LGBT Croydon history - a brief overview
“… an eye-popping account of the explosion of activity in London which followed the change in the law in 1967. The years preceding this date were grim indeed for many gay people and this legislation was nothing short of life-transforming. … There is much in this book which has not been previously put to paper and that is why it forms a valuable historical record.“— Michael Cashman
Out of the Shadows
Out of the Shadows, a history of the pioneering London gay groups and organisations, 1967–2000, edited byTony Walton, with a foreword by Michael Cashman MEP.
CAGS
In 1971, London Group Seven of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE) was founded. It was soon renamed “Croydon CHE Group”, and later “CAGS (Croydon Area Gay Society)” under which name it exists to this day.Croydon Friend
From 1973 to 2001 there was a Croydon branch of Friend, the national counselling and befriending organisation.
Groups for younger people
Croydon Area Gay Youth (CAGY) flourished during the 1980s, and was set up and run by young people themselves. Since then there have been a variety of youth groups, catering for various age ranges, typically run by the Council on behalf of young people.
The Trans Group
Croydon Trans Group was a group based in Croydon, South London, for local trans people. It was founded in 2002, building on a previous group that had been meeting locally since 2000. The group met monthly in a local pub (originally the Bird in Hand). Some members used to visit the Fountain, Handcross before it closed.
The group’s logo incorporated the trans flag.
Notable achievements by the group include:
Participation with Aurora in the work that led to the publication of the Which Loo document in 2003
a special event as part of LGBT History Month in 2010 commemorating Croydon-born Roberta Cowell.
In 2012 the group contributed to the Government’s consultation on marriage equality.
In 2014 the group was relaunched as TransPALS.
Forums and networks
In 1997 the Croydon Lesbian and Gay Forum (later the Croydon LGBT Forum) was set up. It operated until 2006. It was replaced in 2007 by the Croydon LGBT Network, which was formally launched, as Crocus, in 2008, but has since become inactive.
Aurora (Croydon’s LGBT Police Consultation Group) was set up in 2003.
This page is to be expanded considerably. Come back later for more!
