Formation | 1974 |
---|---|
Headquarters | Belfast |
Location |
|
Website | Cara-Friend |
Cara-Friend was set up in 1974 "as a voluntary counseling, befriending, information, health and social space organisation for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Trans (LGB&T) community" in Northern Ireland. [1]
Cara-Friend was founded in October 1974 in Belfast, after a telephone support service for homosexuals called Cara was overwhelmed with calls in April 1974. Seeing demand for support Cars-Friend was founded, and recruited 28 people to be befrienders. In their first year of operation they received 243 requests for support. [2]
Their phone service launched in January 1976, initially only being staffed for six hours a week. This expanded over the years, with additional phone line opening over the years. In 1977, a phone line was opened in Coleraine, closing in 1980 due to a lack of volunteers. Another phone line was opened in Derry in 1980. A lesbian specific line was opened in 1980, and ran on Thursdays. [2]
In 1976 a separate transexual support group was formed to help support individuals who were contacting the Cara-Friend support line. In the same year Cara-Friend also recruited transexual individuals to help staff the support line, and dedicated Thursdays to transexual callers. The service was closed in 1978 after the death of Wilma Creith, who died as a result of a blood clot while undergoing gender-affirming surgery. Creith had helped set up the helpline and the transexual support group. [2] [3]
Cara-Friend has a youth section for anyone between the ages of 12 and 25 who identifies as non-heterosexual or is questioning their sexual identity and offers support and help to them. [4] Cara-Friend is well known as one of the most prominent groups for LGBT youth in Northern Ireland and has released "What's In Your Closet?" - a guide for parents, teachers and students to coming out.
Samaritans is a registered charity aimed at providing emotional support to anyone in emotional distress, struggling to cope or at risk of suicide throughout the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, often through its telephone helpline. Its name derives from the biblical Parable of the Good Samaritan, although the organisation itself is not religious.
The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group based in Northern Ireland. Formed in 1965, it first emerged in 1966. Its first leader was Gusty Spence, a former Royal Ulster Rifles soldier from Northern Ireland. The group undertook an armed campaign of almost thirty years during The Troubles. It declared a ceasefire in 1994 and officially ended its campaign in 2007, although some of its members have continued to engage in violence and criminal activities. The group is a proscribed organisation and is on the terrorist organisation list of the United Kingdom.
The Red Hand Commando (RHC) is a small secretive Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland that is closely linked to the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). Its aim was to combat Irish republicanism – particularly the Irish Republican Army (IRA) – and to maintain Northern Ireland's status as part of the United Kingdom. The Red Hand Commando carried out shootings and bombings, primarily targeting Catholic civilians. As well as allowing other loyalist groupings to claim attacks in their name, the organisation has also allegedly used the cover names "Red Branch Knights" and "Loyalist Retaliation and Defence Group". It is named after the Red Hand of Ulster, and is unique among loyalist paramilitaries for its use of an Irish language motto, Lámh Dearg Abú, meaning 'red hand to victory'.
Christina Ann McNichol is an American former actress. Beginning her career as a child actress, she rose to fame in 1976 with her portrayal of teenaged daughter Letitia "Buddy" Lawrence in the TV drama Family for which she won two Emmy Awards. Subsequent roles included Angel in the film Little Darlings, Polly in Only When I Laugh, and Barbara Weston in the TV sitcom Empty Nest. McNichol retired from acting in 2001.
Outright Scotland is an LGBT rights organisation based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded as the Scottish Minorities Group in 1969, it was the country's first LGBT rights organisation.
Affirmation: LGBTQ Mormons, Families, & Friends is an international organization for individuals who identify as gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual, queer, intersex, or same-sex attracted, and their family members, friends, and church leaders who are members or former members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Kids Help Phone is a Canadian charitable organization that provides online and telephone counselling and volunteer-led, text-based support in English and French to youth across Canada. Kids Help Phone also provides information on how to access community support services for youth.
The Ulster Workers' Council (UWC) strike was a general strike that took place in Northern Ireland between 15 May and 28 May 1974, during "the Troubles". The strike was called by unionists who were against the Sunningdale Agreement, which had been signed in December 1973. Specifically, the strikers opposed the sharing of political power with Irish nationalists, and the proposed role for the Republic of Ireland's government in running Northern Ireland.
Seamus Twomey was an Irish republican activist, militant, and twice chief of staff of the Provisional IRA.
Billy "Hutchie" Hutchinson is a Northern Irish Ulster Loyalist politician and activist who served as leader of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) from 2011 to 2023, now serving as party president. He was a Belfast City Councillor, representing Oldpark from 1997 to 2005, and then Court from 2014 to 2023. Hutchinson was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belfast North from 1998 to 2003. Before this, he had been a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and was a founder of their youth wing, the Young Citizen Volunteers (YCV).
The Northern Amateur Football League, also known as the Northern Amateur League and often simply as the Amateur League, is an association football league in Northern Ireland. It contains 13 divisions. These comprise four intermediate sections: the Premier Division, Division 1A, Division 1B and Division 1C; three junior sections: Division 2A, Division 2B and Division 2C; and six reserve sections.
Miriam Daly was an Irish republican and communist activist as well as a university lecturer who was assassinated by the loyalist Ulster Defence Association (UDA) in 1980.
The Lesbian Organization of Toronto was a lesbian organization founded in 1976 and disbanded in 1980. The group was Toronto's first openly lesbian feminist group, and its members elected to open Canada's first Lesbian Centre.
Interligne is a LGBTQ+ organization that provides a help service, shares information about, and raises awareness of LGBTQ+ people and their issues.
Belvoir Park Hospital was a cancer treatment specialist hospital situated in Newtownbreda, South Belfast, Northern Ireland. Belvoir Park held Northern Ireland's only radiotherapy unit, until the opening of a new cancer treatment centre in Belfast City Hospital.
John Oliver Weir is an Ulster loyalist born and raised in the Republic of Ireland. He served as an officer in Northern Ireland's Royal Ulster Constabulary's (RUC) Special Patrol Group (SPG), and was a volunteer in the illegal Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). As a member of the UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade led by Robin "the Jackal" Jackson, Weir was a part of the Glenanne gang, a group of loyalist extremists that carried out sectarian attacks mainly in the County Armagh area in the mid-1970s.
The Orange Volunteers (OV) was a loyalist vigilante group with a paramilitary structure active in Northern Ireland during the early 1970s. It took its name from the Orange Order, from which it drew the bulk of its membership.
The Community Homophile Association of Toronto (CHAT) was founded on January 3, 1971. The organization grew out of the University of Toronto Homophile Association (UTHA). CHAT's work centered around providing support services, education, and organizing community events for Toronto's gay and lesbian community. The organization's activities were driven by its “central plank to come out of the state of fear and apprehension which surrounds the public assertion of one’s rights of sexuality”, with a secondary aim to achieve equal civil rights to those of heterosexuals. In 1977, CHAT disbanded due to economic challenges and declining membership. A number of gay and lesbian groups grew out of CHAT, including Toronto Gay Action (TGA) and Lesbian Organization of Toronto (LOOT).
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)