral history. From Norfolk but now living in Madrid, Abbie has explored queering oral histories of women who protested at Greenham Common, and has undertaken two internships in the North East, focusing on oral history and decolonising the curriculum. Her projects on Māori culture and Jewish women-owned businesses are used as educational resources at the Great North Museum.
Queer Norfolk is a volunteer-led archiving project that hands ownership of queer collections back to communities, empowering people to access, discover, and contribute to local collections that reflect our shared histories.
