David recalls a growing awareness of the gay rights movement and how both his workplace and his trade union viewed homosexuality.

David recalls, in this short extract, that until the Stonewall Riot of 1969, he was unaware of any movement towards gay rights. Feeling embarrassed by the news from New York, David wasn't sure that gays should be doing something so outrageous, and was convinced that there would be an anti-gay backlash as a consequence of gays making themselves more visible and exposed.

After finding a job at Camden Council in 1974, David joined the white-collar trade union called NALGO, which had a small gay section called NALGAY. He recalls that at the time, the union was moving politically from the right to the left; taking up issues like abortion, women's rights, feminism and gay rights. There was even a motion on sexual orientation at one of NALGO's annual conferences.

However, while it was now safe to talk about gay issues within the trade union, it was decidedly unsafe to do so at Camden Council. David's head of division at Camden Council, was a virulent homophobe, who made life difficult for any gay members of staff he discovered working for him. David recalls that his boss was 'a bit thick', having no inkling that David was gay, even though everyone laughed at the boss' homophobic jokes. David admits, however, that if his gayness had been discovered, his career at Camden Council would have ended.

Eventually becoming a NALGO shop steward, David remembers that the attitudes of the members towards homosexuality mirrored those of society in general, and that many of the socialists tended to think that being gay was a 'bourgeoise deviation' which would soon disappear when everyone was living in a socialist society. David laughingly comments that it was only until the late 1970s that trade unions began to take gay issues seriously.

Born in 1942, in Crowborough, East Sussex, David enjoyed a rural childhood before being sent to grammar school, where he was treated as a 'pansy' by the teachers because he took no interest in sport, or girls.

Intending to study medicine, David felt, instead, he had a calling to the church, since the priests he knew were 'nice' and 'soft' in contrast to his father and brothers, who were plumbers and builders.

David also had a gay uncle, who had a long-lasting relationship with Sir Frank Carter (the philanthropist and co-founder of the British Empire Leprosy Relief Association) when he posted in Calcutta.

Before studying theology at King's College, London, David spent a year teaching at a boy's reform school in Lymington.

In 1974, David started working for Camden Council, joining the white-collar-worker's union NALGO, the National and Local Government Officer's Association, at the same time.

David 'came out' fully in the 1980s and has had a number of relationships, one of which lasted for more than 20 years.