But by the 1960s gays themselves started to “come out” and most noteworthy, writing letters to the papers, and articles for left wing periodicals, was a colliery clerk, Allan Horsfall from Lancashire.

Out of Allan Horsfall's energy a group gathered in Manchester to support Antony Grey in London and this group were more radical, and were mainly gay – and quite soon all gay – so it was out of Manchester a movement began to demand full law change. There must be equality: an end to discrimination and C H E as it became called advocated and worked for the practise and use by gays of their rights under the law. And to actively claim what should be their right.

So CHE Campaign for Homosexual Equality became this great national movement of a vast range of gays from Tories to Lefties, from north and south, from promiscuous to partnered – and it worked in two great areas – to lobby for Parliamentarians to change the law – and the harder work of having public opinion constantly being “educated”. And in a second way CHE was great in making pioneering moves to have society accept gays might want their own dances/clubs and ways of meeting. And meeting without fear.

By the 1980s and 1990s many of the objectives had been won and as laws were changed, and gays took advantage, the need for a political mass movement on a CHE scale fell away. Many gays were starting living just normal lives – and partnering openly – and for those who wanted it - creating an open social life – of clubs: chat lines: personal ads: and even cruising pages on the Internet became eventually accepted.