They were a bit} ken} 'thon wey} Brian Dempsey

seem unpromising, given that very Part 2 few book-length treatments of life in have been attempt­ ed, and that Scottish concerns get Liberation Front Ball scandalously marginalised or ignored entirely in supposedly Says Mary to Malcolm, "British" lgbt histories. There is, "If you come then ah'll come however, a huge range of material Dressed up in nothin' at all." waiting to be exploited by the enter­ So Mary and Malcolm prising social historian willing to do Came only in talcum a little digging in the libraries and To the gay people's fancy dress archives. ball The gay liberation Published sources: Non Fiction All over the nation They had a fancy dress ball The leading writer on 'gay' life in They sent invitations modern Britain is undoubtedly Jef­ To folk of all stations frey Weeks and his works, including To Mary and Male first of all (1977) and The \.%rldWe Now Malcolm and Mary Have \.%n (2007), are important Were feeling cheery contributions to the topic. Turning With lots of whisky and beer _ to specifically Scottish material one coming out _ They then had some brandy of the earliest contributions was Lil­ } r~f f REY 'NE E. I(.~ Which made them feel dandy lian Faderman's 1983 book Scotch They thought the world had gone verdict, a treatment of the 1812 Pirie queer and Woods case ( described in Part 1 _...... With these spirits they rumbled of this article). The publishers Poly­ ...... Then staggered and stumbled gon made a major contribution ...... Of glue someone gave them a sniff with two anthologies of short pieces Then Malcolm, the braggard of both fiction and non fiction He stoated and staggered called And Thus Will I Freely Sing in Nearly fell over a Cliff 1989 and Crazy Jig in 1992. More Of this situation recently the bookshop The gay liberation Word Power has taken up the chal­ Took advantage and gave them lenge, producing a greatly expand­ some grog ed volume of Bob Cant's ground­ With flesh they were smitten breaking oral history collection, ) Now they dirty up Britain originally published by Polygon in I Polluting the place with pornog! 1993, called Footsteps and Witnesses; and gay lifestories from Scot­ From the album Tinny Can On My Tail, land and also Ellen Galford and Ken © estate of Matt McGinn, reproduced by Wilson's Rainbow City; Stories from kind permission of Janette McGinn. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgen­ der Edinburgh. Researchers may also The first part of this article find my own pamphlet, Thon Wey: looked at some of the theoretical Aspects of Scottish lesbian and gay issues around lesbian, gay, bisexual activism 1968-1992 useful (available and/or (lgbt) history free at www.linsert.org). and also gave some examples of Recent years have seen a small what we already know about the his­ but growing body of academic arti­ tory of lgbt people in Scottish his­ cles on Scottish 'gay' history. Roger tory. This part focuses on sources Davidson and Gayle Davis have pro­ that may prove useful for future duced a number of valuable articles research. At first glance the on homosexual law reform in Scot­ prospects of finding sources for land in the 1950s and 60s as well as with a Scottish bent work on possibly related social

HISTORY SCOTLAND - NOVEMBER/ DE C EMBER 2009

46 questions such as abortion, prostitu­ very mention encouraged immoral ular column in the magazine ScotsGay tion, and sexually transmitted diseases ideas in the newspaper's readers ( cer­ chronicle much homophobic material (see bibliography at www.linsert.org). tainly nothing positive should ever be in modern Scottish newspapers). Even I have written articles on 19th centu­ published), but on the other hand few then, many stories touching on lgbt life ry Scottish sodomy cases and a survey journalists can or could resist what will not have these terms in the head­ of the treatment of sodomy in legal they see as a scandalous story. Reports line and laborious (though rewarding) writing in Scotland, the former in par­ of 'queer life' became more common searching through each edition of a ticular offering possibilities for further in the 1950s but, even as far back as newspaper may be necessary unless research on the lives of those people the 19th century, such stories can be the names of people caught up in a briefly caught in the terrible spotlight identified if one knows how to spot major story are known. of criminal prosecution. them. One approach would be to identi­ Of course approaches change over fy where criminal court reports or Published sources: time. The use of search terms like short news stories appear in the pages Newspapers and magazines 'bisexual' and perhaps even 'lgbt' may of the newspaper in question (sur­ produce a number of references for prisingly difficult at times) and then try Examination of mainstream newspa­ articles published in recent years, but to remain sensitive to any possibility of per reporting on lgbt issues reveals a searches of older material may have to relevant materials being hidden confused approach. On the one hand deploy less positive terms like behind the headline. Another would be newspaper editors and owners were 'sodomy', 'indecency', 'immoral', or to take a known point of interest, for often hostile to the idea of even men­ 'unnatural' (this is not to suggest that example the Scottish connections to tioning that same-sex love and same­ more recent coverage is always more the Boulton and Park case of 1870, the sex sexual activity existed in case the positive or balanced. Garry Otton's Oscar Wilde trial of 1895, the {%l[ of 2001 book Sexual Fascism and his reg- Loneliness trial in 1928, the Wolfenden Oscar Wilde Report of 1957, the enacting of 'Sec­ tion 28' in 1988, and so on: not only might there be interesting and relevant articles, editorials and letters about the particular subject but such events often seem to encourage coverage of similar cases. Searching for coverage of a sodomy case in Dundee in 1870 in The Dundee Advertiser I happened across a short report, described in Part 1, of cross-dressing 'foolish girls' who were convicted of breach of the peace. Many of the journals aimed at an lgb and/or t readership are noted in my Pink Papers:AnAnnotated bibliography of lesbian and gay journals, available free at www.linsert.org. The leading British 'gay' journals, which did often run reports from Scottish correspondents alongside articles which tended to mis­ lead by failing to note that is not a synonym for Britain, were (1971-1985) and Gay Times ) (1984 to present). The two longest I lived British lesbian titles were Arena Three (1964 to 1972) and Sappho (1972 to 1981). There is a wealth of material avail­ able in the long-running Gay Scotland, journal of Scotland's main 'gay rights' organisation (the organisation was called the Scottish Minorities Group (SMG) 1969 to 1978; then the Scot­ tish Homosexual Rights Group (SHRG) 1978 to 1992, and finally 1992 to c.2003). Gay Scotland was first produced in the 1970s as a newsletter and then as a publically-available monthly maga­ zine (1982 to 1998 and 2002 to 2003) and is available in a number of public libraries. Local gay rights groups also

HISTORY SCOTLAND - N O VEMBER/DECEMBE R 2009 47 "Some may consider that Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Fred Urquhart's Time Will Knit published in 1938 Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and other 'gothic' texts can sus­ touched slightly more openly on matters homosexual. tain a 'queer reading'. produced newsletters which may or nanced. All the important relationships Urquhart's first novel) it was nonethe­ may not have made their way into local in the novella are homosocial (ie. less an act of some bravery. Walter libraries and there is a whole range of between men) and Stevenson makes himself is only too aware of'what hap­ (usually short-lived) magazines listed explicit reference to the classical story pened to Uncle Arnold', a gay pacifist in Pink Papers, including The Tartan of the love and trust between the two in WWI who lost his partner to con­ Skirt for the transvestite/transsexual youths Damon and Pythias. scription. Uncle Arnold could not community, Red Herring, a radical les­ One pre-WWII novel that touched bring himself to live a lie by marrying bian journal published in St Andrews slightly more openly on matters a good woman, lost his head, 'inter­ between 1975 and 1976, and various homosexual was Fred Urquhart's fered' with an apprentice at his work­ 'scene' journals. Time Will Knit published in 1938. place and was consigned to a mental Urquhart was gay and had worked in institution were he killed himself. Published sources: Literature an Edinburgh bookshop: one of the Much of Urquhart's output is younger characters, Walter, laments informed by his sexuality. A particu­ The use of Scottish literary material to that he is accused of having a 'dirty larly touching and understated short ) reveal something of'gay' life is gener­ mind' for reading certain titles in the story, Robert/Hilda, explores possibil­ I ally underdeveloped. This may be bookshop where he works, ities of cross-dressing and personal because there is little to find or identity in the fictional East Lothian because there has been limited literary That's the trouble with people in town of Curlerscuik. Urquhart's criticism research on Scottish lgbt-rel­ our class - they don't know any­ papers are held by Edinburgh Uni­ evant literature but some possible thing about psychology and things versity's Library (ref. GB 237 Coll- starting points are given below. like that. Especially sexual-psy­ 49). As mentioned in Part 1 of this Some may consider that Robert chology. They, naturally, divide article, the work of Scots Makar, Eddie Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr human beings into two species, Morgan, was also informed by his sex­ Jekyll and Mr Hycf,e and other 'gothic' man and woman. They don't uality. Collections of Morgan's papers texts can sustain a 'queer reading' (see, realise that these species are sub­ are held in the Scottish Poetry Library for example, Richard Dury's intro­ divided into numerous other in Edinburgh and in the University of duction to the 2004 EUP edition). As species. Men-loving men, women­ 's archives (see: http://special. Jekyll's lawyer and friend Utterson loving women, narcissists, !Jb. gla. ac.uk/collecrion/morgan .hcml). seeks to understand the perplexing masochists, sadists - oh, ever so There have been a number of nov­ relationship between respectable Jekyll many different sub-stratas. els published in the last thirty years and morally-repugnant Hyde, the which reveal aspects of gay life. Some possibility that the younger man is While the introduction of terminolo­ highlights are Simon Taylor's 1992 his­ blackmailing Jekyll over some homo­ gy drawn from the world of sexology torical novel Mortimer's Deep, set in late sexual liaison seems to be counte- may seem slightly 'clunky' (it was 12th and early 13th century Scotland

HISTORY SCOTLAND - NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009 48 which accurately reflects the changing by Sheffield Archives has resulted in a terms like 'gay', 'lesbian', and 'homo­ attitudes to homosexuality in the useful and accessible publication sexual'. However, the problems iden­ medieval church; the more earthy called Sources for the Study of the His­ tified in relation to uncovering older Delilah's by John Maley (1989), giving tory of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and material discussed above in relation to a 'warts and all' glimpse into life at a Trans Communities (available as a PDF newspapers are also relevant here. down-at-(high)heel Glasgow gay bar, on their website). This serves not only The most important collection at and Louise Welsh's The Cutting Room as a guide but also as a means of the NLS is the papers oflong-time gay (2002), with its central character requesting additional material to make activist (NLS, Acc.11905: Rilke engaging in casual gay sex as he Sheffield's archives more representa­ www.nls.uk/caralogues/online/cnmi/iny unravels a mystery set in Glasgow's tive and also to raise the profile of lgbt entories/accll905.pdf). Ian was a second-hand bookshop and auction studies and show a commitment to founder and leading light of SMG, house milieu. Joseph Mills' 1989 serving the local community. Lgbt SHRG and Outright Scotland, active Towards the End paints a sympathetic and engaging picture of a young working class gay man finding his W. II. THEATRE-ROYAL, EDDiBURGB. N. 69. identity in Glasgow. This preient F,cni11g, WEDNl?SDAY, Febn1a,:1 9. 1825 Fiction reflecting the position of women-loving women in Scottish Willo·A~'MON~lyof . society is harder to find. One example would be Iona McGregor's 1989 AND novel Death Wore a Diadem which has a number of vivid female characters, including young Christable MacKen­ zie and her lover Eleanor Stewart, caught up in a murder mystery sur­ rounding a visit of Eugenie, Empress of the French, to Edinburgh in 1860. Patricia Duncker's 1999 novel, James Miranda Barry, tells the story of 'James Barry', who studied medicine at Edinburgh in 1809 and practiced successfully as a surgeon for many years but who was revealed to be either a woman (the niece of the Irish painter James Barry) or perhaps an intersex person in whom female char­ acteristics predominated on his death. Inspired to some extent by the true story of American musician Billy Tip­ ton, the novel, Trumpet, by poet Jack­ ie Kay (1998) explores the life and relationships of Joss Moody, a married, black, Scottish jazz musician who is revealed to be biologically a woman on his death.

Physical Archives

While Scottish libraries and archives contain a wide range of materials rel­ evant to lgbt lives and history, and (National Library of Scotland/licensed via www.scran.ac _uk) many individual archivists are very keen to reflect lgbt lives in their col­ people pay taxes both nationally and in international campaigns in the lections, the institutions are somewhat locally and it is about time that pub­ International Lesbian and Gay Asso­ behind best practice in relation to lically funded libraries and archives in ciation, founder and long-time editor making such materials ·available to Scotland took action to make their col­ of the magazine Gay Scotland among researchers and the general public. lections more accessible. many other things. His life and work The UK National Archives at Kew was certainly not without controversy have a very useful guide called Gay and The National Library over such issues as the relationship Lesbian History at The National of Scotland (NLS) between 'gay' politics and other issues Archives (http://tinyurl.com/la6ttj) (Ian was a prime mover in demands which, in the absence of a similar guide The NLS has a range of materials of that gay organisations must condemn for Scottish archives, can be referred to interest to the historian of 'gay Scot­ Apartheid South Africa), the role of for ideas on locating sometimes elusive land' which can be found by searching dominant personalities in small documents. A splendid recent initiative the catalogue with obvious subject unfunded pressure groups, and the

HISTORY SCOTLAND - NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009 49 fraught issue of childhood sexuality. in Glasgow and Edinburgh - papers That said, there is a huge amount of The NLS holdings contain both polit­ relating to the success and often far­ government papers and papers from ical and personal papers and many cical failure of these ventures are in the other public-bodies which contain photographs. collection. exciting material for the historian. Recently, gay activist and former The collection also includes files on These include various criminal court bookshop co-owner Bob Orr donated relations with other groups of various papers and the UK National Archive a significant collection of papers, types in Scotland and internationally, leaflet mentioned above is particular­ including correspondence and often focussed on the struggle for ly useful here mutatis mutandis. As a ephemera, relating to Edinburgh's decriminalisation of sex between men relatively serious offence, accusations lesbian and gay bookshops. The shops, and other legal issues such as black­ of sodomy had to be reported to the important sites of visibility and sup­ mail and police raids on public toilets. central prosecuting authorities in port, stared first as Open Gayz, a A small number of files containing per- Edinburgh, the Crown Office. The bookstall in the Edinburgh NAS, AD14 volumes contain Gay Centre, then progressed the Crown Office papers and to the basement-level Laven- those where the individual was der Menace shop in Forth charged with sodomy or, after Street and finally the street- the introduction of s.11 of the level, large-windowed, West & Criminal Law Amendment Act Wilde in Dundas Street. Indi- 1885, gross indecency, can now vidual items in the collection be identified easily on the online are not yet listed but the col- catalogue. lection is identified as NLS, Some of these bundles of Acc.12766. legal papers contain glimpses The newspaper and maga­ into cases of apparent consen­ zine holdings of the NLS are sual activity between adults and extensive. As well as general others are of assaults, either on titles there are a number of adults or children (see Dempsey interesting and under­ 2006 in further reading). It researched lgbt titles which can should, however, be noted that be traced though my pamphlet the narratives and details con­ Pink Papers noted above. The tained in these papers are not only significant Scottish title first-hand, even if they appear to still being published is Scots­ quote the individuals involved, Gay. but were produced by officials for a particular purpose which The National Archives of might have Jed them to omit or Scotland (NAS) even manipulate details that would be of interest to histori­ The records of the Scottish ans. People may have been will­ Minorities Group (1969 to Dr James Miranda Barry, graduated and ing participants but, for good 1978) and the Scottish Homo- worked as a doctor by disguising herself as a reason, chose not to assert that sexual Rights Group (1978 to man (1795 - 1865 ). when discovered. Because of 1992) were sorted and the sensitivity of the contents deposited in the NAS by for- these papers are generally closed mer assistant keeper of the for seventy years. records of Scotland and Jong-time gay sonal details of private persons con­ The bundles contain precognition activist, Cecil Sinclair in 1993 (for tacting the organisations are closed papers, the locally-obtained state­ I some details of Cecil's activism see his until 2043. It is to be hoped that the ments of the accused and the arresting obituary, The Scotsman, 29 October papers of SMG/SHRG's successor officers, as well as any witnesses. 2004). These holdings are at NAS, organisation, Outright Scotland, will There are often medical reports of GD467. be collected and deposited in the NAS examinations carried out on the As well as minutes of local and in the near future. accused and any victims and notes national committee meetings extensive There is, however, very little lgbt about how to deal with the case. In collection of records contain policy material that has been identified so far several cases there are suggestions and research papers, newsletters, in the many private collections of from Edinburgh to the local authori­ leaflets and other ephemera. The papers in the NAS (but see the case of ties that they might release the highlights of the collection include HMS Seahorse uncovered by Ian accused on bail on the understanding · voluminous correspondence with Strange, mentioned below). The rea­ that he would 'clear out' of the district politicians, including the then back­ sons for this may be at least three fold in order that the authorities could bench MP Robin Cook and the flam­ - that there is little material contained avoid the publicity attendant on a trial. boyant Solicitor General Nicholas in the various papers, that the cata­ The High Court minute books (NAS, Fairbairn, both patrons of the organ­ loguing process does not reveal the JCS, JCll, JC12, JC13 and JC14) isations. SMG ran a befriending serv­ existence of such material as there is record the details of the verdict and ice which would develop into various and/or that few people with an aware­ sentence and the Small Papers series local lesbian and gay switchboards and ness or interest have looked for the (NAS, JC26) occasionally provides also ran popular discos and gay centres material. additional detail of the trials.

HISTORY SCOTLAND - N OVEMBER / DECEMBER 2009 50 Some bundles contain fascinating anniversary of decriminalisation of the earliest. For information and some insights into the wider context of the male homosexuality approaches in resources see www. womenslibrary. case. One vivid and complex example 2011. org. uk/laic/laic.html. is the 1885 case of John James Moore aka 'Brother Alphonse' (NAS, LAIC Hall Carpenter AD14/85/310) who was accused of sodomy with several youths in Glasgow plays host to what is "the The UK-wide Hall Carpenter archive Dundee. These young men had come UK's largest and most significant col­ (HCA), housed in the London School under Moore's sway while he was lection of materials about lesbian of Economics, and the related Lesbian active in his guise as 'Brother lives, activism and achievements", the and Gay Newsmedia Archive at Mid­ Alphonse, evangelist and Ex-Maris Lesbian Archive and Information dlesex University are key resources for Monk' on the Scottish 'anti-Popery' Centre (LAIC). Set up in London in anyone researching lgbt life in the UK circuit, specializing in performing 1984, LAIC transferred to the Glas­ and both hold significant amounts of mock Masses for the entertainment (if gowWomen's Library in 1995. Due to Scottish material (see: www.lse.ac.uk/ not the enlightenment) of his anti­ a disgraceful failure of proper public library/archive/gutoho/ hall carpen­ Catholic audiences. A small and funding, the collection has been ter archives.htm). Named after the apparently well researched booklet exposing 'Alphonse' as in Scotland an impostor and a convicted thief was privately printed and Contact Us I Site ~ta circulated in late-1884 before Oral History • Storytelling Drama • Exhibitions • Research Our Stories Our Se lves the sexual allegations were raised. The case even resulted in Archiving a question in the House of OurStory Scotland ardhives stories, documents and Commons by the 'Home Rule' artefacts of the I Ives of the LGBT community in Scotland. We are building up collections in MP for Sligo, Thomas Sexton, museums and libraries, and ensuring that the presumably as much for its material Is accessible for exhibitions, performance, publication and research. sectarian aspects as for any The Mitchell interest in the moral integrity of OurStory Scotland is concerned to rescue the Dundee youth. evidence of our lives, and to have our stories OurStory Scotland is based at recognised as an integral part of a diverse the Mitchell In Glasgow, where There are almost certainly Scotland. Preserving this history will ensure a we hold regular meetings. The many less easy to find cases legacy for gene1·ations to come, keeping our Mitchell, founded in 1877, is stories alive. Contact us if you too can contribute. the largest public reference where the person suspected of I lbrary in Europe. Why do we collect? sodomitical practices was pros­ ecuted in the sheriff court for LGBT people in Scotland have experienced social exclusion and marginalisation, and the Images and generation upon some lesser offence such as representations of this community have tended to National Museums generation upon be stereotyped and discriminatory, and breach of the peace or general Scotland generation upon constructed about rather than by and for our generation upon indecency. Women have so far community. Our lives have often been maligned or National Museums generation upon been conspicuously absent Scotland have agreed to suppressed, hidden or silenced. Where we do generation upon appear in pub I ic representations and media from research on the criminal take our recardin s and eratlon on records which reflects both A page from www.ourstoryscotland.org.uk/archiving/index.htm their legal and prosecutorial near-invisibility for sexual offences, but unavailable for some time because of author Marguerite Radclyffe Hall and gender transgressive women, such as a planned move to the Mitchell the author, socialist, and early gay­ those who cross-dressed in public, are Library. Funding applications have rights campaigner Edward Carpenter, likely to be found in the records of the been made both for obviously relevant the HCA suffered varied fortune in its lower courts if someone did but look. things such as the creation of a cata­ first ten years but has had a secure and As well as the sheriff court, the logue and employment of a dedicated supportive home at LSE since 1988, records of the Youth Court, the Justice archivist but also to finance the refur­ the very same year as the notorious of the Peace Courts and the Kirk Ses­ bishment of the space on offer at the was brought in as an attack sions in particular may contain rele­ Mitchell library, an unnecessary bur­ on and gay men as forming vant material but these records are den that could perhaps have been 'pretended families'. generally unindexed. The disciplinary more appropriately taken on by Glas­ The archive contains materials records of poor houses, prisons, young gow City Council. relating to SMG and SHRG as well as offenders' institutions, the army, and One innovative service that is cur­ to UK-wide groups which had a pres­ other single-sex institutions are likely rently available is LAIC's 'Reminis­ ence in Scotland such as Gay Libera­ to contain some references to same-sex cence Box' which provides original tion Front (GLF), the Labour Cam­ intimacy or assault. Some relevant and duplicated material to communi­ paign for Lesbian and Gay Rights, and information may also be contained in ty and youth groups to provoke dis­ a huge collection of UK and interna­ the court papers relating to divorce cussion. At the Women's Library tional journals. Once the holdings in cases (sodomy became a ground of access was women-only during usual Scottish archives are complete, the divorce in 1938). Finally, notice opening hours with men allowed HCA's holdings of Scottish material should be taken of Scottish Office access by appointment at other times. should be strengthened by donations papers regularly released under the The move to the Mitchell Library is of relevant material to plug some sur­ thirty-year rule, especially as the not expected to happen before 2010 at prising gaps. Volunteers at the Archive

HISTORY SCOTLAND - NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009

51 produced two books in 1989, Invent­ any gay people and it is more likely and Museum in Glasgow, the first ing Ourselves: Lesbian Life Stories and that he was reacting in support of peo­ exhibition of its kind at a major Scot­ Walking After Midnight: Gay M en's Life ple who were under attack from Con­ tish museum and the group has also Stories. Particularly useful is an infor­ servative establishment forces. created a reminiscence box of memo­ mation leaflet at www.lse.ac.uk/ Nonetheless, the supportive nature of rabilia, artefacts and stories which is library/archive/leaflets/hall carpen­ the lyrics and the fact that McGinn housed at Glasgow Museum's Open ter archives.pdf. chose to include it on a commercially­ Museum service. A very informative released recording as early as 1972, article on Ourstory Scotland by James Political Song was a significant statement of support Valentine called Narrative acts is avail­ for gay people at the time. Some of able at http://nbn-resolving.de/ The Centre for Political Song, part of McGinn's papers are in the Mitchell urn:nbn:de:O l l 4-fgs0802491. the Research Collections at Glasgow Library. Also of great interest is Ian Strang's Caledonian University, was estab­ site LGBT History Scotland lished following a suggestion from Online resources (www.lgbthistoryscotland.org.uk ). Ian Labour politician Janey Buchan, who makes available the texts of a number was also a long-time patron of the Increasingly materials, or at least cat­ of SMG/SHRG/Outright documents Scottish Homosexual Rights Group alogues and information about the housed in NAS as well as a very use­ and Outright Scotland. The Centre, location of materials, are becoming ful bibliography of relevant news sto­ for example, received a copy of the CD available online. Links to the sites ries in the press, often with links to the of the opera Harvey Milk from Out­ right Scotland. This is based on the life of the openly gay San Francisco's City Supervisor (councillor) who was assassinated by a homophobic oppo­ r.. 1 \l N[ W~ · • , • nent. Nevn sent - 30th September Unfortunately it seems that there is 2009 In t:hi, w••k'• e · m.)11 n1w,tett•r: Equ1hty Nat.,ork N1us 1 HaUona l LGfl.T little other lgbt-related material, $ k ill, Pro 9r•l'l"ll'n1; 0911 eloprt11nt Wo,ker: Scottis h Trens9e nd1, despite the fact that one of the most AJ Ua n ce T,an,ftio n Support Proj ect: Ch,1mo1no Hearts, Op11n ino M1nds 1 Volunteer opport:unityJ Forum, News: high-profile gay musicians of recent Want to be 1rt?1 Ab1rd1en , 1,1 you 1nta~sted m • • o men's oro up?; R1ma k1 of "F1m1• puts oa.v years, Jimmy Somerville, was born in ch1,1cte, b1dt in the d os1t1 M1 nt•I H,ulttl W11k : 4th-10th October Glasgow. Somerville's numerous hit 20091 T;i, lk Seotl;i,nd E\lants, A Guda C•use M•lu A Strong Arm; (ilu9ow: Gude CauSI •t th• Paopla't P•l•ce ; songs, with their openly gay and polit­ Edinburgh Tr• n, Women Support Gro up; Jn\l&rn en: Girl zone lun ch; ically-informed lyrics, had a significant Ed',nbutf,lt" Ch,ys t•I end the G• neral: Ed1n b urc;ih , The U ~1 Reh.o• • Please tell us what you think about marriage and civil Con ... er,t,on G•nderS111nfitl\lel Myth partnership law ' impact on many young people and the or Re;i,hty; Ed lnburc;ih: Lo11e , Cre.1te, Me,I: Womal'I •nd Birth; Cl\1 11 lgbt community more generally. Espe­ P•rtnershlp on R1dio Scotl• nd: UK Ne w,: l m••n W•lf•r• suppo rtln9 Please fill In our short survey here LG&T Mus llm 1 HeklnQ e sylum; cially important as early 'gay rights' M;i,nchestu: G;i,y Chnsb.ion !oset job ~•uvt• .... U.m• o 41e" • documents in themselves are several r:.: ~l~rt ~:,~=~ J,~oZ:. Toe Equality Network works for lesbian, gay, O• nfl'•l •1••~ ~ ••d•,•• b e lit,4 . , ,. Bronski Beat songs such as Smalltown •not • «.oUbfe·•t JeM• ~.. t Chrll •"t bisexual and transgender ( LGBT) equality and

HIST O RY SC OTLAND - NOVEMBE R / DEC EMBER 2009 52 the City Museum in Edinburgh. regular newsletter though sadly little in as well as other repositories of Scot­ The London-based LGBT History the way of online resources. Sites land's history to make the lgbt-relevant Month campaign (www.lgbthistory­ which would inform research into con­ material they hold more identifiable month.org.uk) has a dedicated Scot­ temporary lgbt history include Equal­ and accessible to researchers. A prop­ tish section, though this does not have ity Network (www.eguality-net­ er mapping exercise of who holds what its own web address so must be work.org), Scotland is urgently required. accessed via the link on the 'UK' site. (www.stonewallscotland.org.uk), the Some lgbt organisations are making The campaign encourages local proj­ International Gay and Lesbian Asso­ efforts to preserve their own history ects which promote and celebrate ciation (www.ilga.org) and the con­ with a very good example being the LGBT history. As well as news of these troversial activist Peter Tatchell Equality Network (see particularly events the site has an extensive - if (www.petertachell.net). their 'about us - history' section at somewhat random - selection of www.equality-network.org). The resources, perhaps the best of which is The Future records of lgbt student societies, a sixteen-page walking guide to Edin- advice lines and switchboards, trade burgh's LGBT History Paths This article is a modest contribution to union groups, and charities also need (http://tinyurl.com/6lwlaw) which encouraging the preservation and use preserving, always with the necessary takes you past the final resting place of of materials which can illuminate the protection for personal information of Percy Jocelyn, disgraced Bishop of lives of people living in Scotland. Hav­ clients and members. The donation by Clogher (Old Calton Cemetery) and ing been neglected and often sup- Bob Orr of material about the com­ munity bookshops noted above may prove to be a model and anyone with >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> material to donate should not hesitate to contact either the lgbt history O RETURN to Nicolson St and GO LEf'T, he;,ding back tov,ards the O Higl1 St. on. your nghl, r10te .the c_olumned fil<;~de or tile Sorgeon's organisations listed at www.linsert.org Hall. Here, m 1870, male uni11ers1ly studl!nts rioted 111 protest over theadmittanceofSophiajex Blakeanciother.,,spiringfem;,le PATH0 or the libraries and archives them­ doctors Lo 1ned,cal lectures (Formoreonjex-Blc1ke, secthcWesL

1 edinburgh cit y centre south End ' Le'>b1an Spcc,al '*and Tollcross/Brunlsrie!d wJlks) CONTINUE selves. It is all too easy to throw out DOWN Nicolson St.., wl1ich lu1ns into Soulh Bridge, passing the l1ttr Old Colle~c of the Univc1slty of Ed1nburgll 011 your left, Prominent those slightly grubby badges and tat­ among tile university s thousands of known and unknown LGBT stude11lsa11dscholiHsoverthecenturieswiJsthe111ililarysurgeon tered magazines, newsletters and Jame,; Miranda Barrie (1 Al5~1865). sometimes 1dentif1ed as a lesbian " passing " asmale,someumes1denl1f1edas lransgendered, During hf!rt11nP. in Edinburgh the 111edical racuil/ leaflets; as the OurStory Scotland vrnulcl have beC'n a sl1ort walk east of the Old Colle(Je, in High School Yards archive volunteers point out,

Tile Old College is also very near the site of th e 16 century [ ... ] we can only save what has sur­ l1ou~e known as Kirk o' Fields, where Henry, Loni D.:iniley, Engl:>h husba11d of1.1aryQueenofScols and fathero(K111g Jarn<2s VI, died vived, what has not been thrown out, 111156·1 ,n,1nexplosionengineeredt1Ll11ebehestofh1sunlovi11g spouse like his royal son, Darnley is believed lo l111ve bo;!en so before you clear the attic of all your prlmaril1• attracted to members of his own sex, althol1gh lhe conceptofahomosexualorbisexual idenl,tywasnotparloflhe old lgbt material contact us. mmdsetofhislime

!J;o ilEAD DOWN Soulh Bridge. which crosses th02 High Sl to lie.come North Bridge ENO the w.ilk at the Scotsman Hotel on Lhc le.ft Brian Dempsey is a lecturer in the Here par11Cipc111Ls ilt the l974 Gily Rights Conference I see above) mMchcci rro111LheU1w,ersi\ytoslageScotlandsf1rstrecordedG.iy School of Law, University of Dundee. clcmo nt wl1c1t were lhen Tl1eScotsman newspaper's offices Thanks are due to many people who com­ mented on drafts of this article but any A page from the 'history paths' pressed, positive efforts need to be errors are the responsibility of the author www.lgbthistoryorg.co.uk made to ensure researchers have who can be contacted vza Hector 'Fighting Mac' Macdonald access to this material. Work also www.linsert.org. (Dean Cemetery), past the Randolph needs to be done to ensure that lgbt Crescent gardens where Ms. Pirie and history is not just 'gay and lesbian' his­ Ms. Woods had their school, and the tory but that bisexual and transgender Further reading site of the legendary Fire Island disco lives are recorded as well as those fur­ Brian Dempsey, 'By the Law ofThis I on Princes Street. Such walks were ther marginalised by, for example, I pioneered by Sister Athletica de Bain poverty, race, and disability. It would and Every Well Governed Realm, in of the Order of Perpetual Indulgence, be good if the dominance of Edin­ Juridical Review, 2006, 103-30. Edinburgh Branch, though this does burgh as a site of lgbt history was not seem to be acknowledged on the reduced, not by doing less history there Gay and Lesbian History atThe leaflet. but by doing more history elsewhere. National Archives: An Introduction There are many more archives with Nor should 'gay history' be ghettoised www.nationalarchives.qov.uk/cata­ a presence on the internet and for a - the lives and experiences of bisexu­ logue/R

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