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Thoughts of Escorts of various kinds cause me to reflect that the GLF demand to be 'free to contact other gay people... by any ...means' does look rather different today, when magazines and the Internet are bursting with advertisements. On the other hand, the naive-sounding demand to 'be free to hold hands and kiss in public' still embodies a deep difficulty: doing anything like that still involves making a consciously defiant act out of a simple personal feeling. And could I ever have imagined in 1971 what this float would mean?
It's the London Lighthouse, which is for people living with AIDS, drawing my eye. Standing in Grosvenor Square, surrounded by war memorials, reminds me that this has been (and is) OUR war, though we don't expect lavish stone statues and pompous memorials. Like the Second World War the AIDS crisis has stimulated a new consciousness of identity and rights, changing the concept of medical 'patient' for ever. This in turn reminds me that the GLF demand about psychiatry has now become virtually irrelevant, not just because psychiatric views have to some extent changed, but also because such 'experts' are no longer accorded the same respect and authority.
There was nothing like this in 1971. When I started gym-going in 1980 it was a definite break from my GLF-influenced 1970s. (I think it was also in 1981 that the Pride march, which then ended at the University of London Union building, turned into a nude swim in the pool.) Masculine images have changed many times since the 1970s, and the GLF debates about pro-feminism and effeminism would seem very odd today. On the other hand, it's noticeable how the frequently-used phrase 'straight-acting' (as in www.straightacting.com) betrays the anxiety that still surrounds so many gay men's sense of identity. The word 'OUT' also reminds me how important the theme of public 'coming out' was in GLF. In the 1970s it was a rare event to find a newspaper article touching on lesbian and gay issues, and young gay people could well feel totally isolated and unable to know of anyone with similar feelings. This has completely changed, even though schools are still hellholes of homophobia, at least partly because of the example set by gay people over the last 30 years who have made a conscious decision to be 'out.' But again, even though much greater diversity is now generally accepted, the question of 'who you are out to' is still important for anyone gay. CONTINUE
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