GALHA and the demise of the Pink Paper

Tonight I am off to celebrate two anniversaries - the 30th anniversary of GALHA and the 40th anniversary of CHE (Campaign for Homosexual Equality) both are being celebrated at the event listed below. Our national icon and Green Party Spokesperson on Human Rights, Peter Tatchell, will be speaking and the veteran broadcaster Roy Gosling will be receiving an award. Peter will also speak about the other main LGBT organisation from that period - GLF (Gay Liberation Front) which he has been writing about in Comment is Free etc recently in the Guardian.

But while it is good to celebrate these veteran organisations which campaigned for LGBTIQ rights in the dark years of the 60s and 70s, and indeed GALHA continues to do, it is also important to mark an important departure. The Pink Paper, which was one of the most serious and political LGBTIQ publications has gone into liquidation, leaving a large hole in the pink press market. Yes there are clubbing and scene publications such as QX and Boyz, with G Scene in Brighton and Attitude etc, but the Pink Paper played an important role in being a free paper available at many LGBTIQ venues and consistently covering serious issues, including politics and the arts.

Perhaps its collapse reflects the general collapse of the printed press - many newspapers are now in desperate straits. And many in the LGBTIQ community seek their information now on the net or via new media. However, many older LGBTIQ people, and one is my friend in his 70s who was a founder member of CHE and is going along tonight, do not necessarily have access to the internet and sometimes cannot afford it. For them the demise of the Pink Paper will be a real loss. Perhaps something else will rise from its ashes? I hope so, as the rest of the publications tend to concentrate on the clubbing fraternity and one can only admire so many pecs before becoming slightly jaded. In its absence there are some reliable websites such as Pink News.

GALHA 30th Anniversary Event
The Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA) invite you to join them for their 30th Anniversary Event. GALHA was formed in response to the Gay News blasphemy trial of 1979. Campaigner Mary Whitehouse complained at the time about these appalling atheist homosexual groups polluting British society. She was wrong as no such groups existed, but she unwittingly encouraged one to be formed. That’s why GALHA is said to have been ‘born of Mary’.

The evening will look at the history of this unique organisation with an exhibition of reflections and recollections of GALHA’s founder members, and talks exploring the historical context of LGBT campaigning. Speakers will include human rights campaigner, Peter Tatchell, and GALHA Vice President, Michael Cashman.

This event is organised by GALHA in partnership with Bishopsgate Institute.