MID-CENTURY MEMORIES
Not that long ago, secret boyfriends and frequenting the Flea Pit cinema were as good as it got for a young gay man.
I was 11, he was 13. Thus began my first gay relationship. It was to last several years. I remember, as a child of about four or five, a painting that hung in our house. The painting was of a boy watching sailing boats in the ocean… I guess it was his tight pants that aroused my interest. That early memory of the painting remained with me until I was old enough to leave home and venture out into the big wide gay world.
Having a boyfriend before reaching puberty amazes, rather than shocks people whom I have confided in over the years. At such a tender age there were few places where we could indulge our sexual fantasies. It was usually at his home when his parents were out. Sometimes we went to the Botanical Gardens. There were plenty of places there where we could hide in the bushes. I may have been too young to be able to ejaculate but he had no trouble as he was two years older than me.
I had always had fantasies about the guys in my class at school but never made it obvious that I was interested in them. They were probably straight anyway. I guess it was the intense shyness that I had in my early days. By the time I finally reached puberty I was able to cruise the public toilets. There was also a cinema that showed continuous movies. It was nicked named The Flea Pit. If you were lucky, someone would reach over and rub his hands on your crotch during the film. Very discreetly, of course.
In those days there were no bars or saunas where gay people could congregate, so you had to make do with what you had. You could never have a perve in the dressing rooms at the beach as boys always had separate change rooms from the men. That may seem hard to believe today. Masturbation worked overtime for me. It was always on a daily basis and I was forever trying to hide any mess in my bedroom in my early years of puberty.
“If you were lucky someone would reach over and rub his hands on your crotch during the film.
Very discreetly, of course.”