Memories by Alan 1
Arrested for cottaging, twice, 1970s
Alan was a teacher in the Black Country, Wednesbury; he regularly had sex with men in the town centre toilets near the markets. He married whilst at college and tried to tell his wife but she did not want to know. Alan was arrested in the late sevent...
Psychiatric Treatment for homosexuality 1980
Alan recalls getting psychiatric treatment for his homosexual urges in the early 80s as a way of avoiding a fine for cottaging. "So I went to a psychiatrist at All Saints (now part of Winson Green Prison), a Mr Imlah an elderly Scot. He sa...
Pride is so important, 1998+
Alan volunteered for the second Birmingham Pride in 1998 and was a marshall on a barrier. He volunteered for 2 hours and ended up staying for 10 hours as he enjoyed it so much. “Pride is so important to me, that people coming out, people who are not ...
Denied a double hotel room in 2000
“Some years ago I travelled around the country frequently, one time I had to go to Chester in about 2000, so I decided to book a room in advance and take John with me. I called a hotel and booked a double room with one bed, the lady said they had roo...
Strange day at the Looking Glass, 9/11/2001
Alan mentions going to a Sauna “some years ago now the Looking Glass was open, a tatty hole of a sauna in Birmingham. I went and nobody wanted to play, all they wanted to do was watch the television. I thought why have you come here to watch the tele...
Being married and gay, 1990s
Alan describes his marriage breaking up as he came to terms with being gay, he was in his early forties. Coming to terms with being gay In the early to mid 1990s, Alan’s relationship with his wife was not a good one, she was very controlling ...
Gay groups helped me 2000+
Since coming out in the late 1990s, in his forties, Alan has been involved with various gay groups who he says have helped him a lot as he wanted to know more about being gay, these include Wolverhampton LGB Police Forum and Birmingham Police Forum f...
The White Hart, Wolverhampton 1990s
Alan’s partner will not go on the gay scene, although Alan was curious and started to go to the White Hart in Wolverhampton, late 1990s, after 3 months of going people began to speak to him....