London’s Black Lesbian and Gay Centre was established to try and address some of the problems faced by black LGBT people. These included the overwhelmingly white nature of the ‘mainstream’ LGBT scene, racism both inside and outside the scene and the difficulties of coming out to families, who generally perceived homosexuality as a ‘white’ issue.

As one of their early leaflets says:

“…we may feel very close to our families and communities. They may need our support, and we may need theirs, to survive in a hostile society. We risk being cut of from them if they find out we are lesbian or gay.”

At the beginning of the 80s a group of black lesbians started to meet regularly to share experiences and offer each other support. Around the same time, a group of black gay men started to do the same thing. In 1981 they came together to form the Gay Black Group with the aim of creating:

“…a supportive environment where black gays and lesbians can meet and share their experiences without fear…”

The Group recognised the need for a range of services for black LGBT people, including advice and counselling, a telephone helpline and a social space. And so, the Black Lesbian and Gay Centre (BLGC) was born – albeit without premises. In order to acquire funding they approached the Greater London Council (GLC), who funded outreach workers in 1985.

The abolition of the GLC in 1986 meant that the project was still unable to secure permanent premises although it did continue to receive funding for its workers through the London Borough Grants Scheme. For the next few years the workers operated from a range of temporary premises – usually the offices of sympathetic local councils. Similarly, activities such as the Black Gay Youth Group and the Black Men’s Rap Group were held in in various venues across London. Outreach workers also worked with a number of other LGBT and HIV/AIDS projects such as Brent HIV Centre, London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard, Camden Lesbian Centre, Blackliners and Stonewall Housing Association.

After a number of years of fundraising and searching for premises, the BLGC finally found a permanent home in a converted railway arch in Peckham, South London. As well as providing a base for their support services it also allowed them to offer a permanent social space for the first time. And it was, by all accounts, the first black lesbian and gay centre in the world.

My understanding is that the Centre continued operating throughout the 1990s, although I am open to correction on that: there is very little information about the BLGC available in the public domain. The bulk of my information was obtained at the Hall Carpenter Archives in London.

However, it seems that the story of the Centre will soon become better known as a documentary is being made about it. It’s not yet finished and that’s down to financial issues, so if you’d like to help increase awareness of this historic project, you can donate here (ignore the “0 time left” bit). The following clip gives you some idea of just how valuable this documentary is.