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Before moving to Spain in 2005, I had lived in London, England for my whole life. I grew up on the outskirts and never met a gay person until I went to university. Therefore, apart from a conversation with my mother when I was 16, I stayed quiet on the issue of my sexuality until I was 19. Aside from the fear of the reaction from my peers I was also worried about the response from the churches I was involved with. I had done a lot of youth work in my teens and had built up a lot of respect and trust. I always feared that I would be a disappointment to people if they found out the truth. The first poem I ever wrote was as an assignment for an English class at school. Entitled The Right to be Me, it showed me how I could communicate in writing things I would never say out loud. Teen angst was certainly a theme of much of my early work. Other examples include Where is the Light? and I Can't Kill Myself Today. When I was 18 I left home to go to university. There I formed far greater friendships than I'd had before and became much more confident in being 'myself'. Poems such as No-one But You and just because show that I was even starting to dream of falling in love. I was also learning how to stand up for myself. Nothing New was my response to the Daily Mail's claims that the discovery of a gay gene would allow parents to abort gay children. April 30th is a tribute to those killed and injured by the Soho nail bomb attack. It's recurring line 'you can't kill us all' comes from posters plastered around the area after the atrocity. It was when I was 19 that I finally came out to the world. Him is about the first man I fell in love with and Paradise is about my first sexual encounter. The poem is named after the bar where I picked him up! Further encounters are recalled in Soap Opera. I am currently in my late-twenties and live with my partner in Spain. Many of my latest poems, such as Burnt in Hell and Dear Mum and Dad are based on the testimony of others. I set up this website in 2002. Since then it has had more than 300,000 hits and I have received more than 500 messages relating to the site (either in the guestbook or in my inbox.) I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who's supported me over the years. Please don't forget to let me know what you think of the website and my poems by signing the guestbook.
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