Today’s article is written by Nikki from Corstorphine Library who tells us about her chat with Bob and Sigrid from Lavender Menace Bookshop.
“This February I decided to look into Edinburgh’s LGBT history, and discovered an interesting new community project along the way. It didn’t take long to find mentions of The Lavender Menace Bookshop, which opened just two years after homosexuality was decriminialised in Scotland. I got in contact with the founders and to ask them about its beginnings, their favourite reads, and the shop’s recent reincarnation as a free-to-use community archiving project.
Hi Bob & Sigrid! So first off – tell us a bit more about the Lavender Menace.
Lavender Menace Bookshop was Scotland’s first lesbian and gay community bookshop, opened by us, Sigrid Nielsen and Bob Orr, in Edinburgh’s Forth Street in August 1982. We were part of a wave of new lesbian and gay writing and publishing which blossomed in the 1970s and 80s and one of many lesbian and gay bookshops in the USA, Canada, continental Europe and the UK. Gay’s the Word were a great support before and after we opened. Back then the acronym LGBT+ hadn’t yet come into use, although we knew some bisexual and trans people and also catered for their interests.
You suffered from book seizures throughout the 1980s. How did you work through this at the time?
Bob – The books that were seized were those that we imported from the USA and Canada. There was a double standard in use by HM Customs then which betrayed their prejudices. We imported titles by authors that were out of print in the UK, although other titles of theirs were available here. Titles by Christopher Isherwood and Jean Genet spring to mind. Customs had the power to seize the whole consignment if they thought that only one title was obscene.
We had a lot of support from the gay press such as Gay Scotland, Scotsgay, Gay News and the free sheets that were published in London. This meant we were able to get the news out that we were being targeted. We also had small consignments sent to our home addresses using names of characters from some of our the titles we stocked.
Sigrid – The names were Marianne Woods and Jane Pirie. They ran a girls’ school together in the early 19th century and were accused of being lovers. During the mid-1980s, we had imported books sent to us in their names because Customs & Excise were seizing packages addressed to the bookshop and to Gay’s the Word in London.
Tell us more about the Lavender Menace Archive. What’s the main aim, and how can people support this project?
Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive came out of our revival of Lavender Menace as a pop-up bookshop on the back of the success of James Ley’s play Love Song To Lavender Menace, and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Stonewall. We worked closely with LGBT Youth Scotland during History Month two years ago and discovered that there were many authors and titles which were unknown by the young people we were talking to. LGBT Youth have a small library of titles which were under used because they weren’t familiar to them.
We realised that authors and their titles which we stocked in Lavender Menace and its successor West & Wilde were now out of print and in danger of being forgotten. The nature of publishing is to create something new. Reprinting titles is risky and very expensive.
We realised that the LGBT+ community were in danger of losing some of their history. Setting up an archive would conserve books, their authors and publishers many of which were no longer in business. We have set ourselves up as a community interest company to support the LGBT community by promoting the archive as a valuable resource.
The archive will also have a digital presence at lavendermenace.org.uk. We want to make the site interactive so readers can leave comments and mark their favourites.
Have you seen noticeable changes in how diversity is embraced or celebrated since Lavender Menace was founded in 1982? What barriers do you feel remain in place?
Lavender Menace was one of the few places where people could be themselves without sexual pressure or the use of alcohol. Customers were pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to be in the shop given its small space.
Queer spaces, rather like sexual identity have to be seen in their social context. While social attitudes have changed perhaps beyond recognition since the 1980s, there is still prejudice in society and within the LGBT+ community. While we don’t have a public space yet, for access to the archive, I think the best we could do, given that possibility in the future, is to make a space as welcoming as possible by recognising the diversity of the community who will use it. A smile can sometimes be enough.
Lastly – 2020 was a tough year, to say the least. What books got you through it?
Bob
- Humankind: A Hopeful Journey by Rutger Bregman, is an exploration on the fundamental goodness of human society.
- Box Hill by Adam Mars Jones, a mesmerising novel of coming out, dependency and self-realisation.
- I’m currently reading Feminism is Queer by Mimi Marinucci and Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart awaits.
Sigrid
- The book Scotch Verdict by Lillian Faderman has more information on Marianne Pirie and Jane Woods, as mentioned above. It sold well in the shop. It’s about Pirie and Woods, and also about the research Faderman did in Edinburgh in order to reconstruct their story.
- As far as getting through 2021 is concerned, I’d recommend the YA Novel – Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo.
Thank you to Sigrid and Bob for their time!”
You can join Sigrid and Bob for a Live Lavender Menace Q&A event on Wednesday 24 February at 6.30pm. Book your free ticket at: bit.ly/lavenderquestion
And if you’d like to hear your question answered by Sigrid and Bob at the event, email it to informationdigital@edinburgh.gov.uk or tweet @TalesOfOneCity with your #lavenderquestion
Tales of One City 