Stepping ut out
We all remember that exciting, nerve-racking night when we made our debut on the scene. So what was it like for you, the first time you walked through the door of a gay venue?
PHILLIP BOOKER, 58, RETIRED, BRIGHTON
I have friends who knew they were gay before they were teenagers. For the less insightful among us, it can take a little longer — in my case, when I was 39. It’s not that I was oblivious: I went to a state-run boarding school and rugby and tennis were not the only activities in which I participated eagerly at every opportunity.
However, I lurched from my teens into adulthood convinced I was “straight, with just a hint of queer”.