My reasons for declaring a sexual preference had to do less with the pursuit of personal freedom than with the lust for pure shock value.

I had been found in a mud puddle at 4:30 in the morning.

My reasons for declaring a sexual preference had to do less with the pursuit of personal freedom than with the lust for pure shock value.

Coming out is a means of redefining oneself, of claiming membership in a lifestyle and a social order with distinct values. Chief among these values is honesty.

I believed I was invincible.

My gayness became quietly accepted and, shock of all shocks, life went on.

David Bowie and Boy George created a safely contained theatrical expression of gay style.