The London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard (Now Switchboard The LGBT+ Helpline) has been servicing the LGBT community of London for forty years now, taking all manner of calls and providing a variety of services.
Whether it is a man who had just been queer-bashed, a lesbian teenager who has been thrown out of their home by their parents, or someone wanting to know where their nearest gay pub is, the LLGS always endeavour to provide confidential, non-judgmental and supportive advice.
Staffed by over 160 trained telephone volunteers, the organization has charitable status, and all their volunteers identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans which enables them to fully understand the needs and situations of their service users.
Ahead of their upcoming 40th birthday bash, we spoke to Chris, a volunteer at the service, to find out more about the LLGS and why it’s still very relevant to the LGBT community of London today.
Why was the LLGS originally initiated and whose idea was it?
At some time during 1973, Denis Lemon the then editor of Gay News suggested that we start a Gay Switchboard in London following the launch of similar services in major U.S. cities a few years previously. Meetings were organised with reps from the major gay organisations at the time – GLF, Friend, the Albany Trust, Icebreakers, CHE etc. They also did lots of talking to “experts” like Anthony Grey of the Albany Trust. The Albany Trust still exists as a counselling service that had grown out of law reform campaigning in the 1960s. We also received loads of advice from the late Chad Varrah, the founder of the Samaritans, who ensured Switchboard’s number was circulated to all Samaritans branches.
Was it hard for them to get started? Who funded the operation?
Until the start of the HIV pandemic Switchboard survived by community fundraising, a situation we have recently returned to.
What role does the LLGS play in the contemporary gay community of London?
The same as we always have: we listen and try to provide an appropriate resource for the callers’ needs, from sex clubs to walking groups, from Kenric to SM Gays and everything in between.
With the plethora of online resources available, why is a telephone switchboard still vital and relevant?
The telephone is a real time human contact. Although we also do email and instant messaging via our website!
What have been some major success stories of the LLGS since its inauguration?
Talking to millions of callers about safer sex has played a real part in preventing HIV infections. Because we never meet our callers and they rarely phone back it is difficult to know but after some calls there is a feeling that you have changed someone’s life and in that we change the world one call at a time.
What does the LLGS personally mean to you? Did you use it yourself before becoming involved?
I first phoned when I was fourteen. I was too scared to talk, a “Silent Call”. After many attempts I eventually spoke with a volunteer and was told about the gay teenage group and started my life as a gay man. I joined Switchboard when I was eighteen, thirty-two years ago. I have left and rejoined three times since then: in one of my gaps I phoned in the depths of grief, three months after my late partner’s death. The kind words then drew me back to Switchboard again.
And finally, what can we expect from the upcoming panel discussion and 40th birthday parties?
The panel discussion will be a lively, witty run through Switchboard’s history and its purpose with the panel discussion and questions from the audience. The Birthday Gala will be a sparkling, glamorous evening with cocktails, celebs and performances from The Feeling’s frontman Dan Gillespie Sells, Lucy Spraggan and Beverley Knight.
• The Switchboard @ 40 panel discussion will be on Friday 21st February at the RADA Studios, 16 Chenies Street, WC1E 7EX. 7-10pm, £10 (£5 concs).
• The 40th Birthday Party will be on Thursday 6th March at the Waldorf Hilton, Aldwych, WC2B 4DD. 7pm-1am, £40 (which includes two free drinks, canapés and complimentary Patrón Tequila cocktails).
More info: https://switchboard.lgbt/about-us/