ABSTRACT
Homosexuality was a taboo subject in my early childhood and it was around the age of ten when I first heard the word. I remember seeing a news item on the television and I asked my mother what it was all about. She quickly told me that the item was about homos and they were people who prefer members of their own sex. Not knowing that there was such a thing before and not knowing society's views on the subject, I just noted it down with mild interest and went back to what I was doing. I joined the Sea Cadets when I was twelve and it was not long after this that we were sent to Charing Cross for our flag day. Not having been a member long enough to have been given a uniform I had to wear my school uniform, but they did give me a white sailor's hat, a tray of flags and a collecting tin. I soon became bored with the station and Trafalgar Square so I made my way up the Strand, walking by the edge of the pavement and concentrating all my energies on the prospective flag-buying public. People suddenly started to avoid me, refusing to give me money. I didn't understand why until an old lady I had accosted with a shake of my tin said, 'You're not with them are you dear?' I didn't know what she meant but followed her gaze and looked into the road. I then realized that for the last ten minutes I had been part of the 1978 Gay Pride march. I quickly ducked into a shop doorway - I knew what they said about sailors, I'd been ribbed about it often enough at school ever since The Village People brought out 'In the Navy' - and waited for the march to pass. . . .
