Interview with Rob
- Reference Number: DW-94/1/17/4
- Date: 2013
- Level: Piece
- Extent: 1 item
-
Description: 1- didn?t come out until about 25, feels he was a victim of the ?passing phase? idea, also this would have been the early 1970s, so growing up things were still illegal, no role models, images around gay men were extremely negative (either sad or criminal)
2.50- felt things stayed negative up until the 1990s
3- Was 18 when legalisation happened, but didn?t recognise himself as gay so it didn?t feel affected
4- Was once arrested on a cruising charge and lost his job, virtually blacklisted by employers to the point he had to move from Scotland to Wolverhampton
5- AIDS- very frightening
7.15- meeting people 30 years ago- always been gay pubs. Also gay news, there was a fortnightly newspaper- personal contacts and events.
8.20- also organisations around, in Scotland they couldn?t even have homosexual in their name, just minorities. Feels the organisation in the trade union groups is ?the most important single thing? to be the change in his own life
9.50- talks about his work with unison (?), is very passionate about the trade union movement and integrating LGBT rights into this
13.15- talks about experience of police raiding a pub even after legalisation
14.45-talks about politics, thatcher
16.10- a positive from AIDs was that you had to start speaking honestly about men having sex with each other, also reunified gay movement, particularly men and women
17- Talking about section 28
18- Changes only started when labour came to power in 1997, but it was very slow, equalising age of consent was important
- Access Status: Open
- Contact: Wolverhampton Archives, Wolverhampton Archives & Local Studies