Gay spaces were illegal gay art and literature were banned or never published, organised in secret and never archived, their creators and audiences harassed, shamed and murdered by strangers, cops, family and lovers the whole scene was flattened by Aids. Gay history, particularly the history of gay social life, is difficult to reconstruct. It’s important work eventually, you’ll learn to do it yourself. Encounter him often enough and you begin to understand that lost time can’t be regained, only embellished. What is he still doing here then? It doesn’t matter. The music was better, the clientele was better, the neighbourhood was less gentrified, more authentic. Five, maybe ten years ago, he explains, it was much better here. A t some point on a night out an older queen will swing down from the rafters to let you know you’re too late.
