A Brief History
Our story starts with the ‘Campaign Against Moral Persecution (CAMP)’ and ‘Phone a Friend’. CAMP is the foundational group for many Perth LGBTIQA+SB organisations. One of these was formalised as the Homosexual Counselling Service of WA in 1974. This changed to the Gay Counselling Service of WA (Inc) in 1984 and incorporated that year. In 1990 the name changed again to the Gay and Lesbian Community Services of WA (Inc). This reflected the wider range of services that were offered.
The name ‘Living Proud’ was the name of the LGBTI Suicide Prevention Project. This project was run by GLCS and was funded by the OneLife WA Suicide Prevention Strategy. (This ran from December 2011 to August 2013.) The name ‘Living Proud’ was chosen by the project steering committee. The committee was made up of representatives of the LGBTIQA+SB community and groups.
The name Living Proud Inc, reflects our more inclusive organisation and services. We strive to improve the health and well being of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer, Asexual, Sistergirl and Brotherboy. The plus sign represents other sexual orientations, gender identities, and expressions not specifically covered by the other letters. The terms Sistergirl and Brotherboy acknowledge the trans women and trans men within many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
We hope to help individuals and communities feel they are “Living Proud”.
