Geoff Hardy tribute

Emma Jones, Head of Insight, writes

Yesterday, we heard the sad news that Geoff Hardy has died at the age of 73. Geoff was a core member of METRO’s first staff team of four and he was an important campaigner for LGBTQ+ equalities. In 2019, I had the privilege of interviewing him for METRO’s heritage project and learning of his lifelong commitment to LGBTQ+ equalities.  

We are proud to have documented Geoff’s contribution to LGBTQ+ equality locally and further afield in METRO’s Our History project. In this archival collection, you can hear audio recordings of Geoff’s recollections of taking part in London’s first Pride event in 1972, his connection with Campaign for Homosexual Equality in Lewisham and its emerging queer pub scene in the 1980s:

Geoff’s voice opens our short documentary film on METRO’s LGBTQ+ history with these profound questions about the purpose of the emerging Greenwich Lesbian and Gay Centre:

His work in establishing the foundations of this charity in the mid-1980s with his colleagues Maggie Honey, David Simpson, and Gill King was pivotal in creating the Greenwich Lesbian and Gay Centre (GLGC) around which a community formed and grew locally:

Geoff’s role in the origins and development of GLGC is also documented in the Our History project booklet. The full audio recording of his oral history interview for METRO’s heritage project is available in the Bishopsgate Institute library. He was an alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London, who also documented his significant LGBTQ+ activism as a student. LGBT Shrewsbury also paid tribute to his campaigning locally in their obituary. 

On behalf of METRO Charity, our sincere thoughts and condolences are with Geoff Hardy’s partner, Peter, his family and friends.