Arrested for cottaging, twice, 1970s
1979
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 seventies for cottaging ”I had been
married for 18 months and I was arrested by the Police, this fella and
I were caught with our hands round each other’s trousers at the urinal.
Suddenly two men came out of a cubicle and we thought ’Oh another two!’
but no they weren’t. I was fined and as I was a teacher the education
authorities got to find out about it. The fine was a lot; it was £25.
It was so much that I could not hide it from my wife and had to tell
her about it.
Alan’s wife stayed with him but he continued his secret life and was
arrested again a year later ”I was in a public toilet in Carters Green,
West Bromwich. This time the policeman was posing as a member of the
public. I did not think I’d gone far enough to be arrested but I had
and was again fined. This time the NUT (National Union of Teachers) got
involved and they suggested that if I went to a psychiatrist and said I
was trying to get this sorted out they would not fine me.”
Contributed by: Alan 1, 54