Memories by Paul
Straight Living
Paul, was born in 1964 and trained as a pharmacist. He moved to Birmingham in 1984 aged 20, because his wife came here for a course. He thought he was gay when younger but came from a religious fundamentalist Christian family and knew his family woul...
First steps on the gay scene
Paul found a copy of Gay Times, which listed the Jester and Peacock (looked for but couldn’t find it) so he went to The Jester first. “When you go down the stairs everyone can see you going in, it’s very daunting, with fear, trepidation and excitemen...
Gay scene in the 90s
There was the Jester, Village, Route 66, Partners (then Enigma, which they later bought to become Glamourous Showbar). There were half a dozen bars, 2 -3 clubs, (before the days of Missing and DV8). “On my first trip to Nightingale, someone grabbed m...
No contact with my church
“I was 31, to make such a major change in my life was traumatic. I basically lost everything, my home, family, church, friends. The fundamentalist church didn’t, still doesn’t, accept homosexuality. I had no option but to move away or start again. Th...
Meeting Pedro
Paul met his first boyfriend, and was with him 3 years. After another relationship broke up and a year of being messed around he went on holiday in 1998 with a good gay friend. “We initially booked Lanzarote but he wanted to go to Gran Canaria (where...