Losses, offices, setbacks and TV
Things have changed since we began. They have actually become easier in a couple of respects. It is much, much easier to find venues to hold our lunches, both from the access angle and being made to feel welcome. Secondly, disabled people are more aware of their rights and less likely to lean on the club for support. However, they are also much more stuck for cash and less optimistic about finding a lover. Although society accepts disabled people more readily in the 90's, people are less willing to have a relationship with somebody disabled. Money, looks and image now seem to be more important than happiness.
Recently, 'Outsiders' has suffered severe personal tragedies. Through deaths, we lost Nick Finden, Chairman of the Management Committee and the Ball, and Dave Murray, who used to organise the holidays. In 1994, Christine Nocek, Mike Bramley, our accountant, Norman Wand and several other key members died. It's really surprising that the club survived. And yet we have.
Our Caledonian Road office was a temporary site, a small, leaking room on the fourth floor. Eventually, in 1993, we moved to a wheelchair accessible space in a warehouse in Shoreditch. This also leaked, wasn't very comfortable, and was unsatisfactory in many ways, but only cost £25 a week. In 1996, we found a beautiful new self-contained office in Holland Park and had just moved in when another disaster struck: our fundraising ball was stopped by the police only hours before it was due to take place.
This meant we had no money to finance 'Outsiders' because we had incurred many expenses: £8,000 for the food alone! The police eventually allowed us to go ahead with our Ball the following year, and I managed to find some generous well-wishers to fund the club till then. Our Membership Secretary, Dee McDonald, agreed to work for no pay, and somehow we survived.
Everyone was furious that the Ball had been cancelled, especially guests who had flown in from Tokyo for the event, and others who had spent time and money organising their costumes and travel. Meetings took place to protest against the laws, and police interference. The Sexual Freedom Coalition was formed and appointed me as the editor of its paper, Consenting Adults. The paper reports on police action, as well as having a page devoted to disability. The Coalition monitors police action on clubs and so far there's been no more trouble.
In this same year, 1996, 'Outsiders' agreed to take part in a BBC documentary about us, made by their Disabilities Unit. They promised that the programme would promote the club and help us raise funds, following our Ball cancellation catastrophe. When we saw the programme on TV we learned otherwise, it was manufactured scandal and gross misrepresentation. There are still some disabled people who can't cope with the nature of our work, and project their own sexual problems onto us, assuming we must be exploitative. Fortunately, most of our members grinned and bared it (in front of the telly with their families or care-workers!) and we ignored the seedy phone calls which resulted from the programme.