Twenty-five years ago there was no equal age of consent, gay people were not allowed to serve in the military, and the law did not recognise our relationships. Section 28 prohibited the discussion of anything LGBTQ-related in schools. Trans people could not change their legal gender. Combination antiretroviral therapy for HIV was still years away. You could be fired by your employer for being gay, and you could be declined service in a hotel, restaurant, shop or any place in the service industry because of who you love.
It’s been a tough journey for many, but we’ve come a long way. When Attitude published its first issue 25 years ago, it made quite a splash because of its new, um, attitude towards what it meant to be gay in a fast-changing world. The magazine was loud, brash and unapologetically proud of its sexuality in the face of a homophobic society. It embraced music, film, fashion and travel, and set the tone as the place for people in the public eye to speak to the community with issue four, in which Pet Shop Boy Neil Tennant came out.