Scottish Minorities Group

The Scottish Minorities Group originated in a meeting of about half a dozen men in January 1969 in the drawing room of Ian Dunn's parents' house in Glasgow. The 1967 Sexual Offences Act in England and Wales, that involved the partial decriminalisation of homosexual relations between men (over 21 in private), did not apply in Scotland or Northern Ireland. The term 'minorities' was chosen to avoid the dangers of explicit reference to homosexuality.

A first-hand account of the Scottish Minorities Group, which in 1978 became the Scottish Homosexual Rights Group, has been written by a member of OurStory Scotland. He writes of the Glasgow Gay Centre, which opened in 1977 as a result of the efforts of the Scottish Minorities Group.

>> Glasgow Gay Centre, SMG and SHRG

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