Martin Monks
treasurer of the sussex gay liberation front
Martin had an active sex life before it was legal, in 1965 when he was 18 and living in Bristol. He moved to Brighton to study at Sussex University and went to the first meeting of GLF there in 1971, and was (briefly) the treasurer. He attended lots of meetings arguing vehemently about cottaging, drag, pornography, “therapy” but also dancing in the Pavilion, and even met his first long-term partner, Alan Sinfield, at GLF meetings.
After a career in FE as a lecturer and manager, Martin is now retired living with his partner in Bath.
What does your identity mean to you?
My identity is my many-faceted private self. But I am more interested in what is out there rather than in myself. I think politics should be about creating economic equality rather than just identity issues, and also stopping climate change.