1980. Gay Noise
Gay Noise was a fortnightly publication that was produced by a group of gay men in what was then the ‘radical gay area’ of Railton Road, Brixton, South London.
Railton Road had developed into a centre of the gay liberation movement during the 1970’s when a number of houses on that road were squatted by gay men. One of these had been transformed into a Gay Community Centre that served as both a social centre and a hothouse for the development of radical gay ideology.
The Marxist publication Gay Left was one of the initiatives that came from here and when that ceased publication in 1980 some gay men produced Gay Noise in an attempt to maintain the impetus.
But beyond a common political ancestry, the two publications had little in common. Gay Left had focused largely on the development of gay political theory, whereas Gay Noise was more focused on activism. For example, the cover story on this particular issue relates to the arrests of Paud Hegarty and Gareth Thomas. Both men were arrested and charged with ‘Insulting Behaviour’ after kissing each other goodbye at the end of a demonstration against the movie Cruising.
Gay Noise lasted for less than a year. One explanation suggested for this has been political in-fighting (click here to see commentary). That certainly wouldn’t surprise me, although I’m sure this probably would have been compounded by more practical issues such as money, production and distribution.
But for a few months it raised its head regularly as a bit of a beacon to gay men and (to a lesser extent, admittedly) lesbians at a time when the realities of Thatcher-ism were beginning to kick in quite brutally.
Dear Colin
congratulations on your initiative. I’m clearing out my loft and have a number of copies of a number of mags and papers – Gay Noise, Achillies Heel, L & G Socialist, etc. and wonder if there is someone who would like them, preferably to make them available for research and so on.
Thanks Matthew,
My first thoughts on who would like your publications would be either the Lesbian and Gay Newsmedia Archive (www.lagna.org.uk) or the Hall Carpenter Archive (https://www.lse.ac.uk/library/collections/featuredCollections/lgbtCollections.aspx). These kinds of documents are so important to helping us remember our history I do hope you’re able to find a good home for them. If you live outside London then I’d guess your nearest LGBT centre would also be interested all. If all else fails, and you live in London, you could drop them off at Gay’s the Word bookshop and ask them to leave the out for anyone who’s interested to take.
Thanks again,
Colin
You could leace them at the Hall-Carpenter archive based in the library at the London School of Economics. This is the official archvie for LGBT+ material
Hi Matthew,
I am doing research in the 1970s and 80s queer press in the UK at the University of Oxford and I am looking for copies of Gay Noise. I cannot see an entry at Hall Carpenter Archive for Gay Noise–so if you or anyone else has the copies, I would love to see them.
If you still have them and you’re willing to share, feel free to respond here and I can reach out to give you my contact information.
Best wishes,
Fil Toskas
Fil,
You may have more luck with the Bishopsgate Institute, 230 Bishopsgate, London, EC2M 4QH (https://www.bishopsgate.org.uk) Email: enquiries@bishopsgate.org.uk TeL;020 7392 9200
If no success there, but you are able to travel, you could try The Sparrow’s Nest Library in Nottingham. (https://www.thesparrowsnest.org.uk/index.php) Email: info@thesparrowsnest.org.uk Tel: 07388417325 (You will need to leave a message or send a text). I’d suggest either their collection of Chris Richardson’s or Richard McCance’s papers would be likely to be most fruitful but they may have Gay Noise from another donor.
Good luck,
Colin
Hi Colin,
Thank you very much for the response. As far as I am aware there are no copies at Bishopsgate , but I will most certainly check with The Sparrow’s Nest Library in Nottingham.
In addition to archival research, I am looking for volunteers, to participate in one or two interviews (aprox. 2 hours), in case you or anyone else on this forum is interested.
The aim is to understand the experiences of anyone who read, wrote for, or published lesbian, gay, bi, trans, or queer newspapers, magazines, newsletters, or zines in London between 1967 and 1982.
I would love to hear from people who belong to any of the following categories:
– are currently identifying as lesbian, gay, trans, bi, or queer and were a regular reader of Sappho, Gay News, Come Together, Lunch, CHE’s Bulletin, Gay Left, Gay Noise, Camp Times (or similar);
-participated in the writing and manufacturing of the above (or similar) newspapers, magazines, newsletters, and zines from 1967 until 1982;
– contributed to the production of the above (or similar) in any other way (i.e., by providing a space, illustrating etc.)
Best wishes,
Fil Toskas
Thanks Fil,
Can you let me know why you’re doing this work so people know what they might be signing up for.
Thanks,
Colin