“I am a 63 year-old Anglo-Indian, raised in the UK but have lived in the Caribbean for more than 35 years. I was raised in an ‘up-market’ British environment, private schools, tutors, stiff upper lip, and became an Officer in the Royal Navy. I saw combat in the Falklands War, left the Navy, sailed across the Atlantic in a small yacht.
I have had joy and pain in my life but the most painful thing was having to live a lie, to hide the fact that I was gay. I still hide it for the most part as I live in a homophobic part of the world.
I have often wished that I was ‘straight’ but, on reflection, realised eventually that I would rather I was just me, the person I am rather than the person to be accepted by society.
It has been and continues to be a damned hard road to tread. To hide it, to live a lie, to wear a cloak, to act, to pretend I am something I am not.
But that’s how I am and even if others do not accept it, I finally accepted it myself when I was in my 40’s. That was the most important step of my life …. to accept myself.”
