You can access a list of all our LGBTQ+ related items in our catalogue, or please find a selection of local periodicals below.

Although we now have the pleasure to look after very extensive collections of local LGBTQ+ periodicals, we learned a long time ago that however many are found, there are even more yet to be discovered. So keep watching this space!

Many thanks to Nottinghamshire's Rainbow Heritage for allowing us access to their archives to add to the materials already in our collection.

All documents are pdfs files of various sizes, featuring OCR. If you spot any errors, unresponsive links etc., please do not hesitate to get in touch. As usual we recommend you run searches on the main online catalogue for additional information on the individual items (e.g. regarding missing OCR, dates, partial keywords, etc.).

The following was kindly contributed by Christopher Richardson and Richard McCance, who were crucially involved in the production of many of these publications. Since Chris' death in 2020 Richard has very generously allowed us to look after their personal archives, contaning copies of many of the periodicals listed below as well as many other items. If you were involved in the production of any materials accessible in our Digital Library and would like to contribute a few words about them, we would love to hear from you.

Until the early 1980s there were no known local LGBTQ+ publications circulating in Nottinghamshire apart from membership magazines, such as Nottingham CHE's Chimaera.

The first regular publication was GEM – Gay East Midlands, initiated by Colin Clews in Nottingham in early 1983, which ran to nine editions from June 1983 to March 1984. This was a high-quality production of sixteen pages professionally typeset and printed, which circulated in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire, mainly to gay bars, clubs and friendly shops, and sold for 20p a copy.

After its demise it was followed by GEM – Gay Freeby, a four page A4 duplicated freesheet also produced by the Gay East Midlands Collective in 1984 of which only two editions appear to have been published.

There followed a publication gap until February 1985 when Gay Nottingham #01 was produced as a single sheet, double sided A4, folded to A5, duplicated at 118 Workshop, Mansfield Road. This was put together by Richard McCance and continued in this format for six editions.

From October 1985 it appeared as an A3 folded, four page format, doubling in size to eight pages from #23, in February 1987. The final edition, #28, appeared in July 1987.

In August 1987, Gay Nottingham reappeared as the first edition of Metro Gay, the renaming taking account of the expanded circulation area in Leicestershire. The final edition of Metro Gay, #26, was published in December 1989.

In February 1990, the first issue of Outright appeared. Richard McCance was now joined by Simon Wilkinson who became the founder members of Naff Co-operative Ltd, a worker co-op in which Richard and Simon were the unpaid worker volunteers. Outright was professionally printed by Anvil Press, a worker co-op in Derby. From September 1991 Simon Wilkinson retired from Outright and Chris Richardson joined. From April 1993 most issues of Outright expanded from eight to twelve pages. In 1995 Simon Smalley joined the Naff Co-operative. In December 1995 the largest edition to date ran to sixteen pages, which became the norm in 1996, rising to 20 pages in November 1996. By this time circulation had risen from the original 1,000 to 4,500 per month and reached outlets in Sheffield, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire.

In early 1997 Richard, Chris and Simon, burned out by the time and work demands of Outright, wanted to retire and pass on the magazine to new people. From March 1997 it was produced by new co-op members, the final edition appearing in October 1997.

Sadly there followed a gap in local LGBTQ+ publications but in 1998 the GAi Project and Nottingham Lesbian and Gay Switchboard began the production of QB – Queer Bulletin (access their full archive on their website), which continues to this day in 2019 (2023 update: it's still going!) and is now the longest running LGBTQ+ publication in the East Midlands.

Richard McCance & Chris Richardson, 8th March 2019

Spotlight on: Independent Nottinghamshire LGBTQ+ Magazines

Jump to

From Chimera to Outright - Some recollections and contextual information

Chimaera - CHE Newsletter (1970s-1980s)

NOGSOG News (1980s)

Diversion - Nottingham Lesbian Magazine (1980s)

G.E.M. - Gay East Midlands (1980s)

G.E.M. - Gay Freeby (1980s)

Gay Nottingham (1980s)

Nottingham Gay Peoples Centre Newsletter/Nottingham Lesbian and Gay Community Centre Newsletter (1980s)

East Midlands Metro Gay (1980s)

Outright (1990s)

Lookout! (1990s-2010s)

The Out House Project Newsletter (1990s-2000s)

I'm Free! (2000s)