Stonewall Housing opens
1983 – Project begins despite worrying legal advice
Stonewall Housing launched with plans to provide supported emergency and short to medium stay accommodation, as well as securing permanent follow-on accommodation for young single homeless lesbians and gay men.
The doors opened despite conflicting legal opinions, including one which stated that the project might break the law because of the risk of under-age sex and the very strict laws gross indecency laws which only applied to gay men.
Supporting the need for the service was the 1980 survey ‘Gays and Housing’, which found that 4,000 callers were accessing the London Gay Switchboard accommodation service.
