The Lesbian Archive

If you take some time to think about gay culture it doesn't take long to notice that it's very focused on now. From the drugs and alcohol that dominate the scene to the gay media's obsession with the body beautiful, the ephemeral looms large around us. It's almost inevitable that this becomes a factor in sexual identity: think of many of the stereotypes that surround gay people (that we're promiscuous; that we love pop music; that our relationships don't last longer than a week) and they all come back to this desire for instant gratification and a singular lack of self-awareness about who we are.

What does being gay actually mean? This question can be difficult to answer, especially for lesbians who are still so often marginalised in the gay community. It was heartening, then, to visit the Lesbian Archive at Glasgow Women's Library. Since its creation in London in 1984, the Archive has been building a collection of materials that document the history and lives of gay women - built from donations made by lesbians (bisexual and transgender women are welcome to donate also), lending it a powerfully personal air. I was shown around the Archive by Lesbian Resource Worker Genevieve Curran, who spoke of its importance in creating a "communal sense of culture and identity" and highlighting "the type of history that people get very personal about."

She wasn't wrong – even as a gay man, I found the Archive fascinating and could easily imagine spending hours there. It is wide-ranging, and in my brief time there I saw materials relating to Jewish lesbians, black lesbians, radical feminism, abortion, and Curran's new collection on Islam and homosexuality. Looking at crude pamphlets from the early 20th century through to the first gay magazines (including the charming first issue of Gay News, rather bizarrely featuring Jimmy Saville on the cover!) fosters a unique sense of identity, placing alternative sexualities in a context other than the gay scene.

With such a strong focus on identity, it's no surprise that the Archive facilitates a regular Lesbian History Group (Tuesdays 2-4) and is the meeting place for Lesbians in Peer Support (LiPS), a group for women of 25 and under which offers a safe, supportive environment. (Both of these groups are bi-inclusive.) In fact the Archive, like the Women's Library as a whole, is a women-only space - I had to make an appointment in order to visit, but was made to feel very welcome. There will soon be a website up and running which will, along with a planned move to the Mitchell Library in 2007, ensure that the Archive reaches many more women - as it should.

The Archive is, quite staggeringly, the only one of its kind in the United Kingdom, perhaps reflecting again the lack of interest in what has gone before in much of the gay community. I have no doubts that visiting the Archive would be a greatly enriching experience for any gay person, but for a young lesbian I imagine it has the potential to be life-changing. Curran told me of one woman in her 50s who, upon visiting the Archive, became "overwhelmed with emotion", as she had found a common history with many other women which she had been unaware of throughout her life. One of the most difficult things that many of us experience during the process of 'coming out' is the sense that we don't belong. The Archive is an impressive answer to that problem, showing us that not only do we belong, but that as a community we come with a rich history that has so much to offer, if we only make the effort. I wholeheartedly recommend that you do.