How a Community Built Scotland’s LGBTQ+ Helpline

52 years ago, our community built a lifeline together

In 1969, a small group formed the Scottish Minorites Group (SMG) to fight for the decriminalisation of same-sex relationships in Scotland.

But campaigning wasn’t enough… LGBTQ+ people didn’t just need change in the law. They needed support they could trust.

So in 1974, members setup the Edinburgh Befriending Service from a home phone in Marchmont. It became the Lothian Gay and Lesbian Switchboard and volunteers answered the first call on 2nd March 1974.

In 1975, SMG opened the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Centre at 60 Broughton Street. The first of its kind in the UK, it hosted a café, bookstall, and a safe space to drop in. The Switchboard moved in too, with a confidential space, its own phone number, and more volunteers ready to pick up the phone.

In its first 10 years, the Switchboard answered 10,000 calls.

After 35 years of service, the Switchboard passed its helpline on to us at LGBT Health and Wellbeing. That legacy continues as the helpline we run today. And last year, we also began a new partnership with Switchboard UK, a support line whose journey began alongside ours in 1974.

To everyone who built this lifeline, we’re proud of you!

And we’re still here if you need to talk.
 0800 464 7000
 lgbthealth.org.uk
 helpline@lgbthealth.org.uk
 Tues–Thurs 12–9pm • Sun 1–6pm with option to transfer to Switchboard.