Harry Hillery
Harry moved to Brighton in 1988 and set up a cafe that quickly became a queer hang out and hub for information, welcoming visitors as diverse as Derek Jarman and Genesis P-Orridge. During that period he volunteered as a buddy at the Sussex AIDS Centre, lost many friends but survived the epidemic. His PhD research seeks to inform a novel framed by the era and to create an archive. and these days he volunteers for THT as a work mentor with a strong belief in community that translates in to LGBT projects and podcasts.
What does your identity mean to you?
It took me a long time to be comfortable in my own skin after years of closet living. When I moved to Brighton I found a home and a place of acceptance and I never looked back. Iām here, Iām queer but Iām not going shopping.