LGBT Centre Relaunches in Edinburgh

When the LGBT Centre in Edinburgh shut down after funding was pulled, it was a very sad day for the city's gay community. After all, this was the only place in the UK that specifically catered to the health of gay, bisexual and transgender people. Considerable skill and empathy were devoted to events, activities and other services; these were the people who reportedly hung condoms from trees and bushes in outdoor hotspots of lascivious activities, only to find that they vanished moments later, pinched by grateful cottagers.

Happily, funding restored, the LGBT Centre returns with an October Relaunch program of activities and events. It kicked off with Saturday Active at the weekend, a day of taster sessions for sports and smoothie making, followed by Sunday’s Film Day, premiering Roma and Juliet - a film made by Edinburgh LGBT theatre group The Luvvies - among other short films and features.

The Relaunch gives a good idea of what to expect from the LGBT Centre in the future, with an incredibly varied week strongly demonstrating the invaluable support that they provide; there are meetings for various sexualities, as well as an emphasis on mental and physical health with an open day for NHS partners and other health organizations, plus an AA meeting.

There’s entertainment. too. with the LGBT choir Loud and Proud - who supported Tina C during the 2008 Edinburgh Fringe - and by theatre group The Luvvies at the Community Groups Open Day. Other events include relaxed social drop–ins and a retrospective talk on the work of writer and activist Ellen Galford, whose coordination of the LGBT oral and community history project in 2006 culminated in the Remember When exhibition at the City Art Gallery.

A full list of the Relaunch events can be found on the LGBT Centre for Health and Wellbeing website.