Member-only story
Back to Toronto. Part five of A gay life in the first year of It’s a Sin.
(Contains spoilers and may trigger some AIDS survivor readers. Names in quotation marks are pseudonyms. Many of the names from the 80s aren’t mentioned because I don’t remember. Other names are real, taken from my occasional diary or letters I wrote)
The job that changed everything
After the job at the “semi-gay pub” ended, I quickly got a new job at a busy pub in central London. I had been working there for a few days when “Darren” came in just before the afternoon closing. “Darren” ordered a half pint from me and took a seat at table, waiting. At closing time, the manager asked, “Is he with you?”
I said. “yes.” The manager reached into the till, counted out some cash and told me “Get out of here.” I was fired.
One of the reasons that I had gone to London was to do research for a book I was hoping to write. I used a reference letter that CBC News had given me when I quit to get accreditation to do research in the magnificent circular reading room of the British Library, then part of the British Museum. And yes, like many people, one day I was able to sit in Karl Marx’s famous seat.
I wanted a job with a little more stability than tending bar. It soon came up. My somewhat limited high school French landed me a job with…
