A 78-year-old man and a 13-year-old boy sat down to talk about being gay

78-year-old Percy (right) and 13-year-old Louis (left) on an orange sofa talking about how they each experienced growing up and living as gay.

A video has been released which features a 78-year-old man and a 13-year-old boy sitting down together to talk about their experiences of being gay.

78-year-old Percy and 13-year-old Louis talk about how they each experienced growing up and living as gay.

The video was released in 2017 to mark the 50th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales.

“I think you are so lucky the world has changed and you can just be yourself,” says Percy in the video.

He also introduces his partner of 51 years, 89-year-old Roger.

Percy also discusses having to use fake names to get into clubs when he was 16.

“You always had a slight suspicion that something could go wrong so you were never 100% at ease,” he said.

Louis adds that he didn’t know it used to be illegal to be gay and that men were arrested.

He says: “Where you said you could get arrested, I never heard that before. I never thought the police would knock on your door and come in and arrest you for being gay. It’s like a shock.

You may like to watch

“It amazes me how they could even just say for loving someone, you could be arrested. That completely shocks me.”

Concluding, Percy tells Louis: “Be true to yourself. Stand up for being gay and try to make people understand that the most important thing is that you can love somebody and it doesn’t matter who they are. Love is love.

“Try to get people to think beyond their own immediate sphere so we can all be neighbours in the world and not have enemies and to be supportive.”

How did this story make you feel?

Sending reaction...
Thanks for your feedback!

Please login or register to comment on this story.