Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive is owned by Lavender Menace CIC a community interest company. As of July 2025 there are eight directors.

Alex Fitzgerald

Alex Fitzgerald, a graduate of both St Andrews and Dundee Universities, is a qualified Archivist and Records Manager with over fifteen years’ experience in both the public and private sector. As a gay man with a history degree working in the archives field, and also as a keen reader and aspiring author, I am pleased to support and promote the work of the Lavender Menace Queer Book Archive.  Preserving and promoting the cultural history of the community is vital to ensure that memory is bolstered and renewed through engagement with resources that might otherwise be lost.

Bob Orr

Bob Orr made his home in Edinburgh when he moved to study there from Glasgow in 1973. He set up SMG Bookstall in 1976 to raise funds to support the nascent Gay Centre in Broughton Street. In 1978 he expanded the stock and changed the name to Open Gaze. He worked with Sigrid Nielsen from 1979 and opened Lavender Menace Bookshop with her as a partner in August 1982. With his now husband, Raymond Rose he opened West & Wilde Bookshop five years later which traded until 1997. He was instrumental along with Sigrid Nielsen in establishing Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive in 2019.

Jan Pimblett

Jan was Principal Development Officer at The London Archives (2001-19), running the Teacher Learning Academy’s learning and education programmes.  Fundraising resulted in successful Heritage Lottery bids for LGBTQ+ projects including Speak Out London: Diversity City and Haringey Vanguard. She established an annual LGBTQ+ History Conference, Queer History partnerships with Birkbeck and Goldsmiths and support for community projects. A speaker at international LGBTQ+ archive conferences in Norway, Sweden, Amsterdam, Berlin, London, she was also a consultant for LGBTQ+ content for the Museum of London Smithfield site (2020-22). She is a trustee for the National HIV Story Trust and Chair of KENRIC Lesbian Social Network. Jan will provide advice and support around fundraising bids for Lavender Menace.

Joshua Cole

Joshua Cole is a graduate of Queen Margaret University and Edinburgh Napier University and has over 6 years experience working in Human Resources. Joshua identifies as a Queer man and has a passion for creating spaces where people can be themselves and thrive. Supporting Lavender Menace is more than supporting the LGBTQ+ community. It is our history, our voice, our art. It reminds us that everyone’s story is important to tell and that we have always had a place in history and always will as a community. Through preserving and telling stories, the Lavender Menace Queer Book Archive is creating a space for us to preserve the many talents that exist within the community. Joshua brings his knowledge experience from his HR background to advise and support Lavender Menace continue to grow.

Lee Shedden

Louise Neilson

Louise Neilson is a graduate of both the University of Glasgow and the University of Manchester, and is a qualified archivist with over eight years’ experience in the heritage sector. She is currently the Access Officer for Lothian Health Services Archive and her role involves facilitating access to LHSA’s collection and conducting outreach and engagement events with both students and community groups. Louise is passionate about the study and preservation of queer history, and is dedicated to ensuring that this history is preserved and made accessible.

Sigrid Nielsen

Sigrid Nielsen is a graduate of St John’s College in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In Edinburgh in 1979 she joined Bob Orr in Open Gaze, the bookstall he ran at Edinburgh Gay Centre, and worked in other bookselling and publishing groups. She and Bob opened Lavender Menace, Scotland’s first Lesbian and Gay Community Bookshop, as a partnership in 1982. Sigrid managed author readings, mail order lists, and bookshop events. She left as a partner in 1987 and later co-edited In Other Words: Writing as a Feminist (Hutchinson Education, 1987) and published articles and short stories. In 2019, she and Bob revived Lavender Menace as an LGBT+ books archive and heritage organisation.

Trevor Owen

Trevor has been a member of the Board of Directors since April 2023.  He has worked in the Scottish Government in various roles for over 20 years, with a particular focus on equality and human rights, most recently leading work to mainstreaming equality and human rights across Government and public services and develop a new Human Rights Bill for Scotland.  Trevor was previously Chair of LGBT Health and Wellbeing, which works to tackle the health inequalities experienced by LGBT people in Scotland.  In his spare time, he enjoys travelling and spending time with his Romanian Rescue dog Erin.  Trevor believes the Lavender Menace Archive is a fantastic resource for Scotland’s communities and looks forward to contributing to expanding our reach and impact across Scotland’s diverse communities.