"Liverpool, the city I came out in, had my first relationships in and was gutted to leave but delighted to return to after a 10 year hiatus. On my arrival I was shocked at the state of the place that I had read about in books by Nicholas Monsarrat and Michael Carson, one of the world’s great cities laid low.
The Lisbon, Jodies, Reflections, and The Curzon along with the boycotted (due to rampant misogyny) Sadies, comprised the scene. Friend Merseyside had a dubious reputation and Body Positive (BP) had offices on Maryland Street. BP regularly provided condoms, lube and ribbons throughout the year. I recall walking across from BP with 3,500 condoms in a black bin liner wondering whether the bag might split on Mount Pleasant in front of the Catholic Cathedral and what a photo opportunity this might result in.
In my first year, I joined the LGB Society along with about 40 others but regular attendees dwindled to around a dozen. In my second year, we worked hard to recruit at the Freshers' Fair and we managed 80-90 people! The covered notice board was achieved in 1992 which provided the only space in the Guild where our notices could not be ripped down and defaced, which also aided recruitment. We had an office on the third floor of the old Guild above the Liver Bar which provided a space for people to drop in at lunchtimes in addition to a weekly programmed meeting and activities ranging from bar crawls to film nights. The Guild toilets were a notorious hang out for those not yet happy to join the society!
I spearheaded the boycott of the armed forces in 1992. At the time the law made it illegal to be lesbian or gay as members of the services, with sanctions of 2 years imprisonment. Yet, officer recruitment was undertaken through the student unions across the UK. Following in the footsteps of a dozen other student unions, I presented a successful motion to the Executive Committee and then the Guild Council. This was then taken to a General Meeting. The Observer covered the campaign on page 3, outing me nationwide! This was on the Sunday ahead of the meeting, in an article detailing that the then Major government was to review the criminalisation of homosexuality which had led to pernicious prosecutions and human rights abuses.
The hacks of the Guild were largely supportive of our motion but we knew that the military were rattled. Come the day of the General Meeting, it was clear that the armed services had mobilised. For the first time in living memory, a quorate General Meeting was held. As Deputy Independent Chair, I opened the meeting and then passed over the Chair to move the motion. We argued back and forth, the virulent homophobia of some opponents actually worked in our favour with many service affiliated students clearly embarrassed by choice remarks such as “I’d never get in tank with one”. On the day we lost the vote due to the overwhelming turnout of the officer training corps and others. Within months the government’s review had led to an official decriminalisation of homosexuality and an end to jailing people for their sexuality.
We organised in the summer of 1991 to have coaches to take us to Pride in London. In 1992, we again organised coaches to London for its first Europride. Memorably we had a last departure time of 6pm and shortly afterwards I was harangued by a woman whose girlfriend had not returned, I had to stick to my guns due to the driver’s tachometer and we left with her still fuming. Some years later, she apologised advising that she had separated from her girlfriend that week on finding out that she had not returned because she was otherwise engaged!
Returning to Liverpool in 2003, as a part-time student working full-time for the Council, I was more of an outsider on the student scene. Clearly older than most in the LGBT group, I was largely periphery to developments. I was, however, pleased to see the group in a bigger office providing real drop-in capacity but still requiring the covered notice board due to poster defacing and removal. I was able to offer some books to the group that was beginning to develop a library. Outside of University I continued my involvement in LGBT organisations and became involved with the Outsiders Film Festival, Mersey Marauders Football Club and Liverpool Pride."
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