I felt comfortable in Birmingham
2000
“I left Birmingham in 2000 having been in the West Midlands for 22 years. I left because I am from Cardiff and Cardiff was going through a renaissance; there was a new optimism. I felt comfortable in Birmingham, I still do. Every major city needs a lesbian and gay community resource centre, something that the community collectively owns. It’s important to connect people to their history. A lot of people don’t know where they’ve come from, don’t know history of lesbian and gay life. There is a need for a non-threatening space that is not associated with alcohol. Birmingham is seeing a growth of luxury housing in the centre and it’s good that people are moving back into the centre. But it seems that Birmingham’s gay village is threatened by this and the community was there first. Over-development is a great scurge in a number of cities, driven by greedy developers. Birmingham has got some things right, such a series of set piece public squares."
Contributed by: Lyn David Thomas, 47