Donald describes some 'close encounters', in this short extract, along with school reminiscences and his thoughts on being gay today.

On the eve of National Service in the Royal Navy, Donald has a close, and decidedly ambiguous encounter with the law in Waterloo Station's toilets.

In this extract he recalls his early discovery that, though he felt different from the others, Donald was not alone. With some like-minded school chums, he fantasised about hairy-legged teachers, bulges in trousers and swimwear. However, the drama teacher, dismissed as 'an old poof' was not one of Donald's role models.

Knowing only a few, and mostly derogatory gay-related words at the time, Donald explains how he would later pick up on Polari - which was great fun as it was only understood by those in the know.

On comparing life today with that of the past, Donald agrees that things are much better for gay people, and that, like left-handedness, gayness no longer seems to matter. But he adds that the secrecy of the past made things much more fun and exciting - though he understands that, speaking nostalgically, he himself was a devil-may-care young gay man out to have fun, even in the 1950s, when many other gay men and women weren't laughing.

Born in Bristol in 1941, Donald was born to working class parents of Irish descent and enjoyed a very unconventional upbringing. Donald attended a Catholic junior school and a commercial secondary school, where he learned he could have sex with workmen in the toilets and earn his bus-fare home.

Happily, his family accepted Donald's unconventional sexuality. When Donald was 16, he and his family moved to Streatham, in South London, where, after working in a bookshop and going on the stage, Donald had to do his National Service.

He wangled a place in the Royal Navy, and after an horrific six weeks of basic training, was posted to the Royal Naval Hospital Haslar, in Gosport, Hampshire. Donald enjoyed many sexual encounters while in the Navy and beyond, but never formed any long-lasting relationships.

On leaving the Navy, Donald worked for a building firm before moving back to Bristol. In 1963, Donald got a job working for a black music radio station in Boston, USA, before moving to Canada, after his work permit ran out. He later moved to Los Angeles and unfortunately became heavily addicted to both alcohol and drugs. He also saw many of his friends and acquaintances succumb to AIDS during the 80s.

Donald eventually returned to Bristol and worked for BUPA. Made redundant after a while, Donald took to temping, while in his fifties, before finding a job at Arnolfini Arts in Bristol.