Rose-coloured glasses

Re: “A gay old time”, (PostBag, May 10).

It is not clear which country Norman Sr was referring to when he stated as a fact there was no discrimination against gays (as far as he can remember) when he was young.

If, as I suspect, Norman was brought up in the UK, then his memory must be failing him as there was, and still is massive discrimination against homosexuals there. While camp entertainers such as Liberace, Frankie Howerd and Larry Grayson were tolerated on TV, in daily life homosexuals were not.

And, in fact, there were numerous laws generously applied by the police to persecute homosexuals in those days. It was also government policy to ban homosexuals from many branches of public service as they were deemed to be undesirable and security risks. It was not until 1967 that laws in Britain were relaxed somewhat. But to say there was no discrimination, whether in the UK or elsewhere, in the “good old days” indicates dear Norman was living in a fantasy world.

MARTIN R