Getting Into The Nightingale
1981
"They asked you questions to make sure you knew it was a gay bar. They were sussing you out because there weren't many places then."
The Nightingale then was men only. Lesbians were not allowed in and Garry had friends who were refused entry. There were no women staff.
"...but once you got in there, it wasn't that scary. I mean, I can remember walking up and down the street quite a few times before I actually went in there - I was having cold sweats and being nervous about it. That was about me being more nervous than the place and taking that first big step. I was 18-19 at the time and below the legal age of consent and that had an impact."
Contributed by: Garry Jones, 47