# LGBTQ culture in Cardiff

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Legislation :
Criminality
Buggery Act 1533
Offences Against the Person Act 1828
Offences Against the Person Act 1861
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Sexual Offences Act 1967
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Homosexual Offences Order 1982
Section 28
Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994
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Alan Turing law
Merchant Shipping (Homosexual Conduct) Act 2017
Historical Sexual Offences (Pardons and Disregards) (Scotland) Act 2018 :
Protection and recognition
Public Order Act 1986
Sex Discrimination (Gender Reassignment) Regulations 1999
Adoption and Children Act 2002
Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003
Civil Partnership Act 2004
Gender Recognition Act 2004
Equality Act 2006
Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007
Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008
Equality Act 2010
Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013
Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014
Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc) Act 2019
Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 :
Litigation
Corbett v Corbett (1969)
X v United Kingdom (1978)
Dudgeon v United Kingdom (1981)
R v Brown (1993)
Sutherland v United Kingdom (1994)
Smith and Grady v United Kingdom (1999)
Goodwin & I v United Kingdom (2002)
HJ and HT v Home Secretary (2010)
National AIDS Trust v NHS Service Commissioning Board (2016)
Bell v Tavistock (2021)
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Former groups
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History :
Topics
Timeline
List of politicians
First LGBT officeholders
Violence against LGBT people
HIV/AIDS crisis
Death penalty :
Timeline 342 MSM activity made illegal 1533 Death penalty introduced for MSM activity 1543 Buggery Act extended to Wales 1828 Offences Against the Person Act 1828 1835 James Pratt and John Smith executed 1861 Death penalty for buggery abolished 1885 Labouchere Amendment introduced 1889 Cleveland Street scandal 1895 Oscar Wilde found guilty of gross indecency 1912 The Cave of the Golden Calf opens 1921 Plans to make lesbian activity illegal defeated 1936 Mark Weston transitions 1952 John Nott-Bower begins crackdown 1954 Pitt-Rivers, Montagu, Wildeblood imprisoned 1954 Alan Turing commits suicide 1957 Wolfenden report released 1967 MSM activity made legal (England & Wales) 1972 First British Gay Pride Rally 1976 Jeremy Thorpe resigns as Liberal leader 1981 MSM activity made legal (Scotland) 1981 First case of AIDS reported in the UK 1982 MSM activity made legal (NI) 1983 Gay men barred from donating blood 1984 Chris Smith elected as first openly gay MP 1987 Operation Spanner begins 1988 Section 28 comes into force 1989 Stonewall UK forms 1994 Age of consent for MSM becomes 18 1997 Angela Eagle becomes first openly lesbian MP 1998 Bolton 7 found guilty 1998 Lord Alli becomes first openly gay Lord 1999 Admiral Duncan bombing 2000 Gay men allowed in HM Armed Forces 2001 Age of consent equalised to 16 2001 MSM activity involving multiple men legal 2002 Same sex couples granted equal rights to adopt 2003 Section 28 repealed 2004 Civil partnerships introduced 2004 Gender Recognition Act 2004 2006 Discrimination made illegal 2008 Equalised access to IVF for lesbian couples 2008 Incitement to homophobic hatred made a crime 2009 Public apology to Alan Turing 2010 Equality Act 2010 2011 Gay men allowed to donate blood (1 yr deferral) 2013 Nikki Sinclaire becomes first openly trans MEP 2013 Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 2014 First same-sex marriages take place 2016 MSM activity not grounds for military discharge 2017 Turing law implemented 2017 Blood donation deferral 3 months (excl. NI) 2019 MPs legislate for gay marriage in NI 2020 Gay marriage legal across UK, incl. NI 2020 Blood donation deferral 3 months (incl. NI) 2021 Blood donation deferral equalised :
LGBTQ portal UK portal :
vte :
The LGBT community in Cardiff is the largest in Wales. The 2021 census found that 5.33% of people aged 16 and over identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or other.

## History
### Early history

Homosexuality was partially decriminalised in 1967, thanks in part to Cardiff born MP Leo Abse (whose MP seat was in Pontypool).$^{:194–196}$
Prior to the law change there is some evidence of LGBTQ+ culture in Cardiff around criminal records for cross dressing, gross indecency, and buggery, though criminalisations were higher than rural areas they were minor compared to other UK cities.$^{:23–25}$
Cardiff's The Golden Cross opened in 1863. It has been recognised as a gay bar since at least the 1970s, when a wider commercial gay scene was first prominent in the city.$^{:68–69}$

### 1970s

A Cardiff-Newport branch of Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE) was formed in 1972, most of its 50+ members living in Cardiff, first meeting at the Blue Anchor pub on St Mary's Street (now Le Monde restaurant) but later moving to Chapter Arts Centre in Canton. More popular with men, a separatist women's group later formed.$^{:98–100}$ A Cardiff faction of the Gay Liberation Front also formed in this era also meeting at the Blue Anchor. Ken Follett wrote about the GLF in the South Wales Echo in 1971. The GLF later merged into the CHE group.
Cardiff FRIEND, one of many the city based outposts of London FRIEND, also ran from 1973. They took helpline phone calls from an office in St Mary's Street, and later moved to the Rights Information Bureau on Charles Street.$^{:60–63}$ The group changed their name to Friend South Wales, and registered as a charity in 1993.
The Rights Information Bureau also held offices for the Gay Liberation Front group and the Nationwide Transvestite Group (an early Trans organisation) from 1971.

### 1980s

In the 1980s there were a number of LGBT+ venues in Cardiff including the Tunnel Club (now Metros), Dubrovnik Restaurant and SIRS.$^{:77–78}$ The city's oldest gay venue Kings Cross ceased to be an LGBT+ venue in 2013 when it became a gastropub called The Corner House.
The 1980s also saw Cardiff's first dedicated gay street theatre groups, LGBTQ+ community centres and youth clubs.$^{:82}$ As well as cruising areas being established, most popular being Bute Park, public toilets in Cathays Park and Cardiff Central Station.$^{:51}$
Inspired by London's Gay Switchboard, Zoe Balfour started Cardiff Lesbian Line in October 1981, which ran until at least the 1990s.$^{:60}$
1988 saw Cardiff hold a Wales Against Section 28 protest, alongside other city demonstrations across the UK.
By the end of the century parallel roads Charles Street and Churchill Way had become heart of LGBTQ+ Cardiff, including Minskys, a popular cabaret and drag bar which eventually closed 2020.

### 21st century

The early 2000s saw the popular LGBTQ+ club night Hell's Bent in Cardiff, the short lived WOW bar on Churchill Way and gay representation on Russell T. Davies' era of writing Doctor Who and its spin-off Torchwood series, both set in Cardiff.
In 2007 the Iris Prize was formed in Cardiff which celebrates LGBTQ+ short films. It has an annual festival screening films open to the public.
Cardiff's history of protests has continued, with Trans Aid Cymru being formed in 2020 after a group of activists held a protest outside of Cardiff Castle to protest the Gender Recognition Act 2004 reforms being dropped. A second protest about the reforms was held outside the Senedd, after statistics were released showing that 70% of respondents supported the proposed changes to the gender recognition act.
In 2022 Shash Appan lead a protest with Trans Aid Cymru outside Tŷ William Morgan to protest the delays in a UK Conversion therapy ban. The proposed ban was initially dropped, before the government instead announced that they would be pushing forward with it, but that it would not include protections around gender identity. Shortly after the Cardiff protest Hannah Blythyn announced that the Welsh Government would be seeking legal advice to determine if Wales could implement their own ban on conversation therapy.
A further protest was held at Tŷ William Morgan in 2023 after the UK government blocked the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from passing into law. Protesters from Trans Aid Cymru stuck homemade birth, death, and marriage certificates across the building, to represent how trans people regularly misgendered on these legal documents throughout their lives.

## Pride in Cardiff

The first iteration of Pride held in Cardiff was in 1985, which was a parade on Queen Street in the city centre organised by Cardiff University students (principally their GaySoc/Cardiff Lesbian and Gay Students group).$^{:227–230}$ Organiser Francis Brown remembers attendance being less than 30 but Noreena Shopland's Forbidden Lives cites over 100 attendees.$^{:227–230}$
The march continued annually in the following years 1986 and 1987, finishing at the Kings Cross pub.$^{:109–110}$

### Pride Cymru

The first Cardiff Mardi Gras was held in September 1999, and has happened annually since. In 2014, it changed its name to Pride Cymru. In 2017 they took over the running of Cardiff Big Weekend, merging the event with their annual pride celebrations.

### Big Queer Picnic

The first Big Queer Picnic was held in August 2012 after the founders felt like Cardiff needed an alternative grassroots pride event. It is run as a free community based event celebrating sexual and gender diversity. It is usually held on the Saturday of Pride Cymru in Sophia Gardens, Cardiff.

### Glitter Pride

The first BAME Pride held in Wales was hosted by Glitter Cymru in August 2019. Held as a community event to highlight the joy and diversity of the BAME LGBTQ+ community in Cardiff. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the second event didn't take place until 2022, with the event rebranded as Glitter Pride.

### Cardiff Trans Pride

In 2019 the first Cardiff Trans Pride was held across three days. Organised by Nerida Bradley and Miles Rozel the events focused on platforming trans voices and performers.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the next Trans Pride wasn't held until 2023. Returning on the 15th-17 September, it had three days of events and a march through the city centre.

## Groups and venues

Cardiff has a vibrant gay scene, with all the main venues being within walking distance of each other. The Golden Cross, Mary's, Pulse, Eagle, and The Queer Emporium (containing Paned o Gê bookshop) are the backbone of the community.
The Queer Emporium also hosts the annual Queer Fringe Festival in Cardiff, their first festival in 2022. The Iris Prize is also an annual LGBTQ+ short film and prize awarding festival.
There are a few book groups such as Lez Read, a LGBTQIA+ Book Club at Cardiff Central Library and the Gay Men's Book Club.
Cardiff has multiple LGBTQ+ choirs including the South Wales Gay Men's Chorus, Cardiff Trans Singers and Songbirds.
There are also a number of social and mutual support groups in the city. Glitter Cymru are a Cardiff based but Wales wide community group for ethnic minority LGBTQ+ people. Trans Aid Cymru are a transgender, intersex, and nonbinary mutual aid group founded in Cardiff in 2020.
St Fagans, the Museum of Cardiff and Glamorgan Archives collect artifacts relating to Cardiff LGBTQ+ life.

## Demographics

The 2021 Census showed that 5.33% of Cardiff's population identifies as LGBTQ+. 0.71% identified as having a different gender identity than the one registered at their birth. Both percentages are the highest throughout Wales.

## Notable residents

Those identifying as LGBTQ+ past and present:
* Ivor Novello
* Stephen Doughty
* Felicity Evans
* Lisa Power
* Gareth Thomas (rugby, born 1974)
* Laura McAllister
* Jess Fishlock
* Nathan Wyburn
* La-Chun Lindsay
* David Llewellyn
* Scott McGlynn
* Norena Shopland
* Noel Sullivan
* Shash Appan