Michael tells how he and his partner have found comfort in their local church - with a phalanx of blue-rinsed ladies giving their loving support.

In this short extract, Michael describes his, and his partner's, life in the church to which they belong. Commenting that they've received incredible support from the congregation which embraced them, the couple have established a high profile in the church as well as in the wider community of the rural village where they live.

Even though they are more left-leaning, Michael and his partner mix happily with the brigade of retired, blue-rinsed Conservative ladies who make up the bulk of the congregation. Michael also notes that everyone in the church has been so encouraging of both he and his partner's relationship and supportive of Michael's HIV status, which in turn has made him think that 'we're all just people'.

Today, Michael knows little of the current 'gay scene', and he and his partner only have occasional dinners with those few gay friends with whom they still have any contact. For Michael and his partner, their involvement in the church has contributed to the 'balancing process'.

Michael was born in Horley, Surrey, in 1949, before moving with his family to rural Somerset. His father, an Old Etonian, was a farmer and his mother was a teacher. Despite attending a public school, Michael also trained to be a teacher. Until he was in his thirties, Michael was deeply conflicted about his homosexuality. He had many dalliances with boys of his own age and later with girls. He got to know a snail expert who was conducting research on Exmoor. Though married, the man made a pass at Michael, who was shocked by the experience.

Another friendship was with a fellow biker, who ridiculed the absence of women in Michael's life. In revenge, Michael found a girlfriend, who was already engaged to someone else, and had a seven-year relationship with her, despite her eventual marriage to another man. Having also suffered with a long-running nervous break-down, Michael eventually came to terms with his sexuality with the help of friends and a local vicar.

After numerous encounters, Michael eventually found his life partner, just as he learned that he was HIV positive, though he says he was never that promiscuous. He and his partner became involved in their local church and have received much support from the priest and the congregation. Michael has ambitions to write and has enrolled on some of the gay author, Patrick Gale's creative writing courses.

The infamous Section 28 was a clause in the 1988 Local Government Act which aimed to prohibit local authorities from promoting or publishing any material that was intended to promote homosexuality and to prevent the 'teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship'. In the years prior to the Act the Conservative government, led by Margaret Thatcher, cited various children's books like 'Jenny lives with Eric & Martin' and 'Young, Gay & Proud', as being part of a general political campaign, supported by Labour, trades unions and organisations like the GLC, to undermine 'traditional family values'. The latter's funding of LGBT groups from council funds, and the anti-discrimination policies of many other local authorities added 'credence' to the claims of MPs like Jill Knight, who with David Wilshire, was responsible for introducing Clause 28.

These events were also taking place with the AIDS epidemic in the background. Clause 28 galvanised the gay population into taking action through public demonstrations as well as the creation of campaigning groups like Stonewall and OutRage. Clause 28 was eventually repealed in Scotland in 2000 and in England and Wales in 2003.