Birmingham activists just changed hats, 1970s
1970
Betty: “In the ‘70’s, the Gay Community Centre started, but also the Peace Centre, and GLF (Gay Liberation Front).
Around that time a mixture of gay and lesbian people including Pete
Kirby and Helen Rose put on a musical starting with the song “There’s
no business like CHE business” which was getting at the Campaign for
Homosexual Equality.”
I think Pete Kirby wrote Zap, a
Birmingham gay and lesbian newsletter or magazine that came out but it
wasn’t around for very long.”
Gill: People just changed hats, people
like Ann, Barbara Carter, Ro Clayton, Pete Kirby, Neill Matthews and
later Lyn David Thomas, were all very involved in organizing things.
Eric Presland was involved in things in the earlier days, then went
down to London. Ann I think went down to London to work, it may even
have been for Stonewall by the time she went down to London.”
Contributed by: Gill Coffin, 63, Betty Hagglund, 50