Joining the Campaign for Homosexual Equality

Raymond describes joining CHE (the Campaign for Homosexual Equality) and going to his first meet-up with the Leeds group in the 1970s.

Duration 01:06

 

This clip has been interpreted by a BSL signer. Watch the video below.

TRANSCRIPT

And in one of the 'Gay News' that I picked up, it says, “Join your local CHE group for three pounds instead of five pounds.” So, being a Yorkshireman, I sent off, and, because I was desperate to meet people, I said I’d do anything. And I didn’t realise what that was going to mean. So mainly the group met on a Friday evening, but me being different, I met them on a Sunday, where they went out to Jerveaux Abbey and Middleham Castle. And again I was maybe pooing myself thinking what kind of freaks [...] am I going to meet? And the first person that turned up was a bloke called Geoff, who at that time was the convenor. And when I thought of all the stereotypes of gay men, when I opened the door to Geoff to get in his car, to go on this trip, it went out of the window.