Lavender Menace / West & Wilde
Lavender Menace, Scotland's first LGBTQ+ bookshop, was founded by Bob Orr and Sigrid Nielsen in 1982. It emerged from the successful Open Gaze bookstall at the Scottish Homosexual Rights Group’s Gay Information Centre and a subsequent stall at the Fire Island disco.
In August 1982 Lavender Menace opened on Forth Street, offering a wide range of LGBTQ+ literature and a mail-order service vital for those in remote areas. It hosted open meetings for the Gay Youth Movement in 1983 and lesbian reader’s evenings in 1985.
In 1987, the bookshop relocated to Dundas Street and rebranded as West & Wilde in honour of Vita Sackville-West and Oscar Wilde.
West & Wilde continued Lavender Menace's legacy. The shop hosted authors such as Armistead Maupin, David Leavitt, and Edmund White, and expanded its services to include wholesale distribution across Europe.
Despite its success, West & Wilde faced challenges. In 1989, Customs seized a shipment of books. The shop closed in 1997 due to economic pressures and competition, but its legacy carries on.
In 2019, following the success of the Edinburgh Fringe show "Love Song to Lavender Menace," Orr and Nielsen established the Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive. This initiative aims to preserve LGBTQ+ literature from 1970 to 2000 and continue connecting the community through events and online activities, honouring the spirit of the original bookshop.
Sources:
National Galleries Scotland website [https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/features/talks-lectures-queer-lives-art-40-years-lavender-menace, accessed 16.06.25]
The Radical Bookseller, No. 15, June 1982; No. 27, October/November 1983, No. 55, July/August 1987, No. 64, March - May 1989
