Timeline 1990 - 1999
1990
An article in Outright said "The OutHouse Project envisages setting up a Lesbian and Gay Centre in Nottingham in the very near future."
1991
An important development in 1991 was the provision of counselling and safer sex advice for gay men at the Health Shop on Broad Street.
THE HEALTH SHOP (+ the Health Shop's dustbins)
1992
Switchboard was given a second week of Community Service Announcements on Central TV. Again, they brought in hundreds of extra callers. Switchboard was one of very few lesbian and gay organisations to obtain two sets of these "free ads".
1992 saw the folding of Nottingham Gay Social Group, but several Switchboard volunteers tried to initiate a new group for those in the process of coming out. This group was called "Icebreakers", but it too closed after about a year.
1993
The OutHouse received an unsigned letter from a Councillor saying "You lot should be put down". This led to a march which passed through Hockley to the Council House carrying a black-draped coffin. On the coffin was the inscription
- Here lay the remains of Nottingham City Council's Equal Opportunities Policy.
1994
1994 saw the launch, on July 11th, of the GAI Project at the Health Shop. This is a gay and bisexual men's HIV prevention scheme. The GAI Project has assisted and worked with Switchboard on a regular basis.
The value of Switchboard's service was recognised by grants from Nottingham Health Authority and Notts County Council. . A representative of Nottingham Health Authority has said that we
- "provide excellent value for money".
In 1994 Nero's club closed.
The age of consent for gay men was lowered to 18.
1995
Kitsch club - formerly known as the Casablanca - opened.
Switchboard was notified that a grant application to the Edward Carpenter Trust had been successful. The grant was for a computer and printer.
1996
Switchboard started monitoring where callers live and we now note calls which deal with homophobic crime, with mental health, with homelessness as well as the age, ethnic origin and marital status of callers.
On October 9th 1996, Switchboard joined with the GAI Project to start "Breakout", a weekly social group for gay and bisexual men over 26. This has run successfully from the Health Shop ever since.
Switchboard was asked to run a module of the Nottingham University Social Work MA Course - and continued so to do for a further 7 years.
1997
Switchboard joined with the GAI Project and Lesbian Line for weekend sessions where they met with representatives of Nottinghamshire Police and discussed ways of tackling the acknowledged under reporting of homophobic crime. This was prior to the August launch of Operation Shield, which established a dedicated police phone line on which homophobic incidents could be reported. A little while later this developed into the Notts Police LGBT Consultation Group, which meets every 3 months.
On Saturday September 13th 1997, Broad Street in Nottingham was closed to traffic so that it could serve as a venue for the first local lesbian and gay festival, Pink Lace.
Nottingham's lesbian and gay groups and organisations had stalls at the Hockley end of Broad Street while singers and dancers performed on a stage set up in front of Broadway Cinema. The weather was often overcast, but the mood was sunny. Switchboard shared a stall with Lesbian Line.
1998
The local magazine Outright closed down. People from the GAI Project and Switchboard joined together to produce QB, a folded A3 newssheet, which went part of the way to fill the gap which was left.
Pink Lace was held at Nottingham castle.
The OutHouse Project was awarded £228,000 by the National Lottery and the long drawn out saga of a Nottingham Lesbian and Gay Community Centre took a huge leap towards becoming a reality. Jackie Frith was appointed as a worker to oversee the project. Prior to the award, they had looked at the TGWU building on Mansfield Road and then another in Hockley, both of which were unsuitable.
On gaining the grant, OutHouse found suitable premises on Chapel Bar, had plans for alterations drawn up and were in serious negotiations about buying, when the owners did an about-turn and withdrew.
In 1998 Switchboard advertised in several papers on a trial basis. In Newark we were told that we could advertise in the free paper, but its "sister" journal, for which you had to pay, refused our ads on the grounds that they were a "family newspaper". Clearly "pretend" families don't count.
1999
Many years ago people at Nottingham CVS had said that they hoped to move to a more modern building. "It'll never happen", people said. At the end of December 1998, Switchboard's belongings were packed in crates. The MOVE really was happening. On the 4th of January 1999, we started operating in the modernised building called the Nottingham Voluntary Action Centre at 7, Mansfield Road.
NEW BUILDING NEW OFFICE
The government set up a sex offenders register which could include gay men charged with offences while "cottaging" and "cruising"
LGBs could now serve in Armed Forces without fear of dismissal because of their sexuality.
Pink Lace again held at Nottingham Castle.
It was eventually late 1999 before OutHouse exchanged contracts on a building on Cranbrook Street. The site was on the edge of Hockley, which has been the area favoured for the centre for several years. Hockley seems to have turned into Nottingham's gay village; in 2000 most of the gay bars are in or adjacent to Hockley and the area is home to other lesbian and gay friendly places, including a couple of cafes and Broadway Cinema.
THE PROPOSED HOME FOR OUTHOUSE
In 1999 Broadway cinema organised a "Singalonga Sound of Music" benefit for Switchboard.
The local social scene was also undergoing a lot of change. Gatsby's had closed and the new management had renamed it "Central". Jacey's opened as Nottingham's largest gay bar; the Lord Roberts, though "mixed" became increasingly popular and both were supportive towards Switchboard.