Lavender Menace

Past Shelves: Histories of Queer Reading (Exhibition)
2026-03-05 10:00 - 2026-09-20 17:00 (Europe/London) | Museum of Edinburgh, 142-146 Canongate, Edinburgh, Midlothian, EH8 8DD, United Kingdom
We are delighted that a portion of the exhibition has been extended to 20 September 2026! You can find Past Shelves in the Huntly Room and Costume Gallery, on the first floor of the Museum.

Opening hours: During the summer, the Museum is open 7 days a week, 10am-5pm.

Join us for the Past Shelves exhibition to explore the impact of LGBTQ+ reading, publishing, and bookselling. The exhibition is inspired by Scotland’s first LGBTQ+ bookshops and LGBTQ+ community experiences in Scotland from 1980-2000.

The Past Shelves exhibition follows on from the Past Shelves oral history project run in 2025-2026 by the Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive.

Lavender Menace was Scotland’s first gay and lesbian community bookshop. Co-founded by Bob Orr and Sigrid Nielsen, it opened in 1982. After five years of bookselling, the bookshop was reborn as West & Wilde (1987-1997) owned by Bob Orr and Raymond Rose. These spaces were a haven for LGBTQ+ people and sold queer books at a time when mainstream bookshops would not stock them. The bookshops were also important community spaces where LGBTQ+ people could feel welcomed and connect with each other. In 2019, Lavender Menace was revived as Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive.

Discover the world of Lavender Menace and West & Wilde with us, through books, magazines, interviews and more.

Note: The exhibition originally included three sections. Two of the original sections have been extended to 20 September, you can find these in the Huntly Room and Costume Gallery.

Credits

This exhibition was created by Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive in partnership with Museums & Galleries Edinburgh. Thank you to our funders, the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Awards for All.

Location & access

The exhibition takes place at the Museum of Edinburgh, 142-146 Canongate, Edinburgh EH8 8DD.

The main entrance has 1 step. There is no lift and no ramp and the upper levels are accessible by stairs only. The exhibition is located on the first floor, accessible by stairs only.

We appreciate that this means some of our audience won’t be able to access the exhibition, and we are producing a digital guide of the exhibition in order to make the exhibition more accessible. You can also view this film of the exhibition to visit virtually.

If the inaccessibility of the building is preventing you from seeing the exhibition, please email themenaces@lavendermenace.org.uk and we will send you the digital guide when it is available.

Menacing Since 1982
2026-04-04 14:00 - 15:30 | Assembly Rooms, 54 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2LR, United Kingdom
This free event brings together the people behind Scotland’s first LGBT+ bookshops, Lavender Menace (1982-87) and West & Wilde (1987-97).

Sigrid Nielsen, Bob Orr, and Raymond Rose were all involved in these first two bookshops in Edinburgh, where LGBT+ people could find books, space, and community.

The event will be hosted by Anna Broomfield, the coordinator of Past Shelves, an oral history project about experiences of LGBT+ reading and books.

This event is part of our exhibition Past Shelves: Queer Histories of Reading (5 March to 3 May, Museum of Edinburgh), created in partnership with Museums & Galleries Edinburgh. Thank you to our funders, National Lottery Heritage Fund and Awards for All.

Book ticket

Location and Access

This event is taking place at Assembly Rooms, 54 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 2LR.

The venue is fully accessible on the ground and first floor areas for all visitors with mobility difficulties and accessibility needs via a lift or handrail assistance. For full accessibility information, visit the venue website: https://cultureedinburgh.com/our-venues/assembly-rooms

Sarah Schulman: The Fantasy and Necessity of Solidarity
2026-04-12 17:00 - 18:30 | Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, Midlothian, EH1 1EL, United Kingdom
What is solidarity? And how can solidarity effectively challenge the status quo?

Join acclaimed writer, activist and historian Sarah Schulman to celebrate her latest book, The Fantasy and Necessity of Solidarity. Schulman looks to the past, present, and future to unpack the often misunderstood concept of solidarity.

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Reflecting on her own experiences as a queer artist as well as wider political movements – such as New York City’s AIDS activism in the 1990s and the current worldwide protests organising against Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people – Schulman considers how true collaboration may help us move closer towards justice. Throughout, she unpacks both successes and failures of various movements, highlighting how we can better stand with others. Crucial and insightful, The Fantasy and Necessity of Solidarity is a hopeful call to action.

Sarah Schulman is a novelist, playwright, screenwriter, nonfiction writer, and AIDS historian. Her books include The Gentrification of the Mind and Conflict Is Not Abuse. Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, New York, Harper’s Magazine, The Atlantic, The Nation, The New Republic, The New York Times, and The Guardian.

In collaboration with Peninsula Press, Sliver, Outburst Arts, EAF (Edinburgh Art Festival), Glasgow Women’s Library, Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive, Lighthouse Books, and London Review of Books.

Lesbian Words Presents: A Scotch Verdict Walking Tour with Indigo Dunphy-Smith
2026-04-25 14:00 - 16:30 | Cairngorm Coffee, 1 Melville Place, Edinburgh, EH3 7PR
Step back in time with queer history researcher and writer Indigo for this walking tour of Edinburgh. Together, we will explore the infamous sapphic scandal that inspired The Children’s Hour, starring Audrey Hepburn, and Scotch Verdict by historian Lillian Faderman. As we weave our way from the New Town to the Old Town, we’ll explore the people, places and prejudices connected to this 1810 legal case. We’ll unpack how colonial thought and queer desire influenced the uniquely Scottish court ruling – not proven.

Book ticket

About the facilitator

Indigo Dunphy-Smith (she/her) is a researcher and writer based in Edinburgh. She specialises in research and public programmes that create space for marginalised stories in traditional spaces. She is the author of How to: Queer Your Historic House, a practical toolkit for uncovering queer stories in museum collections, and co-chairs the National Trust for Scotland’s LGBTQ network and supports organisations to queer their heritage spaces.

What to expect

An informal walking tour in a small-group setting. Please dress warmly for the Scottish weather and wear your sensible footwear.

The walk lasts for 2 and a half hours, and participants will be walking or standing for this time unless they use or bring a chair. The route goes through the New Town, up the Mound, and onto the Royal Mile and involves some light uphill walking (the Mound) and uneven paving.

If the tour needs to be step-free for you to attend (or if you have any access requests), please email us to let us know so we can amend the route: themenaces@lavendermenace.org.uk

Booking

Tickets are pay-what-you-can. Booking in advance is essential as places are limited so, if you are unable to attend, please let us know as soon as possible so we can offer your place to someone else.

Location

Meet at 2pm outside Cairngorn Coffee, 1 Melville Pl, Edinburgh EH3 7PR

Any other questions

Please email us: themenaces@lavendermenace.org.uk

Sketching in the Museum
2026-05-02 14:00 - 16:00 | Museum of Edinburgh, 142-146 Canongate, Edinburgh, Midlothian, EH8 8DD, United Kingdom
Join us at the Museum of Edinburgh for a fun and informal sketching workshop at the Past Shelves exhibition with queer artist, Annie Lord. No experience necessary! Annie will lead some guided drawing exercises to get you started then you are encouraged to spend time sketching anything in the exhibition or museum that catches your interest.

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Our Past Shelves exhibition explores the impact of LGBTQ+ reading, publishing, and bookselling. The exhibition is inspired by Scotland’s first LGBTQ+ bookshops, community experiences of reading and life in Scotland from 1980-2000. Discover the world of Lavender Menace and West & Wilde with us, through books, magazines, costumes, interviews and more.

About the facilitator

Annie Lord is a visual artist and writer with a socially engaged, place-based practice. Her artworks combine environmental interventions, drawings, text and community collaborations. She is fascinated by how we find meaning in matter, transforming plants, animals and minerals into objects of artistic, scientific and domestic value.

Annie’s work includes The Neighbouring Orchard, a dispersed community orchard commissioned by Art Walk Projects. Sketching in Stone was a place-based residency in Berwick-upon-Tweed, commissioned by Connecting Threads. Her work-in-progress book, Morphoses, was shortlisted for the 2023 Nan Shepherd Prize for underrepresented voices in nature writing and she is currently developing it into a full-length manuscript.

Photo credit: Foldyard

What to expect

An informal creative workshop in a small-group setting. The workshop lasts for 2 hours with a break in the middle. No experience necessary and no advance preparation needed. We will have material for you to use here but feel free to bring your own sketchbook, paper, or drawing materials (nothing too messy please!) if you have preferences.

Booking

Tickets are pay-what-you-can. Booking in advance is essential as places are limited so, if you are unable to attend, please let us know as soon as possible so we can offer your place to someone else.

Location & Access

The workshop and exhibition take place at the Museum of Edinburgh, 142-146 Canongate, Edinburgh EH8 8DD.

The main entrance has 1 step. There is no lift and no ramp and the upper levels are accessible by stairs only. There is level access from the main entrance to the Foyer section of the exhibition and the accessible toilets. Some parts of the exhibition are located upstairs, which are accessible by stairs only.

Any other questions

Please email us: themenaces@lavendermenace.org.uk

Becoming Archived with the Lesbian Snapshot Collective
2026-05-09 14:00 - 16:00 | Glasgow Women’s Library, 23 Landressy Street, Glasgow, G40 1BP, United Kingdom
“…[G]ive us a visual record of our passages… a mosaic of lesbian strength, of our strivings to remake our outer and inner worlds.” – Joan Nestle

In an era shaped by Section 28 and silence, many lesbian lives of the 1980s and 1990s were undocumented or deliberately hidden. Join the Lesbian Snapshot Collective to bring those images into the light—out of our shoeboxes, out of our closets. In this creative archiving workshop, we will explore personal snapshots, storytelling, consent, and what it means to record your own history. You are invited to bring a personal photograph, share its story, and reflect on what it means to archive lesbian life now.

This event is targeted at lesbians / dykes / queer women, and those that came out before the year 2000 are particularly welcome.

Find out more about the Lesbian Snapshot Collective.

Venue & Accessibility

This event will be held at Glasgow Women’s Library.

Glasgow Women’s Library is wheelchair accessible, with lifts to the first floor and the Mezzanine Floor. It has accessible toilets and all the bathrooms are individual closed stalls and are gender neutral. The larger Events Space is fitted with an induction loop. A portable induction loop is also available.

Find more information on Accessibility at GWL or contact GWL and they will be very happy to offer assistance.

Booking

The event is free and targeted at women (16+). To attend, please book below and GWL will share an email invitation with you. If you would like to make a donation to Glasgow Women’s Library, you can do so when booking.

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Queer Still Life
2026-06-02 18:00 - 20:00 | Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive, Edinburgh Palette, Edinburgh, Scotland, EH7 6AE
Join queer artist Annie Lord for a workshop exploring objects in the archive. Still lifes are artworks featuring inanimate and often everyday objects. In this informal creative workshop, you are invited to draw from our queer-themed displays of flowers and objects, or to find something in the archive collection you would like to capture instead.

Book a ticket

About the facilitator

Annie Lord is a visual artist and writer with a socially engaged, place-based practice. Her artworks combine environmental interventions, drawings, text and community collaborations. She is fascinated by how we find meaning in matter, transforming plants, animals and minerals into objects of artistic, scientific and domestic value. Annie’s work includes The Neighbouring Orchard, a dispersed community orchard commissioned by Art Walk Projects. Sketching in Stone was a place-based residency in Berwick-upon-Tweed, commissioned by Connecting Threads.

What to expect

The workshop lasts for 2 hours with a break in the middle. No experience necessary and no advance preparation needed. We will have material for you to use here but feel free to bring your own sketchbook, paper, or drawing materials (nothing too messy please!) if you have preferences.

Booking

Tickets are pay-what-you-can. Booking in advance is essential as places are limited, so if you are unable to attend, please let us know as soon as possible so we can offer your place to someone else.

Venue & Accessibility

The event is located at the Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive in Edinburgh Palette. There is information on how to get to us on public transport and by car, along with access information, on our location & accessibility page.

Any other questions

Please email us: themenaces@lavendermenace.org.uk

The Lavender Drawing Board
2026-06-03 13:00 - 16:00 | Scotland
The Lavender Drawing Board: Co-working for queer creatives

Book a place

Researching, writing and creative freelancing can be a lonely road. The Lavender Menace Drawing Board offers a calm, supportive atmosphere for studying, reading and library-reasonable creative work in the company of fellow queer bees.

Because of the nature of the building, we can’t guarantee silence but we will hold the quietest space we can within the room. There are nooks to break out into if you need to discuss, plan or scheme and adaptable floor-room for bigger (potentially messier) projects.

The final half hour of every session will be a bookable spot for anyone looking for feedback, help or advice on their latest endeavour. Do you need to read through a scene? Test the flow of a piece of writing? Assistance on a funding application? This will be your moment!

BookingWe only have capacity for a limited number of people in the archive, so please book in advance. If you are unable to attend, please let us know so we can offer your place to someone else.

Venue & AccessibilityThe event is located at the Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive in Edinburgh Palette. There is information on how to get to us on public transport and by car, along with access information, on our location and accessibility page.

Any other questionsPlease email us: themenaces@lavendermenace.org.uk

Queer History Quiz
2026-06-04 19:00 - 22:00 | Argonaut Books, 15-17 Leith Walk, Edinburgh, Midlothian, EH6 4SQ, United Kingdom
From the legends behind A Queer Was Here and Auld Edinburgh, comes the Lavender Menace Queer History Quiz! Join us at Argonaut Books for a fun and informative evening.

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Think pub quiz, but all about Scottish queer stories and culture – and where your creative skills count as much as your knowledge. Written answers? Sure, but you’ll just as easily be asked to perform a dramatic reading, or get hands-on with simple crafts inspired by historical figures or movements – weaving your own lived experience into queer history (all materials provided).

Bring your teams (max of 5 people, each person needs a ticket), catch up with your community, and celebrate our queer past – and present! – in a fitting finale to the Lavender Menace crowdfunder (we’ll also have a bucket to rattle, should you have any spare change you want rid of). Finally, as the icing on top of this queer joy cake, Argonaut will be donating all profits from book sales made during the evening, to Lavender Menace!

Timings:

7:00pm – Doors open

7:30 to 9:30pm – Queer History Quiz excitement!

9:30 to 10pm – Chat and browse beautiful books

Refreshments:

Argonaut’s cafe will remain open, for hot and cold drinks throughout – or you are welcome to BYOB (no corkage fee).

Venue & Accessibility:

Argonauts is at ground level and fully accessible to all mobility needs. They have gender-neutral toilets and the shop is well-served by public transport. There is no dedicated changing table in the toilets, however. They are always open to feedback and are keen to accommodate individual needs wherever possible, so let us know if you have any questions.

About your hosts:

We are A Queer Was Here and Auld Edinburgh — two queer pals in our thirties working in museums and public history in Edinburgh. Alongside our day jobs, we run creative side hustles producing engaging content for social media and heritage organisations, shining a light on Edinburgh and Scotland’s rich (and often overlooked) queer histories. We also support museums and cultural organisations to share LGBTQ+ stories from their collections and design inclusive public events that platform Scotland’s queer past.

Any other questions:

Please email save@lavendermenace.org.uk

Social Sunday
2026-06-14 14:00 - 16:00, 2026-06-28 14:00 - 16:00 | Scotland
On the 2nd and 4th Sunday of every month, the Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive is open 2pm–4pm for our informal Social Sundays. Join us for tea, cake and lots of queer book discussion!

There is no need to sign up in advance, you can just turn up.

Social Sundays are a great way to learn more about the archive and chat about your favourite LGBTQ+ books. You can come with friends or on your own – our volunteers will make you feel welcome.

Venue & Accessibility

Social Sunday takes place at the Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive in Edinburgh Palette. There is information on how to get to us on public transport and by car, along with access information, on our location & accessibility page.

Any other questions

Please email us: themenaces@lavendermenace.org.uk

Future Drop Outs: co-working group
2026-06-15 13:00 - 16:00 | Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive, Edinburgh Palette, Edinburgh, Scotland, EH7 6AE
Book now

Future Drop Outs is a co-working group for queer students, researchers, and writers. Join us for a calm, supportive studying session, 1-4pm on the third Monday of the month. What to expect

A relaxed and relatively quiet space to work on your own project in the company of others. Because of the nature of the building, we can’t guarantee silence but we will hold the quietest space we can within the room. We will have basic refreshments (tea, coffee, biscuits) out.

The final half hour of every session will be an informal conversation and people are welcome to share their work if they would like to.

BookingWe only have capacity for a limited number of people in the archive, so please book in advance. If you are unable to attend, please let us know so we can offer your place to someone else.

Venue & AccessibilityThe event is located at the Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive in Edinburgh Palette. There is information on how to get to us on public transport and by car, along with access information, on our location and accessibility page.

Any other questionsPlease email us: themenaces@lavendermenace.org.uk

Queer Gothic Words
2026-06-28 12:15 - 14:00 | Scotland
A monthly book club focusing on queer gothic writing. Every month we choose a book (or selection of shorter texts) by LGBTQ+ authors, or featuring queer characters/themes to read and discuss together. We alternate between classic and contemporary texts.

June’s book is Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen.

Book ticket

Booking

Please book in advance. If you are unable to attend, please let us know as soon as possible so we can offer your place to someone else.

Venue & AccessibilityThe event is located at the Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive in Edinburgh Palette. There is information on how to get to us on public transport and by car, along with access information, on our location & accessibility page.

Any other questionsPlease email us: themenaces@lavendermenace.org.uk

Connective Threads: A Trans Archive Writing Workshop
2026-06-30 18:00 - 20:00 | Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive, Edinburgh Palette, Edinburgh, Scotland, EH7 6AE
What does it mean to find flashes of recognition in the archive? How might moments from the trans past open up avenues to imagine new ways of being, writing and thinking trans futures?

Join writer and researcher Sasha de Buyl (they/them) for a creative writing workshop, working with materials in the Lavender Menace archive! Attendees will interact with materials from the archive, and be guided through a series of creative prompts to respond to what they find. No preparation is necessary, all you need is yourself and your favourite writing implements (notepad, laptop, quill?).

This workshop is open to all, but will be focused around trans and gender non-conforming sources.

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About the facilitator

Sasha de Buyl is an Irish writer and programmer living in Edinburgh. Their writing has been published in Gutter, Belfield Literary Review and The Stinging Fly, as well as The Irish Times, RTÉ Culture and Poetry Ireland Review. In 2023, they were awarded an Arts Council Bursary for Literature. They are currently undertaking a DFA in Writing at the University of Glasgow looking at trans pasts and trans futures.

What to expect

An informal creative writing workshop in a small-group setting. The workshop lasts for 2 hours with a break in the middle. No experience necessary and no advance preparation needed.

Booking

Tickets are pay-what-you-can. Booking in advance is essential as places are limited so, if you are unable to attend, please let us know as soon as possible so we can offer your place to someone else.

Venue & Accessibility

The event is located at the Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive in Edinburgh Palette. There is information on how to get to us on public transport and by car, along with access information, on our location & accessibility page.

Any other questions

Please email us: themenaces@lavendermenace.org.uk

Researching Scotland's Trans History with Sam Rutherford
2026-07-09 18:00 - 20:00 | Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive, Edinburgh Palette, Edinburgh, Scotland, EH7 6AE
For every Ewan Forbes, there were dozens more people in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Scotland who lived lives that moved away from the gender to which they were assigned at birth. How can we find them, and what can (and can’t) we learn about them? In this workshop, we’ll discuss what historical sources can tell us about what it might have been like to be an ordinary trans person in Scotland around 1850–1950, and point you to some tools for doing your own trans history research.

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By day, Sam Rutherford is Lecturer in LGBTQ+ History at the University of Glasgow. By night, he is a member of Glasgow’s trans community who tries to use the past as a resource to build power, find solidarity, and get organised in the present.

What to expect

An informal research workshop in a small-group setting. The workshop lasts for 2 hours with a break in the middle. No experience necessary and no advance preparation needed.

Booking

Tickets are pay-what-you-can. Booking in advance is essential as places are limited so, if you are unable to attend, please let us know as soon as possible so we can offer your place to someone else.

Venue & Accessibility

The event is located at the Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive in Edinburgh Palette. There is information on how to get to us on public transport and by car, along with access information, on our location & accessibility page.

Any other questions

Please email us: themenaces@lavendermenace.org.uk

Queer Men for Queer Literature
2026-07-12 12:15 - 14:00 | Scotland
A friendly monthly discussion group about gay books and gay writing, for people who enjoy reading and talking about how gay writing has impacted our lives. We meet on the second Sunday of every month and we pick a different theme/topic each time.

The theme for July is still TBC.

You don’t need to prepare anything in advance, but you’re welcome to bring along a text or extract from a piece of published gay writing you feel a connection with.

These sessions are for anyone who identifies as a gay, bi, or queer man and wants to discuss books. Our events are trans-inclusive: trans men, trans mascs, and non-binary folks welcome.

Booking

Book a ticket

Booking in advance is essential as places are limited so, if you are unable to attend, please let us know as soon as possible so we can offer your place to someone else.

Venue & AccessibilityThe event is located at the Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive in Edinburgh Palette. There is information on how to get to us on public transport and by car, along with access information, on our location & accessibility page.

Any other questionsPlease email us: themenaces@lavendermenace.org.uk

Queer Joy
2026-07-19 12:15 - 14:00 | Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive, Edinburgh Palette, Edinburgh, Scotland, EH7 6AE
Join us at our monthly Queer Joy book club!

In July, we’ll be reading Unsuitable by Eleanor Medhurst.

We normally meet on the third Sunday of each month to discuss queer books through a lens of finding joy in LGBTQ+ stories. Queer books are often distressing or tragic, so we started a book club focused on seeking out more uplifting stories. That doesn’t mean we always read lighthearted books, but through our discussions we try to focus on the joyful aspects of living a queer life.

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BookingBooking in advance is essential as places are limited so, if you are unable to attend, please let us know as soon as possible so we can offer your place to someone else.

Venue & AccessibilityThe event is located at the Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive in Edinburgh Palette. There is information on how to get to us on public transport and by car, along with access information, on our location & accessibility page.

Any other questionsPlease email us: themenaces@lavendermenace.org.uk

Lesbian Words
2026-07-19 14:15 - 16:00 | Scotland
Join us for our monthly discussion about lesbian books! We get together on the third Sunday of each month to chat about books and media about lesbians, sapphics, bi and/or queer women.

We usually pick a specific topic to discuss each month, like our favourite book to movie adaptations, controversial books, or lesbian representation throughout history.

The theme for July is lesbian crime and mystery.

Lesbian Words is open to anyone who wants to talk about lesbian or sapphic books. You don’t have to be a lesbian to join, and the group is trans inclusive: trans women, trans femmes, and non-binary folks welcome.

Booking

Booking in advance is essential as places are limited so, if you are unable to attend, please let us know as soon as possible so we can offer your place to someone else.

Venue & AccessibilityThe event is located at the Lavender Menace Queer Books Archive in Edinburgh Palette. There is information on how to get to us on public transport and by car, along with access information, on our location & accessibility page.

Any other questionsPlease email us: themenaces@lavendermenace.org.uk
