Interview with Brian, Kenny, Bob and Anonymous (part 1)
- Reference Number: DW-94/1/8/1
- Date: 2013
- Level: Piece
- Extent: 1 item
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Description: (Anon is quite difficult to hear through all of the three recordings)
0.45 ? ?I?ve never been out I?m just me?
1.15- started coming out on the Wolverhampton gay scene after his wife died, didn?t even know what a gay bar was, first one he went in was the White Hart, first one in Birmingham was subway city
2- Talks about what the White Hart was like, mixture of people, Steve the landlord making everyone feel welcome
2.50- talks about how when it came under new management, they didn?t really want anyone over 21
3.10- first gay pub anon went into was the Greyhound, for a book group, was really nervous, felt like one of the barmaids was staring at him all night, worried he wasn?t gay enough or there was something wrong, but at the end of the night she complimented him on his rainbow dog tags (?) that she?d been looking at all night and wanted some
6- Kenny?s first experience was at the Spider?s Web club, around the early 1970s, tells a sweet story about his ex-fiancé (a straight woman)
8- Also a club in Birmingham called the Jug, Laurie Williams, later became Subway City (?)
8.30- Betty and Norman at the Silver Web
8.50- Kenny came out at 21 was mainly comfortable from there
9.20- worked at the Electric Cinema Birmingham, going out to Route 66, Pink Panda, the White Hart is too young, Greyhound, used to be like the Fountain, clean, Divine, didn?t like it, too young
11.40- the only one you can go to if you?re older is the greyhound ?all the rest is you?ve got to be slim, 21, good looking and you can?t fat or old or grey hair?
11.50- Brian never found white hart to be too young, found the greyhound better, but when it changed management, he stopped going
13.50- Kenny came out a couple of years before legalisation, when he came to Wolverhampton he wasn?t out to anyone and everyone, especially as he was teaching at the time, but wouldn?t deny it, but felt lucky to have only had taunts over the years and not much violence
16.20- Brian felt that since he came out in the 90s, Birmingham has improved but Wolverhampton has got worse. Doesn?t go out anymore after being put off in the past
18- Didn?t really talk about these things back in the 60s
18.20- Kenny came out to his mother and step father as they were giggling at a gay character on TV and he said he was gay and what is there to giggle about
19.30- Step father is West Indian, so they ended up having a long conversation about depictions of black people on TV
19.45- His mother had in her head that gay men were weak, and as a strong person she had to get over that first, but then she was fine
20.45- people didn?t ask so they didn?t have to know the answer, and the big thing was that other people wouldn?t find out. Talks about people being kicked out, and how this differs across different cultures with different attitudes
21.45- Anon had a friend who was kicked out immediately when she came out, and spent two years in care, feels that this was a contributing factor in him staying in the closet. Wanted to come out at University in Birmingham but still couldn?t, took him another 20 years to come out, even though he had no problem being out to himself.
- Access Status: Open
- Contact: Wolverhampton Archives, Wolverhampton Archives & Local Studies